Return of two friends from two different sides of the world, connected with music and culture.
One of the most significant of Jamaican deejays, U Brown, was born in Kingston in 1956. One of 11 children, Brown’s musical education began by accompanying his father to local bars, as well as spending quite a bit of time hanging out on Bond Street near Treasure Isle studios. While only 15, Brown began his deejaying career in earnest working for the Sound of Music Sound System, developing his skills while recording tracks. He was initially given a chance to record by Winston Edwards and then Yabby You. He had a local hit „Starsky and Hutch”. In 1975 he began working with Bunny Lee and cut his first album “Satta Dread”. With Lee until the end of the decade he made 3 more albums and a handful of singles. Brown’s principal influence is U-Roy. In the latter part of the 70s U Brown started his own label Hit Sound and achieved a modicum of success as a producer. He was signed to Virgin Records in the late 1970s, releasing two albums on their Front Line label. British Blood & Fire label also released a compilation of his works “Train to Zion (1975-78)”. In ‘90s, after his return to Jamaica from US, he continued to produce, record and deejay on sound systems. Those are his roots and he, like his hero U-Roy, intends to carry on that great tradition.
Ras Bass comes from Łódź. He is a selector, distributor, promoter and collector of heavy bass sounds from Jamaica. In 2001 he started playing first parties. A year later Ras Bass Sound System was created. In 2005 he opened online vinyl record shop Rasbass.com. Until 2009 Ras Bass played and organized many events in Poland. Currently he plays mainly outside the country, including UK, Denmark or Kingston’s Dub Club. Since 2004 he regularly travels to Jamaica, where he met many local artists and built the largest collection of original pressings of Jamaican vinyls in Poland. Ras Bass is also an author of the idea and main character for the first Polish documentary about Jamaica, “In the footsteps of Marley” (2008).
A regular guest in numerous radio shows, author of press articles and lectures on Jamaica.
Ostróda Reggae Festival, Green Stage, 13.07.2019
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/U-Brown-104256359621994/
https://www.facebook.com/RasBassCom/
Video:
U Brown – Lootayard Special Pon Hi Fashion Riddim
U Brown & Joseph Cotton – Dub for Mass-I
Dreadsquad & U Brown – Hear me now Jah People
U Brown – Tu Sheng Peng
