Alpha Boys School

Download or read book Alpha Boys School written by Heather Augustyn and published by . This book was released on 2017-11-15 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Facing a life of poverty, neglect, abandonment and even homelessness, young Jamaican boys are placed in a disciplinarian Catholic boarding school. With a rigorous musical training program overseen by an eccentric jazz-loving nun, the young virtuoso graduates of Alpha Boys' School went on to change the shape of music forever. It's the 1950s in Jamaica and a musical revolution is brewing. People all over Kingston dance nightly to vast outdoor sound systems blasting American rhythm and blues records across the shanty towns. In the hotels and theaters big bands are playing jazz and calypso. Street musicians are playing home-grown folk music called mento. Out of this musical stew, Jamaica will soon birth a dance music all of its own, a sound that will conquer the globe. Starting with ska in the early 1960s, followed by rocksteady, eventually arriving at reggae in 1969, a group of virtuoso graduates of a Roman Catholic boarding school spearhead a musical and cultural revolution that still reverberates around the world over half a century later. The Sisters of Mercy nuns at Alpha provided a home alongside industrial trades apprenticeships and religious indoctrination. One in particular, Sister Mary Ignatius, dedicated 64 years of her life to running the school's music program. Her deep appreciation of jazz and her sense of fun endeared her to the boys in the band, inspiring them to attain greatness. From early Jamaican jazz giants like Joe Harriott and Dizzy Reece to the greatest ska band of all time, The Skatalites, and some of reggae's most inspirational artists such as Cedric Brooks, Johnny Osbourne, Leroy Smart and Yellowman, the Alpha story is the untold history of Jamaican music. Join Heather Augustyn and Adam Reeves as they delve into the history of this remarkable institution and reveal the life and works of 47 of the greatest Alpha boys. The culmination of many combined years of work, using musicians' personal recollections and a wealth of rarely seen photographs, Alpha Boys' School: Cradle of Jamaican Music will take you to the heart of the Jamaica music story. Whether you are a lover of original ska and rocksteady, roots, dub, dancehall and beyond, these stories will take you deeper into the music. If you enjoyed Solid Foundation: An Oral History of Reggae by David Katz, Bass Culture by Lloyd Bradley or So Much Things To Say: The Oral History of Bob Marley by Roger Steffens, then this is definitely for you.

Download or read book Don Drummond written by Heather Augustyn and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2013-08-03 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a comprehensive biography of a brilliant musician who forever shaped the course of ska, reggae, and popular music worldwide, only to take the life of his lover and in so doing, destroy his career at the age of 30. In his short life Don Drummond created an enduring legacy despite poverty, class separation, mental illness, racial politics, and the exploitation of his work. The words of Drummond's childhood friends, classmates, musicians, medical staff, legal counsel, and teachers enliven this story of his "unusual mind." They recall the early days in the recording studio, playing the instrumental backup for Bob Marley and others, and the nights in the Rasta camps where musicians burned the midnight oil and more. They remember the gyrations of his lover, Margarita, the Rumba Queen, as she tantalized audiences at Club Havana; tell what happened that tragic night when Drummond stabbed Margarita four times; reveal details of the trial (delayed more than a year as Drummond was ruled mentally unfit) and offer insights into Drummond's death in a mental asylum at age 35.

Download or read book Ska written by Heather Augustyn and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-01-10 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Before Bob Marley brought reggae to the world, before Jimmy Cliff and Peter Tosh, before thousands of musicians played a Jamaican rhythm, there were the men and women who created ska music, a blend of jazz, American rhythm and blues, and the indigenous music of the Caribbean. This book tells the story of ska music and its development from Jamaica to England, where the music took on a distinctively different tone, and finally to the rest of the world. Through the words of legendary artists, gleaned from more than a decade of interviews, the story of ska music is finally told by those who were there.

Download or read book Alpha's Bad Boy written by Austin Bates and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-01-17 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A detective, a bad boy, and an undeniable attraction... Logan Morales is a bad boy omega. He's lived a hard life on the streets of La Bonita. When's he scooped up during a police raid, it looks like it's all over for good. Fortunately for Logan, the hot alpha-in-denial detective Ramos Fuentes seems him exactly for what he is - a gold mine of information that can be turned against a crime boss. Unfortunately for Ramos, the infuriatingly attractive Logan is making things hard for him... in more ways than one. Will the newly-minted alpha be able to protect his omega - even when the threat gets personal? And what will they do when they discover there's a baby on the way? This 50,000-word male pregnancy romance is liberally sprinkled with scenes of spicy sex - adults only!

Download or read book King Alpha’s Song in a Strange Land written by Jason Wilson and published by UBC Press. This book was released on 2020-02-14 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Jackie Mittoo and Leroy Sibbles migrated from Jamaica to Toronto in the early 1970s, the musicians brought reggae with them, sparking the flames of one Canada’s most vibrant music scenes. In King Alpha’s Song in a Strange Land, professional reggae musician and scholar Jason Wilson tells the story of how the organic, transnational nature of reggae brought black and white youth together, opening up a cultural dialogue between Jamaican migrants and Canadians along Toronto’s ethnic frontlines. This underground subculture rebelled against the status quo, eased the acculturation process, and made bands such as Messenjah and the Sattalites household names for a brief but important time. By looking at Canada’s golden age of reggae from the perspective of both Jamaican migrants and white Torontonians, Wilson reveals the power of music to break through the bonds of race and ease the hardships associated with transnational migration.

Download or read book Don Drummond written by Heather Augustyn and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2013-08-16 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a comprehensive biography of a brilliant musician who forever shaped the course of ska, reggae, and popular music worldwide, only to take the life of his lover and in so doing, destroy his career at the age of 30. In his short life Don Drummond created an enduring legacy despite poverty, class separation, mental illness, racial politics, and the exploitation of his work. The words of Drummond's childhood friends, classmates, musicians, medical staff, legal counsel, and teachers enliven this story of his "unusual mind." They recall the early days in the recording studio, playing the instrumental backup for Bob Marley and others, and the nights in the Rasta camps where musicians burned the midnight oil and more. They remember the gyrations of his lover, Margarita, the Rumba Queen, as she tantalized audiences at Club Havana; tell what happened that tragic night when Drummond stabbed Margarita four times; reveal details of the trial (delayed more than a year as Drummond was ruled mentally unfit) and offer insights into Drummond's death in a mental asylum at age 35.

Download or read book This Is Reggae written by Glen DaCosta and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2023-08-08 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For more than six decades, reggae legend Glen DaCosta has worked as a musician, songwriter and producer. As a session player, his distinctive sax sound backed many international reggae stars at Joe Gibbs' Studio and Lee Scratch Perry's Blackheart Studio. Twenty-two years in the writing, his revealing memoir gives an insider's view of the Jamaican popular music industry, and recounts his fascinating childhood and years on the road with Bob Marley and the Wailers and Zap Pow.