Midnight Raver

Midnight Raver

Midnight Raver Official Logo
Available in English
Owner Midnight Raver LLC
Created by Jah Raver, Roger Steffens
Editors Jah Raver , Doug Wendt , Joseph Jurgensen , Glen Lockley , Peter Van Arnhem , Fred reGGaeLover
Website midnightraverblog.com
Launched 19 October 2011
Current status active

Midnight Raver is a blog and non-profit international consortium dedicated solely to the promotion and preservation of roots reggae, culture, and dub. Contributors include authors and journalists, historians, record producers, broadcasters, lecturers, archivists, collectors and publishers.

Midnight Raver is an online resource for reggae news, historical perspective, and commentary and has been featured and sourced in The Guardian,[1] Buzzfeed,[2] Jamaica Observer,[3] Billboard Magazine,[4] Investors Business Daily,[5] JamaicansMusic,[6] PeterTosh.com,[7] BobMarley.com,[8] Pitchfork[9] and other websites and publications of note. The website is also sourced in author Paul Sullivan's book ReMixology: Tracing the Dub Diaspora (2013).[10]

Along with feature articles, live performance audio and video, and vintage press archives, Midnight Raver also features interviews with reggae artists like Ziggy Marley, Bunny Wailer, Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, Luciano, Adrian Sherwood, Bob Andy, Aston Barrett, Don Carlos, Flabba Holt, David Hinds of Steel Pulse plus many more.

In addition, Midnight Raver hosts exclusive streaming content from a variety of contributors including radio broadcasters Doug "Midnight Dread" Wendt and Dermot Hussey. Midnight Raver hosts the Midnight Dread Special, a weekly podcast featuring the original broadcasts of the Midnight Dread Radio Show which aired from 1979 to 1985 on KTIM and KQAK FM in San Rafael, California. Midnight Dread, 2015 recipient of the Rex Foundation's Ralph J. Gleason Award, hosted the very first reggae radio show in the US in 1974 with THE REGGAE EXPLOSION on KTIM San Rafael. Midnight Raver also hosts The Riff, the weekly podcast of Musgrave Award-winning Jamaican broadcaster/producer and current Sirius/XM radio host Dermot Hussey. The Riff, produced by Dermot Hussey, features the latest in reggae, world, and jazz with interviews and commentary from artists and industry. The Riff also airs weekly on NewsTalk 93 FM in Jamaica.

On July 15, 2014, Midnight Raver launched a CrowdRise fundraising campaign to raise money for the restoration and replacement of African hand drums and other Jamaican cultural and historic artifacts that were lost in a house fire in Jamaica on July 2, 2014.[11] The drums and other percussion instruments belonged to the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari, the group of drummers founded by Count Ossie and which played on the internationally renowned hit "Oh Carolina," the infectious ska number recorded by the Folkes Brothers in 1958.

On August 14, 2014, Shanachie Records announced through Midnight Raver their plans to release a Willi Williams/Yabby You project titled "Unification: From Channel One To King Tubbys With Willi Williams And Yabby You,' which includes tracks recorded in the late seventies and never released. According to label chief Randall Grass, the album was recorded between 1978 and 1980 at both fabled Channel One studio and King Tubby’s studio, utilizing a diverse group of top-shelf Jamaican musicians, including Sly & Robbie and the Revolutionaries, Soul Syndicate, The Gladiators, Jackie Mittoo, Bobby Ellis, Cedric “IM” Brooks and Bobby Kalphat.

The website was also involved in one of the best-reviewed reggae releases of 2015 - the Shanachie Yabby You retrospective box set titled Dread Prophecy: The Strange and Wonderful Story of Yabby You. Several of the site's contributors provided rare vinyl singles for digital transfer and inclusion on the album. The site was also heavily involved in the promotion of the set.[12]

On August 22, 2014, Carlton "Tetrack" Hines announced on Midnight Raver the forthcoming release of the new Tetrack 12" single titled “That Day Will Come.” The single was released on the Roots Vibes label on September 30, 2014.

On December 11, 2014, Midnight Raver premiered "Well Done," the new Damian Marley-produced single from Kabaka Pyramid. Although it was removed within one hour without explanation, the track registered more than 1,000 listens on SoundCloud, sparking some speculation that it was a promotional move by Kabaka Pyramid to fuel hype about the track.

In 2015, Midnight Raver and Tuff Gong Worldwide collaborated on the #Marley70 Blog Series to commemorate the 70th birthday of reggae musician Bob Marley. #Marley70 Blog Series, which is hosted at www.bobmarley.com, consists of monthly feature articles which examine pivotal points in Bob Marley's career. There are feature articles about The Wailers' 1973 Burnin' tour through California; Bob Marley's 1975 Kingston concert featuring the Jackson 5; Bob Marley and the Wailers' 1979 trip to Japan, Australia, and New Zealand; the Wailers' first television appearance, on the BBC's Old Grey Whistle Test in 1973, and more. Each feature includes vintage press articles, concert reviews, published interviews, rare live audio, video, and photos along with exclusive interviews with Bob Marley's art director and former director of the Bob Marley Foundation in Jamaica, Neville Garrick.[13]

In an interview with Barrington Levy which was posted to the website on February 26, 2015, Levy announced that his forthcoming album would be released through Doctor Dread's new record label Doctor Dread Records.[14] The Grammy-nominated album AcousticaLevy is the first album to be released on the label and Doctor Dread's first album release since parting with RAS Records almost a decade ago.

