1/25/2011

Dancehall: the Carribean book launch

Great news for all those of you who have been looking for a reason to head for warmer climes – as if the weather this week wasn’t enough!

The University of the West Indies' Institute of Caribbean Studies and the UOP invite one and all to attend the launch of DanceHall: From Slave Ship to Ghetto by Dr. Sonjah Stanley Niaah. You’ll likely need a plane to get there, but who can say no to a Jamaican vacation?

Stanley Niaah’s book is the first to document the cultural significance of dancehall, a genre of popular Jamaican music that combines reggae, digital instrumentation and rapid-fire DJ lyrics. Dancehall music came into vogue in Jamaica during the 1980s, and its popularity continues to grow around the world. In DanceHall, Stanley Niaah examines over 400 years of Black Atlantic performance history through the eyes of a native Jamaican, and links it to other genres of music including as American blues, South African kwaito, and Latin American reggaetòn.

The launch will certainly be one for the books (if you’ll forgive the pun,) and will feature conversations with Professors Brian Meeks and Wilma Bailey as well as Jerome Hamilton, the Executive Director at Headline Entertainment, and the beautiful and talented Nadine Sutherland, Recording Artist. As an extra treat, the after party will include a performance by Stone Love, one of the veteran sound systems featured in the book, as well as some other surprises.

Monday, January 31, 2011
Rex Nettleford Hall, Multipurpose Room
University of West Indies, Mona Campus
6:00pm

To help you all get in the right frame of mind for this groundbreaking launch, check out one of Sonjah Stanley Niaah’s favourite dancehall songs:

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