Russell Hall: "Concrete Jungle: The Music of Bob Marley" @ Dizzy's - New York City Article

Russell Hall:
“Concrete Jungle: The Music of Bob Marley”
Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola
Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall
Broadway at 60th Street, 5th Floor
Tuesday February 5 & Wednesday February 6
For information and reservations, please click here:

So far this is the first salute to the reggae pioneer in honor of what would have been his 75th birthday (had he not died of cancer at age 36), but I doubt that we shall see a better one. His young countryman, Jamaican-born bassist and bandleader (and occasional vocalist) Russell Hall has assembled a first rate band, spotlighting four inspired vocalists, and put together a truly terrific show. Featured singers are Vuyo Sotashe (who crooned “Is it Love” in a high baritone that suggested the legendary Sam Cooke), the always-impressive, statuesque Shenel Johns, and that remarkable duo, The Lady Bugs ((Martina DaSilva & Vanessa Perea, on “Buffalo Soldiers,” among others), and that’s the just the singers - the rest of the ensemble included, three horns (tenor saxophone, trumpet, trombone), a dreadlocked Mattias Picard on keyboards, a virtuoso drummer and two guitarists, Gabe Shapiro and Nick Russo, the latter doubling banjo. It was a production that not only suggested a hybrid (obviously informed by the example and the spirit of Monty Alexander as well as Marley) between jazz and reggae, but between a concert and a theatrical revue. Here’s hoping this isn’t the last time the top-hatted Mr. Hall gets this 14-piece (?) collective together to celebrate the amazing Bob Marley, but just in case it is, you better chuck on down to Dizzy’s tonight for some redemption songs.

PS: to read more about Marley, and find out why he’s so imminently worthy of celebration, please check out my story in the Wall Street Journal: Bop Marley's Enduring Mysteries.