In an April 2015 interview with Midnight Raver, Ras Puma (Thievery Corporation, The Archives) revealed that he is working on a new EP with Honest Records DC.[15] The EP, titled In One Accord, will be released under his new name "Puma Ptah." The first single from the EP, titled "One", was released on April 10, 2015.

In an interview posted to Midnight Raver on December 22, 2015, Jah David of Zion I Kings confirmed that Chronixx and Laurent "Tippy-I" Alfred of I Grade Records are currently working on a project.[16] He also confirmed that the new Zion I Kings-produced Lutan Fyah album will be released in 2016.

On August 23, 2016, reggae promoter and label chief Gary "Doctor Dread" Himelfarb (RAS Records) leaked through the website that Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley contacted him about playing a small, intimate show in Washington, DC to support his forthcoming studio album Stony Hill. Himelfarb confirmed that Marley would perform this "secret" show at The Hamilton in Washington, DC on September 18, 2016. He also revealed that only 300 tickets would be sold to the public.

Popularity

On November 18, 2014, Midnight Raver announced that the web site had surpassed one million site visits.[17]

Association with other reggae-related websites

Jah Raver has contributed exclusive web content for several noteworthy reggae news and information websites including BobMarley.com,[18] PeterTosh.com,[19] LargeUp.com,[20] WorldAReggae.com,[21] InityWeekly.com,[22] Ppcorn.com,[23] and IslandStage.com.[24]

References

  1. ↑ Goldman, Vivien. "Culture Clash: Bob Marley, Joe Strummer and the punky reggae party". www.theguardian.com. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  2. ↑ Carissimo, Justin. "18 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Bob Marley That Have Nothing To Do With Marijuana". Buzzfeed. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  3. ↑ "Tosh bio released". http://www.jamaicaobserver.com. Retrieved 3 August 2014. External link in |website= (help)
  4. ↑ Meschino, Patricia. "VP Records Relaunches Classic Reggae Label Blood and Fire". www.billboard.com. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  5. ↑ Alexander, Amy. "Bob Marley Became The Reggae King Through Hard Work". www.investors.com. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  6. ↑ Kennedy, Biko. "Must Visit Reggae Blog: The Midnight Raver". www.jamaicansmusic.com. Jamaicansmusic.com Inc. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  7. ↑ "Youth Consciousness Festival 1982". www.petertosh.com. Official Peter Tosh. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  8. ↑ "Tour History". www.bobmarley.com. Tuff Gong Worldwide. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  9. ↑ "The Dread Prophecy of Yabby You". Pitchfork. Conde Nast. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  10. ↑ Sullivan, Paul (2013). ReMixology: Tracing the Dub Diaspora. Chicago, IL: Reaktion Books - Reverb. ISBN 9781780231990. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  11. ↑ Walker, Karyl. "History destroyed: Mystic Revelation of Rastafari drums lost in fire". http://www.jamaicaobserver.com. Jamaica Observer. Retrieved 8 August 2014. External link in |website= (help)
  12. ↑ "'Dread Prophecy: The Strange and Wonderful Story of Yabby You'". Midnight Raver. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  13. ↑ "#Marley70 Blog Series". www.bobmarley.com. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  14. ↑ Raver, Midnight. "Midnight Raver meets Barrington Levy inna Kingston Town (EXCLUSIVE interview!)". Midnight Raver. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  15. ↑ "Ptah: The Return of Puma". Midnight Raver. Midnight Raver. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  16. ↑ "From Zion High to Zion I Kings: The Evolution of King David". Midnight Raver. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  17. ↑ "Midnight Raver surpasses one million site visits". Midnight Raver. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  18. ↑ Raver, Jah. "#Marley70 Blog Series". BobMarley.com. Tuff Gong Worldwide. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  19. ↑ Raver, Jah. "News & Events". PeterTosh.com. Peter Tosh Estate. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  20. ↑ Raver, Jah. "Midnight Raver". LargeUp.com. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  21. ↑ Raver, Jah. "Midnight Raver". World-A-Reggae. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  22. ↑ Raver, Jah. "Midnight Raver Archives". Inity Weekly. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  23. ↑ Raver, Jah. "Midnight Raver". Ppcorn. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  24. ↑ Raver, Jah. "Midnight Raver". Island Stage. Retrieved 23 August 2016.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/24/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.