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Post by messenger on Jul 6, 2004 3:42:46 GMT -5
Jimmy Cliff's Black Magic spins a web of collaborations.
Jamaican superstar Jimmy Cliff will release a new album Black Magic on August 24. The album will be on Artemis Records, the same label which has released music for international acts including the Baha Men.
This album of new songs is the first studio album from Cliff since Sunshine in the Music was released by Columbia last year.
Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics produced most of the songs on the album. Among those collaborating with Cliff on Black Magic are Sting, Annie Lennox, Kool and the Gang, Bounty Killer, Wyclef Jean and the late Joe Strummer (The Clash).
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Post by messenger on Jul 14, 2004 8:56:12 GMT -5
Wednesday, 14 July, 2004, 10:38 GMT 11:38 UK Reggae legend heads folk festival Reggae singer Jimmy Cliff is headlining the event The Cambridge Folk Festival celebrates its 40th birthday with a line-up headed by one of the biggest names in the history of reggae music, Jimmy Cliff. The festival, which started in 1964, will run from 29 July to 1 August and includes Beth Orton and Tom Robinson. Singer/songwriter Loudon Wainwright III, whose acting credits include the classic comedy Mash and Tim Burton's film Big Fish, will also be performing. The festival is being sponsored by BBC Radio 2. Also featured are indie band The Divine Comedy and folk-punk revellers the Levellers who return to the festival with an acoustic set. The Cambridge band Ezio are also playing the festival. The duo leapt to prominence when the Prime Minister Tony Blair chose one of their tracks on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. Also included on the bill are: Country music band Asleep at the Wheel Folk festival favourites the Oyster Ceilidh Band The Dixie Hummingbirds, a gospel band formed in the 1920s Portuguese diva Mariza. Pic: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/reviews/3892973.stm
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Post by messenger on Jul 21, 2004 20:33:53 GMT -5
August launch for Jimmy Cliff's latest album Observer Reporter Thursday, July 22, 2004 Black Magic, the latest album by Jimmy Cliff, will be released by Artemis Records on August 24. Produced by Dave Stewart, Black Magic features appearances by Wyclef Jean, Annie Lennox, Sting, Jools Holland, Kool and The Gang, former tennis player Yannick Noah, and one of the last ever recordings by the late Joe Strummer. Also featured on the 16-track set is dancehall maestro Bounty Killer. With over 20 albums to date, Grammy winner Jimmy Cliff has always been one of the brightest stars of Jamaica's music, and was among the first to bring reggae to a worldwide audience. Born in St James, Cliff moved to Kingston as a teenager and had his first hits, Hurricane Hattie and Dearest Beverley, with producer Lesley Kong in 1963. Their working partnership continued until Kong's death. Together they produced some of the best-known tunes of the ska era, including Miss Jamaica and King of Kings. Highlights of Cliff's stellar 40- year career include a starring role in Perry Henzel's film The Harder They Come, a 1985 Grammy for Best Reggae Recording for his album Cliff Hanger and featured vocal work with Elton John on the enormously successful Disney movie The Lion King. The track listing on Black Magic are as follows: 1) I Want I Do I Get 2) People (featuring Sting) 3) Jamaica Time 4) Dance (featuring Wyclef) 5) Fantastic Plastic People 6) Love Comes (featuring Annie Lennox) 7) Black Magic 8) The World Is Yours (Positive Mind) 9) Terror 10) Over The Border (featuring Joe Strummer) 11) War In Jerusalem 12) (Ooh, La, La, La) Let's Go Dancin (featuring Kool & The Gang & Bounty Killer. 13) The City 14) Take Your Time (featuring Yannick Noah) 15) No Problem Only Solutions 16) Good Life See Pic: www.jamaicaobserver.com/lifestyle/html/20040721T210000-0500_63211_OBS_AUGUST_LAUNCH_FOR_JIMMY_CLIFF_S_LATEST_ALBUM_.asp
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Post by traveller on Jul 21, 2004 23:00:09 GMT -5
Are some of these trax on this new CD remakes? I have some of the songs. Peace..Traveller
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Post by messenger on Jul 22, 2004 3:29:30 GMT -5
I'm not really sure, the first post says Album of new songs. Maybe they are remixed. I too have some of them, like War in Jerusalem, which is my favorite, and No Problems, Only Solutions, The World is Yours, Black Magic...... Mine is a live album, so I dunno, I'd say Re-Mix....
