Dennis Bovell

Dennis Bovell

born on 22/5/1953 in Saint Peter, Barbados

Dennis Bovell

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Dennis Bovell

Dennis Bovell (born 22 May 1953, Saint Peter, Barbados, West Indies) is a reggae guitarist, bass player and record producer. He was a member of the British reggae band Matumbi,[1] and released dub-reggae records under his own name as well as the pseudonym 'Blackbeard'.[2] He is most widely known for his decades-spanning collaborations with Linton Kwesi Johnson. [1]

Biography

Bovell moved with his family to South London at the age of twelve. He became immersed in Jamaican culture, particularly dub music, and set up his own Jah Sufferer sound system.[3] Running the sound system brought trouble from the police and Bovell was imprisoned for six months on remand, but was later released on appeal.[3] Bovell was friends at school with future rock musicians including keyboardist Nick Straker and record producer Tony Mansfield, both of whom later worked with Bovell.[3]

Bovell also worked as an engineer at Dip Records, the precursor to the Lovers Rock label, and he was a key figure in the early days of the lovers rock genre. He is also known for attempting to fuse disco rhythms with reggae, most notably with the hit song "Silly Games" by Janet Kay.

He has produced albums by a wide variety of artists including I-Roy, The Thompson Twins, Sharon Shannon, Alpha Blondy, Bananarama, The Pop Group, Fela Kuti,[4] The Slits,[5] Orange Juice and Madness. He has collaborated with poet, Linton Kwesi Johnson for much of his working life.[1]

Bovell also co-wrote and co-produced the majority of material by British reggae singer Bobby Kray.[6]

In 1980, he wrote the score for Franco Rosso's film Babylon. Bovell has also written music for the 1983 television drama The Boy Who Won the Pools and Global Revolution (2006).[7]

In the BBC's Reggae Britannia, Bovell related a tale of strange goings on in the leafy London suburb of Barnes, where the John Hassell Recordings studio was based in a residential house, in a quiet street at 21 Nassau Road. John Hassell, aided by his wife Felicity, cut reggae dub-plates with such finesse and understanding, that the studio's output was to feed Sound systems throughout the UK.

In 2012, Bovell produced Mek It Run, his latest album.[8]

Discography

  • Strictly Dub Wize (1978), Tempus - as Blackbeard
  • I Wah Dub (1980), More Cut/EMI - as Blackbeard
  • Dub Conference (Winston Edwards & Blackbeard At 10 Downing Street) (1980), Studio 16 - with Winston Edwards
  • Brain Damage (1981), Fontana
  • Audio Active (1986), Moving Target - as Dennis Bovell and the Dub Band
  • Dub Dem Silly (1993), Arawak
  • Tactics (1994), LKJ
  • Dub of Ages (2003), LKJ
  • All Over the World (2006)
  • Dub Dem Silly Volume 2 (2006), Arawak - Dennis Bovell featuring Janet Kay
  • Corean Jamaican Connection, Powerslave - Yoonkee meets Dennis Bovell
  • Dub Outside (2011), Double Six - Steve Mason & Dennis Bovell
  • Mek It Run (2012), Pressure Sounds[8]

Compilations

  • Decibel: More Cuts and Dubs 1976-1983 (2003), Pressure Sounds
  • Dub Master (1993), Jamaican Gold
  • Vibrativa - Mas Que Mirar (2010), Sonofotron Records

Appearances

See also: Matumbi (band)#Discography
See also: Linton Kwesi Johnson#Discography

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Veal, Michael E. (2007). Dub, p. 231233, Wesleyan University Press. URL accessed 2009-05-26.
  2. Thompson, Dave (2002) "Reggae & Caribbean Music", Backbeat Books, ISBN 0-87930-655-6
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Larkin, Colin (1998) The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae, Virgin Books, ISBN 0-7535-0242-9, p.35-36
  4. Cumming, Tim, Dennis Bovell: The dub master - Features, Music - The Independent, www.independent.co.uk, 31 March 2006. URL accessed on 2009-05-26.
  5. Barbican - Dennis Bovell and the Dub Band. www.barbican.org.uk. Retrieved on 2009-05-26.
  6. Lester, Paul, No 122: Bobby Kray, The Guardian, Guardian News and Media Limited, 13 June 2007. URL accessed on 2009-05-06.
  7. Dennis Bovell (I). www.imdb.com. Retrieved on 2009-05-26.
  8. 8.0 8.1 Jeffries, David (2012-07-17). Mek It Run - Dennis Bovell : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards. AllMusic. Retrieved on 2012-09-17.

External links

  • Dennis Bovell page at LKJ Records
  • Dennis Bovell page on MySpace
This page was last modified 04.03.2014 05:18:40

This article uses material from the article Dennis Bovell from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.