They say this is a bad year for music legends. They say all the good ones are gone. Shhhhh! Don’t tell that to Bunny Wailer, the last original member of the legendary Wailers. Because, not only is he alive, but skipping and skittering across stage while belting out tropical sun-drenched roots reggae songs with sinewy finesse. The three-time Grammy winner recently assembled a robust band along with a buzz-cut sharp horn second called the Solomonic Reggaestra. Wailers assemble sparked the Ogden Theatre last week in Denver, Colorado with jaunty renditions of classic Wailer favorites like “Trenchtown Rock.” Local ska/reggae favorites, Highway 50, led by former Samples keyboardist, Al Laughin, started the evening with lemon bright set of melodies punctuated by the brass jags of The Horns of Destruction. The bloggers may not have it quite right. Maybe it hasn’t all been bad this year for music legends. And they aren’t all dead. Not by a back roads Jamaica mile.
Tag: Highway 50
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Mighty Diamonds, Highway 50, Mono Verde Shine at the Fox Theater
The atmospheric weather phenomenon known as El Nino has blown more snow over Colorado than the state has seen in several years. One recent show at the Fox Theater on January 22 in Boulder, CO featuring a trio of roots reggae/ska bands, including reggae pioneers, the Mighty Diamonds, provided a brief respite from winter with a night full of warm, tropical melodies from Jamaica.
Two area favorites, Mono Verde, and Highway 50, helmed by former Samples keyboardist Al Laughin, jumpstarted the evening with a series of percussive world beat and roots ska melodies. Highway 50’s elevated the languid, easy-going style of reggae melodies with a powerful horn section and brawny lead guitar riffs.
The night’s headliners, the Mighty Diamonds, featuring Lloyd “Judge” Ferguson, Fitzroy ”Bunny” Simpson and Donald “Tabby” Shaw, formed in 1969 in the Trenchtown area of Kingston, Jamaica. They showed, even after 46 years, that they can jump, spin, and belt out Motown-infused reggae with unbridled enthusiasm.