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Post by messenger on Jul 31, 2004 14:29:11 GMT -5
Friday July 30,2004 Cliff set for cult film sequel Cliff has remained a huge name in the reggae world Reggae legend Jimmy Cliff is to star in a sequel to the cult film that first shot him to stardom, The Harder They Come. As well as starring in the 1973 movie, Cliff also wrote the music for it, and the title track is possibly his best-known song. He told BBC World Service's The Ticket programme that his character Ivan - who was shot at the end of the first film - would be resurrected. "You saw him shot up, but you never saw him buried," he explained. New album The Harder They Come was the story of a young idealist musician in Jamaica who travelled to Kingston with the aim of hitting the big time, but instead ended up in the crime business. Cliff said that the film was a "pivotal moment" in his career. And he also explained that the story was semi-autobiographical. "Ivan was like a character I knew as kid growing up in Jamaica, who was the first outlaw, the first rebel," he recalled. "It was based on his character, but he didn't have anything to do with the music. That was the part of it to do with my life." Bob Dylan described Cliff's Vietnam as 'the best protest song ever written by anybody' The Harder They Come also featured Many Rivers To Cross on the soundtrack, regarded as one of Cliff's - and reggae's - seminal works. "They didn't even think it was a great song," Cliff stated. "But after they put it in the scene in the movie it took off." Other of Cliff's songs include Wonderful World, Beautiful People and Vietnam, described by Bob Dylan as "the best protest song ever written by anybody." As well as the new film, Cliff has also released a new album, Black Magic, which includes collaborations with Wyclef Jean, Sting and Annie Lennox. The album includes a number of political songs, most notably Terror (September 11) and War In Jerusalem. Cliff said that the name of the record came from the surprising ease with which it was put together. "It just came together like magic," he explained. "The word got out that I was making a new album, and all the people that have appreciated my music over the years just magically came along." And Cliff added that he remained highly ambitious, even 30 years after his big breakthrough. "My goal was really to conquer the world," he said. "I have established myself in the world but I haven't conquered it. So there is still a bit to do." See Pics: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3940647.stm
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Post by messenger on Aug 22, 2004 9:14:26 GMT -5
CLIFF'S NOTES
By DAN AQUILANTE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- August 22, 2004 -- Who's the most important man in the history of reggae? Don't say Bob Marley's name too fast - you'd only be half right. If Marley was the heart and soul of the music of Jamaica, Jimmy Cliff, 56, remains its backbone.
It was the underrated and underappreciated Cliff who helped Marley make his first recording - and it was Cliff's starring role as the outlaw folk-hero in the 1972 movie "The Harder They Come" (also featuring four of Cliff's songs on the soundtrack) - that ushered reggae music to the forefront of popular consciousness in the early '70s.
Yet it doesn't bother Cliff that Marley gets all the credit for the genre.
"It comes down to what an individual wants in life," Cliff told The Post.
"I didn't want to be known as the king of reggae. I wanted to be involved in all types of music. Bob got what he deserved and I got what I deserved . . . and wanted. I'm still here today making music like 'Black Magic.'"
That's the name of his new CD, out Tuesday, and the kind of album the singer wanted to make all his life. It isn't just reggae, although the unmistakable beat is woven into many songs. It's an eclectic collection that reflects the tastes of an artist who has refused to be limited by one style.
While Cliff has never been a megastar here in the States, he is one of the most respected men among musicians. So there's no surprise that Sting, Annie Lennox and Wyclef Jean, among other artists, feature in duets with Cliff on his new disc. There's even a track pairing Cliff with the late Joe Strummer in the Clash singer's last recording.
Cliff, who has homes in Jamaica, Paris and London, is on a rare concert tour of America supporting "Black Magic," which he'll try to conjure at a New York gig this Thursday at B.B. King's Blues Club.
Your new record opens with "I Want, I Do, I Get," a song that would fit into a hip-hop, rock or reggae radio format.
That was the intention. At this point in my career, I am allowed to be Jimmy Cliff. I am an artist whose music goes in many different directions.
You tried to do that years ago on the "Unlimited" album and people hated it.
On that album I was denied the right to make music other than reggae.
Does that make you angry when you look back?
My emotions are mixed. I consider myself a music pioneer. Any pioneer, whether he is a scientist, musician or explorer, is criticized for new ideas and later, as time passes, is praised as a genius. The world has caught up with Jimmy Cliff.
For many Americans, the film "The Harder They Come" was an introduction to reggae.
That was a landmark in movie and music history - that's why it still has an impact even today. The social message of "The Harder They Come" even translates to the hip-hop generation. I believe the rights to the story have been sold to an American to make a rap version of it.
There are rumors that you have a sequel planned.
I've been working on just that.
But your character is gunned down and dies at the end of the original.
That's a problem. You see my character get shot, but you never see him buried - that's the open door to bring him back.
"The Harder they Come" is a movie with music, morality and violence. It seems filmmakers these days would want to emphasize the violence.
That's a concern. I want to be really careful with the sequel because I have to get the morality and the politics in it.
Was America slower than the rest of the world in appreciating reggae?
The first place on the planet outside of Jamaica where I got acceptance was Africa. It also happened in South America. I think the people of those places - for whatever reasons - relate to my music more than they would to Britney Spears-style pop, for instance, but Britney has her place in music, too.
What do you expect of your new album?
Success in any album is about how many people you reach. I want as many people as possible to feel and hear this. I want to inspire young people. And just like anybody else, I'd like to sell millions of albums. I enjoy living well.
What do you want to inspire the youth to do?
To appreciate life, to live better. We have moved away from the important things.
Like what?
Family, care and concern for neighbors. When I was a boy in the country, every mother was a mother and every father was a father, not only for their own biological seed, but every child in the community. This is what kept society and civilization together.
It's not like that today?
No, we're in a time of decadence. But remember, when something is decaying, there is always something being born.
That's what one of your songs, "Many Rivers to Cross," says. Many rank that one as one of the greatest songs in modern music.
That one came to me at one of the deep moments of my life, and I suppose that's why so many people relate to it.
Did you know how great it was then?
I just though I had a good song. I put it on the album as a filler song. People only took notice of it after it was used in scenes for "The Harder They Come." Yes, that is a good song, and my new album also has some very good songs, but my best song is still inside me.
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Post by Irieway420 on Aug 22, 2004 14:57:58 GMT -5
Cool article, Jimmy Cliff with a new movie, and new music. He's so smooth. Keep giving us that smile! ;D
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Post by messenger on Sept 7, 2004 19:24:58 GMT -5
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