Customer Reviews (1)

Jamaica the People
Very brief, only 32 pages. Geared more towards children, although for those looking for information on the cultures and the people, this is helpful. ... Read more

Book Description
Jamaican dancehall has long been one of the most vital and influential cultural and artistic forces within contemporary global music. Wake the Town and Tell the People presents, for the first time, a lively, nuanced, and comprehensive view of this musical and cultural phenomenon: its growth and historical role within Jamaican society, its economy of star making, its technology of production, its performative practices, and its capacity to channel political beliefs through popular culture in ways that are urgent, tangible, and lasting.
Norman C. Stolzoff brings a fan’s enthusiasm to his broad perspective on dancehall, providing extensive interviews, original photographs, and anthropological analysis from eighteen months of fieldwork in Kingston. Stolzoff argues that this enormously popular musical genre expresses deep conflicts within Jamaican society, not only along lines of class, race, gender, sexuality, and religion but also between different factions struggling to gain control of the island nation’s political culture. Dancehall culture thus remains a key arena where the future of this volatile nation is shaped. As his argument unfolds, Stolzoff traces the history of Jamaican music from its roots in the late eighteenth century to 1945, from the addition of sound systems and technology during the mid-forties to early sixties, and finally through the post-independence years from the early sixties to the present.
Wake the Town and Tell the People offers a general introduction for those interested in dancehall music and culture. For the fan or musicologist, it will serve as a comprehensive reference book.

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Customer Reviews (5)

Comprehensive Dancehall Reference!
This is an excellant book, written by a genuinely knowledgeable scholar of dancehall music and Jamaican popular culture. Dr. Stolzoff has done an incredible amount of research for this book and puts it altogether with Wake The Town. A must for all reggae and dancehall afficionados. This book will be a classic for a long time.

Exceptional Research Study
I would like to commend Mr. Stolzoff for an in depth and enjoyable study of dancehall reggae.Being a dancehall fan for some time now, it's wonderful to see the music and culture being taken seriously.Ready first hand accounts of artists like the great Tenor Saw was an unexpected and exciting part of the book.Mr. Stolzoff goes indept as he discusses the origins of dancehall back to Africa right up to today with the top artists like Buju Banton, Bounty Killer, Beenie Man, Sizzla, etc etc.As Ricky Trooper says in the begining of the book, if you haven't been to the dancehall before, you wouldn't understand it, dancehall it something that you have to experience.Great reading!

A Whole New Insight to Jamaican Music!
As a lover of the creative, colorful and very controversial culture known as Jamaican dancehall, I received this book ecstatically, but I wasn't quite sure of what to expect. I mean, this is a world that changes so rapidly that any attempts to document it have felt outdated even before their ink dried. I thought Stolzoff would play it safe and keep his approach as superficial as possible-a nice coffee table book perhaps, filled with eye-pleasing full-color pix of scantily-dressed dancehall queens, posturing dapper dons, maybe even the occasional text paragraph with amusing tidbits like, "Whatever happened to Wayne 'Sleng Teng' Smith?" Instead, I found a meticulously researched study packed with so much detail that several times I had to "wheel back and come again" (re-read pages) in order to digest it all.

Of course, this isn't the first piece of writing to cast a critical eye on dancehall; but past discussions (helmed mostly by staunch roots reggae apologists who make no bones about expressing their view of the subject as an anti-musical ebola responsible for devouring the innards of upright, "real" reggae as exemplified by the likes of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Burning Spear), irrespective of whether they have been pro- or anti-dancehall, have all revolved to varying degrees around the old dancehall "reggae" vs. "traditional" reggae issue.

Stolzoff distinguishes himself from the pack by sidestepping that stumbling block altogether: In (what I think is) a revolutionary move, he posits ALL Jamaican music, in essence, as dancehall-from the creolized drum and fiddle music of 18th century slave frolics to the thundering amplified bass blaring from contemporary Kingston sound systems. In short, he sees dancehall not as a distinct genre of music, but as an interactive method of experiencing music that might be specifically Jamaican.

Stolzoff's an anthropologist, not a rock critic, so rather than examining the music in isolation, he reconstructs the world that is dancehall's context, starting from the beginning with the sound systems, the cornerstone of the Jamaican music world.( Stolzoff scores a major coup by including extensive interviews with sound system pioneers like Hedley Jones, who provide a lot of insight into the Jamaican music experience prior to the birth of the local music industry-all other books on reggae up until this time have summed the whole era up in a sentence or two). Upon that foundation, Stolzoff layers the various social and ideological trends that have shaped the dancehall: rude boys, Rastafar-I, fashion, technology... You come to see that as chaotic as the dancehall universe appears to be, it is a well-ordered cosmology where everything has its place: sexuality, piety, violence, flamboyance, humility... They can all co-exist.

