„Dub Revolution: The Genesis Of Jamaican Music’s Most Influential Innovation”

Dub Revolution is an illustrated exploration of the genre that seeks to pinpoint the how, where, when and why of dub’s actual genesis, to place the dramatic reggae sub-genre within its proper context. It is presented by London-based journalist and famous reggae passionate David Katz, who gives up his annual Rototom’s University hosting for a day to see us in Poland first time. Illustrated by archive images, sound files, film clips, and interview testimony from the form’s key practitioners, the presentation aims to give a fuller understanding of what dub is all about, and how it came to be, to allow a broader and more nuanced understanding of it importance. 

David Katz is author of People Funny Boy: The Genius of Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry; Solid Foundation: An Oral History of Reggae, and Caribbean Lives: Jimmy Cliff. He also contributed to The Rough Guide to Reggae, A Tapestry of Jamaica, and Keep On Running: The Story of Island Records. Katz’s writing and photographs have appeared in many periodicals and books, and he has annotated over 100 retrospectives of Jamaican music. You could see his work in Mojo, Q, The Guardian, The Independent, The Telegraph, Sky Writings, Caribbean Beat or Riddim. Katz has also co-hosted radio programmes, released original records, and contributed to documentaries and feature films, including Dub Echoes, Dub Stories and Pioneers: Lee Perry. His Dub Me Always DJ nights are regular features of London’s nightlife, taking place monthly Upstairs at the Ritzy in Brixton, and at other venues. He has supported Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry at the Royal Festival Hall, Mad Professor at Momo’s Kemia Bar, and Horace Andy, Aswad, and Rico at the Jazz Café. He has also played with Ras Kush of Black Redemption Sound System at club NuBlu in New York, and at the Binghi night held at the Clandestino Bar in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He has also hosted public discussion forums with many notable music figures, including Bunny Wailer, Rita Marley, Chris Blackwell, King Jammy, Bunny Lee, Horace Andy, The Skatalites, Derrick Morgan and countless others, at music festivals including Rototom Sunsplash and Reggae Geel, and has presented scholarly work on reggae music at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica, the Federal University of Maranhao, Sao Luis, Brazil, and the University of Salento, Lecce, Italy. 

During the last sixty years or so, Jamaican popular music has rarely stood still, thriving on the innovations initiated by a handful of committed practitioners that have continually forced the music into new directions. Although it would take time for the outside world to take note of the music emanating from this Caribbean island, and even longer for foreigners to comprehend it, there is ample undeniable proof that Jamaica has exercised a disproportionate influence on the techniques and musical practices of the outside world during the last few decades. And dub has proven to be the most influential reggae sub-genre of all. Without the dub innovation pioneered by an elite coterie of Jamaican recording engineers and record producers, rap music as we know it would never have become the world’s leading form of popular culture, various forms of technologically-driven dance music probably would not have taken off, and there would surely be no such thing as dubstep, the underground style that is currently the focus of youth culture in so many different lands. Yet, who, exactly, is responsible for dub? What purpose did dub originally serve, and has that purpose changed over time? Did dub remain static, or has the form undergone changes itself?

15.08 (Friday), 12:00, free entrance

Reggae University, the conference room in the Ostróda’s amphitheatre, Mickiewicza street 17a

Links:

 

http://www.davidkatz.net.tf

http://www.facebook.com/dubmealways