The Roots Reggae Festival will be jammin' tomorrow from
2pm to 9pm at Dream Community in Hsichi, with live bands, Jamaican foods, puppet shows, arts and crafts and more. Like the Indian Culture Festival two years ago and other events the community has hosted, tomorrow's festivities will be an opportunity to see, hear and taste the culture
of the Caribbean. Headlining the event will be Red-I and the Riddim Outlawz, the six-piece-plus reggae outfit that has lately been shaking things up at Luxy on Thursday nights with their straightforward island sound nicely spiced with a bit of brash brass. Red-I, also known as
Patrick Chen, was born in Pingtung but raised in Mexico, Belize, Cuba, Jamaica, Canada and the US. Since making his way back, he's been a back-up man for A-Mei (張惠妹) and a part of other outfits, including the T-Ho Brothers (鐵虎兄弟). But his talents have thus far been best showcased with the Riddim Outlawz backing him up.
Adding more than a bit of Jamaican spice of her own will be True Daley, a Jamaican-Canadian singer-songwriter and actor whose first experience with Taiwan was televised back to Canada in the Life Network documentary series English Teachers. That gig landed her another teaching role here in Taiwan, as the host of the children's program,
Crazy Science.
But don't expect an English lesson from her tomorrow.
Her sound is "Afro-Caribbean fortified soul" and she's passionate about the music of her people.
In Bob Marley, she said, "Jamaica created the first third-world superstar," but quickly added that Jamaica is not just about reggae. "It was Jamaican immigrants to New
York that gave birth to hip-hop," she said. "They were the first to have a DJ spinning records and talking over a microphone. Jamaica has given birth to two genres of music. It's not just about Bob Marley and marijuana. I want people in Taiwan to know this."
Providing the roots of the Roots Reggae Fest will be Pan-Africana drum troupe banging out arguably the most infectious sound to be heard in Taiwan.
Other than roots, the festival will provide an opportunity to hear the island's newest purveyors of ska, rocksteady and hip-hop reggae, the Sound Clashes, as well as Trinidadian reggae and calypso performer Marlon Ransome and the Taimaican Sound System team of DJs.
Dream Community has been enriching Taipei's cultural community for nearly a decade through artist-in-residence programs and events such as their annual Dream Carnival held every October. Last year, the community provided NT$100,000 in seed money to singer-songwriter Andre Nobels to produce his debut EP.
The idea behind the Circle of Dreams, as it was called, was to use the proceeds from sales of that album to fund another musician's dream again this year. But other plans might now be in the works, according to one Roots Reggae organizer who is familiar with the Dream Community.
"I think the big push this year is for the Dream Carnival in October and the Dream Camp for kids running from July 4 to July 23," said organizer Dory Thuot.
The camp is an amazing arts, nature and performance arts venue where kids aged five to 12 will have the full use of the Dream Community facilities for dance, music, martial arts, creative movement, musical theater, film making.
Of tomorrow's festival, Thuot says the show will go on rain or shine and promises to provide plenty of dry cover if it gets wet. Dream Community is located at 95, Minzu Second St, Hshichih, Taipei County
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