Sir Coxsone (credit – Facebook)
Sir Coxsone and the Mad Professor are set to hit District in Liverpool, Getintothis’ Mark Holt has the low down on this most delicious of reggae line ups.
Positive Vibration bring more of the reggae world’s top flight heavy hitters to District on Friday, this time with two of the genres finest producers and remixers bringing some heavy dub to Liverpool’s burgeoning reggae scene.
Sir Coxsone Outernational Sound System is operated and run by Lloyd Blackford who first created the sound system in 1968 and named it after one of reggae’s founding fathers, the great Sir Coxsone Dodd.
Lloyd was born in 1945 and moved to Wandsworth from Jamaica in 1962 where he built and ran his infamous Sound System from 65 up to the early 90’s before moving into semi-retirement and handing the reigns to such up and coming reggae luminaries as Blacker Dread and Scientist.
This retirement lasted around 25 years and in 2015 Lloyd returned to his beloved system and retained the controls at the request of the Kingston Dub Club in Jamaica.
Festus (Lloyd’s long time. friend and selector) and the main man have been moving crowds with their bass heavy, superior dub plates from Jamaica’s top stars ever since.
The Mad Professor aka Neil Fraser was born in Guyana in 1955 and moved to the UK at the age of 13, he became known as the Mad Professor as a child due to his love of electronics.
He started his music career as a service technician, but after amassing a collection of studio equipment he eventually started the world renown ‘Ariwa Sounds’ record label and 4 track studio in his bedroom at Thornton Heath in 1979.
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My first introduction to this Digital genius was hearing the album ‘Mad Professor Captures Pato Banton’ in 1985 and I was hooked.
MP was essentially the British answer to the ‘Jammy’s’ record label in Jamaica, but I reckon better, deeper and harder.
The artists he has worked with in subsequent years is truly astounding, from reggae legends like Jah Shaka, Horace Andy, Yellowman and Pato Banton to remixing tracks for such mainstream artists as Sade, The Orb, The KLF, Beastie Boys, Jamiroquai, Rancid, Depeche Mode, Perry Farrell and of course the much anticipated 2019 release of Massive Attack vs Mad Professor Part II (Mezzanine Remix Tapes ’98).
Reggae nights don’t get much more important than this one and it’s in our backyard, get your tickets quick (if there are any left!!)
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