What I really, really love is the "career trajectory" Stolzoff maps out from his observation of the dancehall field. Using many of the aspiring and established dancehall stars he befriended, Stolzoff illustrates the stages of a career as a performer in the dancehall economy-which is an actual economy that employs millions of Jamaicans in various capacities.

I think this is definitely an important book and a complete must-read not only for fans of Jamaican music, but for anybody interested in the way that music and culture intersect with the daily lives of its participants.

The Definitive Book on Dancehall Music
This book is too incredible to believe. For those of us who are into dancehall, when we are in the midst of it, study and academia seem so far away. I never thought it was something that someone could record on paper and carry the true vibes of the whole thing. Stolzoff has not only captured the vibes of the dancehall itself, but also the vibes of life for the dancehall community, the economy, and the realities of Jamaica today. For anyone who ever wanted to get away from the tourist fakeries of what you think Jamaica and reggae music are all about, this book is for you. Of course there is nothing like the true experience of the dancehall itself, but outside of that, this book is the next best thing. Buy this book, you won't regret it. Even most of us Jamaicans, can learn a thing or two from it. And for my anthropologists out there, this book is the most gripping, meaningful ethnography since Bourgois' "In Search of Respect : Selling Crack in El Barrio".

Wonderful book for scholars, students and fans
As funky, ferocious, and fun as any big beat coming out a sound system in downtown Kingston on a summer night, this book brings Jamaican dancehall to life with some scintillating prose 'riddims'. A sensitive and vivid writerand a longtime student of all things Jamaican, Stolzoff goes everywhere,knows everyone, and brings it all together in the best book on popularculture that I have read in years. A must-read for anyone interested incontemporary music, African-American studies, or the Caribbean. Kudos alsoto the publisher for creating a beautifully designed book, with many superbphotos from Stolzoff's camera. This book will be a classic for many yearsto come.

Randy Lewis Assistant Professor of American Studies Universityof Science and Arts of Oklahoma ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

In Focus Jamaica: A Guide to the People, Policitics and Culture
Very good look at the history and overview of the makings of the most beautiful country we've ever seen. It really helps to understand the personalities and the heritage that brought them to the point they are at now.

Not your average travel book
I was looking for a book that would tell me more than the best beaches or resorts to visit. This book is much more in depth about the culture and people than most travel books. If you want to know about the real Jamaica and not just what you see at a resort or on a tour, this is the book for you.

Great for Travelers
The greatness of Mason's guidebook is that it gives history and politics as well as travel information.Mason provides a basis for understanding the place.Another great travel companion is "Jamaica Girl" by Jon Michael Miller.Miller's novel also shows you the real Jamaica, far behind the walls of the famous all-inclusive resorts. You will see the struggles and the joys of a wonderful people, as well as meet Rosalind Juliet Mitchell, a fabulously brave and resourceful protagonist, on her search for love and freedom. It is by far the best book about Jamaica I have ever read. A wonderful story, suspenseful, sexy, funny, disturbing, and quite moving. Wonderful characters. And a great message about the power of love to transform one's existence. A great read for a vacation, or, even, a vacation in itself. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Classroom Aid
It came to the point in the school year where my Gr. 3 students were looking out the window at the snow and talking about trips to Florida and Mexico and other wonder climates. I know and like Crabtree's backlist, so when I saw that there were new books about Jamaica, I jumped at the chance to transport my kids to a strange land. We found, of course, that Jamaica is not so strange afterall. This book is wonderful for highlighting the island's cultural quirks, and dimming the reader's impression that Jamaica is simply a place on the other end of a weekend travel package. If at times the book employs a bit of a fact barrage, it also displays the author's careful consideration for a beloved people. It reads as though Amber Wilson is someone who has been enamoured of the island her whole life, and is perhaps transmitting some of her personal experiences through her impeccable descriptions of its geography and the customs practiced therein. It is a formidable introduction to a under-explored culture, and it kept my entire class attentive for a week's worth of lessons! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Essential roots raggae coverage
This book has it all if you like 70's roots: awesome writing style, quotes, interviews with reggae masters, copious photos, irie vibe. Don't hesitate, buy with confidence. Electronic reggae can be good I say, but organic reggae is better. Tosh and Big Youth rule. Don't miss the movie "The Harder They Come" !

Real Reggae Bible
I red this book when I was a child. still my most favorite book!This is the reggae guide which was written by photographer in the real time of 'Roots Rock Reggae'. You will feel like you're traveling Jamaica and talking with Bob Marly. You will learn a lot of things about Reggae history.

Good Book Overall.
Anyone with an interest in the Reggae scene in the 70's will enjoy this book. I liked the photos an interviews.

NOT BAD BUT OUT OF DATE
This isn't a bad book, but it's 20 years out of date. It was first published in 1976 and the reprint in 1992 doesn't add anything except a postcript saying all the the developments in reggae since it was firstwritten are all rubbish. Reggae Bloodlines gives a good snapshot of reggaein the seventies, but it has been superseded by more up to date andcomprehensive books like Reggae, Rasta, Revolution, The Reggae Rough Guide,and Reggae Routes : The Story of Jamaican Music.

