SKA PIONEER ERNEST RANGLIN AT GLOBAL SOL
FESTIVAL IN
HOUSE
OF HAMSA PRESENTS WITH SUNSET PROMOTIONS, HOUSE
& GARDEN AND UNITED EARTH NETWORKS~GLOBAL SOL~A 2 NIGHT URBAN MUSIC
FESTIVAL, BENEFIT & DANCE PARTY FEATURING GRAMMY AWARD WINNING ARTISTS: ARRESTED
DEVELOPMENT WITH ERNEST RANGLIN & HAMSA LILA
August 6 & 7,
2010<br>
Craneway
Pavilion,
FEATURED MUSICAL ARTISTS:<br>
Arrested Development, Ernest
Ranglin, Hamsa Lila, EOTO, Afrolicious, Yossi Fine, Kenge Kenge, Fabian
Alsultany, Motion Potion, MC Rai
Ernest
Ranglin best known for his session work at the famed
Studio One, helped give birth to the ska genre in the
late 1950s.
Some
credit Ranglin with the invention of the core style
of guitar play (sometimes known as "scratching") found in nearly all ska music.
Ranglin played on many classic Jamaican recordings,
and he performed with artists such as Jimmy Cliff, Monty Alexander, Prince
Buster, The Skatalites
and the Eric Deans Orchestra. He has also explored other styles of
music, notably blending jazz and reggae.
As
child, Ranglin had two uncles who played guitar and
ukulele. After watching them play, he practiced on their instruments, and stood
in for one of them when they failed to turn up for a recording session,
impressing his other uncle so much that he was given the instrument for his
seventh birthday.
He
built his own guitar using a sardine can and wires, before progressing to a
real one. He moved with his family to
Charlie
Christian was an early influence. Aged 15, he joined the Val Bennett band, and
went on to play with the Eric Deans band and Count Boysie.
By
the early 1950s, Ranglin had become a proficient jazz
guitarist and toured overseas.
In
1958, Chris Blackwell recorded a Ranglin
single, which was one of the first releases on Blackwell's R&B label, and a
live album split between Ranglin and Lance Haywood
was the first to be released by Blackwell.
Around
1959, he joined Cluett Johnson's band the Blues
Blasters, recording several tracks for Coxsone
Dodd at Studio One, including "Shuffling Jug", regarded as one of
the first ska recordings.
In
1962, the James Bond film Dr. No was filmed in
In
1964, Ranglin played guitar on singer Millie Small 's
"My Boy Lollipop ", the first Jamaican song to achieve international
success.
Ranglin recorded two jazz albums in the mid-1960s for
the Merritone label - Wranglin
(1964) and Reflections (1965), also working for Duke Reid as a musical director
at the Treasure Isle recording studio during this period.
He
made several solo records for Island Records, as well as collaborating with Prince
Buster.
He
returned to session work, arranging songs such as the Melodians
' "Rivers of Babylon" and playing guitar leads in the Wailers'
"It Hurts to Be Alone”.
During
the late 1960s and the 1970s, Ranglin was much in
demand as a studio musician and arranger, working with top Jamaican producers
such as Dodd, Lee "Scratch" Perry, and Clancy Eccles and
toured with Jimmy Cliff in the 1970s.
In
1973 he was awarded the Order of Distinction from the Jamaican Government for
his contributions to music.
In
2006, he was the subject of a documentary covering his career - Roots Of Reggae: The Ernest Ranglin
Story, produced and written by Arthur Gorson.
In
2008, he was inducted into the
If
you’d like more information about the show please contact Karin Conn Public Relations at 415.507.9797 or e-mail at
karin@connsf.net