Remembering J Dilla on his birthday

Raising a glass to hip hop producer extraordinaire James Yancey aka J Dilla on his birthday with a interviews and more. 

R.I.P. Fred "Tonic" Smith of Television, Blondie, Fleshtones

Sadly, bassist Fred Smith – who played with Television, Blondie & The Fleshtones – has passed away at 77. He'll be greatly missed.

LINKS

Stereogum Television bassist Fred Smith dead at 77

Before They Were Famous: Dave Van Ronk

NYC folk legend Dave Van Ronk cut "Skiffle In Stereo" with pals Sam & Ann Charters and Spivey's Len Kunstadt in 1958. 

Orange Blossom Jug Five

Dave Van Ronk - Guitar

Sam Charters - cornet and guitar

Len "Kazoo Papa" Kunstadt - kazoo

Russell Glynn - jug

Ann Danberg aka Ann Charters - washboard

Bob Marley "King of Reggae" Birthday Celebration @ Lee's Palace, Saturday

The Pressure Drop & Bless Up selectas will be spinning reggae gems on vinyl in Bob Marley's honour at Lee's Palace on Saturday.

The 20th Anniversary of "King Of Reggae" Birthday Bash – Toronto’s longest-running Bob Marley birthday tribute takes place on Saturday, February 7th at Lee’s Palace (529 Bloor St. West), featuring Reggaddiction, Kairo McLean & Friendlyness, Pressure Drop & Bless Up selectas and more starting at 9 pm!

NuFunk Concerts proudly presents the city’s largest and longest-standing celebration of Bob Marley’s legacy. This iconic annual event showcases top-tier reggae talent while giving back to the community through food donations in support of the Parkdale Food Bank.

Join us at Lee’s Palace for an unforgettable night of live reggae. Enjoy a full set from the 10-piece powerhouse Reggaddiction, along with special surprise guests. The event also features exciting prize giveaways and a vibrant craft market. Tickets are $23.53 advance and available right here.

Hail up to Pressure Drop Selectors — DJs Guv’nor General and Chuck Boom. True legends of the Toronto reggae scene, from their early days at The Embassy in Kensington Market to their long-running annual Boxing Day Fundraiser. Over the years, they’ve shared stages with icons like Sister Nancy, Junior Cat, Stranger Cole, Carol Brown, Dub Connection Sound System, Jah Tubby’s, and Deadly Dragon Sound System featuring Screechy Dan.

No strangers to the Bob Marley Birthday Tribute, we’re blessed to welcome them back once again—spinning strictly 45s: roots reggae, rub-a-dub, dancehall, dub, rocksteady, and ska—fully powered by the 15,000-watt Bless Up Sound System. 

Check out the event preview clip along with some vintage Bob Marley footage.

Canadian hip hop pioneers Maestro Fresh Wes, Michie Mee, Muzion get stamps!

Believe it or not, Canada Post has just issued a new series of stamps celebrating Canuck MC's Maestro Fresh Wes, Michie Mee & Muzion!

Here's the scoop from Canada Post...

Our newest commemorative stamps pay tribute to three groundbreaking Canadian hip-hop artists Maestro Fresh Wes, Michie Mee and Muzion. Each of these MCs pioneered a uniquely Canadian identity, with a sound influenced largely by musical styles and rhythms from Jamaica, Trinidad and Haiti. 

Maestro Fresh Wes  propelled Canadian hip-hop into the mainstream with groundbreaking hits that set new industry milestones. 

Michie Mee combined rap with dancehall and reggae to create an iconic sound that captivated fans. 

Montréal-based group Muzion layered French, English and Haitian Creole into their music, injecting the ever-evolving genre with a fresh new vibe. 

Learn more about our Hip-hop in Canada stamps here and pick up a set of today right here. 

Stamp designers: Noël Nanton, Nadia Molinari | typotherapy 

Stamp photographers:  

Maestro Fresh Wes: Wellington Williams; background by Edward James Rissling 

Michie Mee: Getty Images; background by Rick McGinnis (Rick McGinnis Photography) 

Muzion: Brigitte Henry; background by Marie-Michèle Bouchard

One For The Weekend: Duke Of Iron

Check out the swingin' "Calypso Invasion" by Duke Of Iron (center) and his Calypso Troubadors on Apollo Records. 

Sun Ra: Do The Impossible documentary airs on PBS, February 20

Christine Turner's new documentary "Sun Ra: Do The Impossible" screens as part of the American Masters series on PBS.  

Sun Ra: Do The Impossible

A kaleidoscopic portrait of the visionary jazz musician, composer, and poet known as Sun Ra and the musical, historical, and philosophical currents that shaped him.

Poet, philosopher, Egyptologist, bandleader. Jazz visionary Sun Ra was all of these—and more. With his ever-evolving band the Sun Ra Arkestra, he produced more than 200 albums, stretching the boundaries of free-form jazz while weaving ancient Egypt, interstellar metaphors, and scientific musings into a singular musical and spiritual vision of Afrofuturism that continues to reverberate across generations. Director Christine Turner takes us on an illuminating journey through the life of this multi-faceted artist, gracefully balancing recollections from the Arkestra’s still-devout band members and dancers with insightful interviews from music scholars, and unforgettable film and performance footage of Sun Ra himself. The result is a portrait—informative, inspiring, and mind-bending—of a man whose audacious vision, otherworldly imagination, and uncompromising artistry helped shape not only the sound of jazz, but the cultural landscape of the 20th century and beyond.

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ABOUT SUN RA 

Herman Poole Blount was born on May 22, 1914, in Birmingham, Alabama, and departed this earth on May 30, 1993, as Sun Ra. Along the way he became a conscientious objector, legally changed his name to Le Sony’r Ra, forged a vision of a Black Space Age future, created a big band that toured the world and continues to this day, wrote over 1000 jazz compositions, issued more than 200 self-produced records, pioneered the use of electronic keyboards,

and published volumes of broadsheets and poetry. Sun Ra reached back in time to ancient Egypt to claim civilization as Black and fused it with the dawn of the Space Age to assert Blackness as the very nature of the “omniverse. ” Compelling and strange, he claimed to have been “teleported” to Saturn, where he was told that the world would descend into chaos and that he must speak through music. Though his “Earth departure day” may have occurred more than three decades ago, his influence continues to grow with each successive generation.

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ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

Christine Turner is a filmmaker whose portraits of artists, activists, and everyday people capture the beauty and struggle of life. Previously, her short documentary, The Barber of Little Rock (The New Yorker), about a local barber’s fight for a just economy, was nominated for Best Short Documentary at the 2024 Academy Awards. Her film J’Nai Bridges: Unamplified, released in 2023, follows the titular opera singer as she takes the stage in “A Knee on the Neck,” a tribute to George Floyd (PBS/American Masters). Other notable work includes: Lynching Postcards: ‘Token of a Great Day’ (Paramount+), which was nominated for a Peabody and won an NAACP Image Award; Homegoings (PBS/POV), a critically-acclaimed portrait of a renowned Harlem funeral director; and the two artist profiles Betye Saar: Taking Care of Business (New York Times Op-Docs) and Paint & Pitchfork (The New Yorker). Learn more at christineturner.com.

Watch a red carpet interview with Sun Ra: Do The Impossible director Christine Turner at the Tribeca Film Festival followed by the documentary trailer.