An early attempt to explain the then-exotic reggae beat.
For many non-Jamaicans,(myself included)this was the first in-depth look at the music that explodedout of that small Carribean island in the mid-seventies and took the world by storm.The main strength of the book is it's lyrical black and white photography(much clearer in the original edition, by the way.)The narrative is occaisionally over-awed,and,in hindsight,sometimes inaccurate.This is a small failing, especially when trying to make sense of a vibrant people and the music which reflects their lives.Facts,as the book points out,are notoriously hard to pin down in Jamaica.Davis and Simon deserve a vote of thanks for the first attempt to go beyond exotica and explain the people,nation and religious experience which shaped the music of Jamaica. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Reggae Heritage is a Great Buy, Valuable Information!
"Reggae Heritage" is the 21st Century Encyclopedia of Jamaica's Music History and more.
Author, Lou Gooden, takes you step by step, going into such explicit details, from his personal experience and knowledge of the industry.
"Reggae Heritage" is captivating, enlightening and even sometimes surprising, with valuable information on the biography of the artists and the legend of Reggae music.
As a direct result of reading "Reggae Heritage" and the knowledge attained, I most certainly recommend this book as a great buy.

Reggae Heritage is a "Must Have"
Reggae Heritage is a masterpiece that is packed with colorful history, factual information and a sense of humor, a book that has a value beyond words.It's controversial content that is peppered throughout the book gives readers a grounded and authentic bird's eye view of what Lou Gooden experienced first hand.I enjoyed reading Reggae Heritage, it provided many things that I did not know and found quite fascinating. I consider it to be an excellent learning tool and a "must have" ... Read more

Book Description
Jamaica is known widely for its beautiful beaches and the reggae music scene, but there is much more to this Caribbean country. Culture and Customs of Jamaica richly surveys the fuller wealth of the Caribbean nation, focusing on its people, history, religion, education, language, social customs, media and cinema, literature, music, and performing and visual arts. Jamaican Creole and the education system, which are not often discussed in volumes aimed at a general audience, are also examined here. Students and other interested readers will witness the unveiling of this complicated and unique country within this volume. Indispensable for the its insights on the making of modern Jamaica. Written by Jamaicans the island receives needed attention in this work. The history of Jamaica is well covered, from pre-Colombian times through slavery, to the impact of social activist Marcus Garvey, and the relatively new state of independence. Rastfarianism to Revivalism are covered as Jamaica's multitude of religious denominations is outlined. Various topics such as geography, demography, climate, cuisine, and the visual and performing arts are detailed. Accompanied by a chronology, this magical country comes to life in this wide-ranging volume. Anyone with an interest in Jamaica and its culture and customs will be indebted to the authors for their timely presentation. Students and general readers will find this volume indispensable. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

inna di dancehall
Dr. Hope provides an etic view of the Jamaican subcultural dis/place which is the dancehall. Her work is built on a personal anthropological perspective that adds great value to the body of work that already exist on this subject.
I look forward to her venture into the dialogue between the dancehall and rastafari. ... Read more

Book Description
Based on historical research and more than thirty years of anthropological fieldwork, this wide-ranging study underlines the importance of Caribbean cultures for anthropology, which has generally marginalized Europe's oldest colonial sphere.

Located at the gateway to the New World in the plantation heartlands of the Americas, the settlement of Martha Brae, Jamaica, has witnessed the unfolding of two distinct, yet interrelated histories. Exploring the significance of Martha Brae as a European-Caribbean slaving port in the eighteenth century, Jean Besson simultaneously uncovers the neglected tale of Martha Brae's gradual appropriation by ex-slaves and its transformation into an African-Caribbean free village, bringing the story right up into the present day.

Central to this transformation is the system of "family land", which interrelates with kinship, community, economy, cosmology, gender, oral tradition, and state law. Besson shows that this customary land tenure is not a passive survival from either Africa or Europe, as conventional theories contend, but a dynamic creole institution created by Caribbean people in response to European-American land monopoly and cultural dominance. This perspective advances debates on African-American cultural history and the anthropological study of culture. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Canadian Journal of History, published by Thomson Gale on December 1, 2005. The length of the article is 812 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Modern Blackness: Nationalism, Globalization, and the Politics of Culture in Jamaica.(Book review)
Author: Juanita de Barros
Publication: Canadian Journal of History (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 40Issue: 3Page: 572(3)

Article Type: Book review

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description
Jamaica has recently come to the attention to global strategic planners.This report puts these executives on the fast track.Ten chapters provide: an overview of how to strategically access this important market, a discussion on economic fundamentals, marketing & distribution options, export and direct investment options, and full risk assessments (political, cultural, legal, human resources).Ample statistical benchmarks and comparative graphs are given. ... Read more