Customer Reviews

A Reggae Session

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This concert is OK at best. I still remember watching it on cable back in the late '80s (1988?). Bunny Wailer and Jimmy Cliff turn in the best performances. I still vividly remember Bunny Wailer singing "Rise and Shine" and Jimmy Cliff singing "Hanging Fire." Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, if I recall correctly, only perform one song and Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders turns in an OK performance (although much better than the ragged turn she gives on the "One Love -- All Star Tribute to Bob Marley" DVD.
So, bottomline, if you saw this concert back in the '80s and still remember it, then it's worth buying. But if you haven't seen it, then you're not missing much. If it they had split the stage time between Ziggy Marley, Jimmy Cliff and Bunny Wailer, this would be a worthy purchase.
Try buying "Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers Live at the Palladium" and "Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers Live" instead. Also, take a chance with Peter Tosh's "Captured Live." (these are all on DVD).

"A Reggie Session" (1988) is an all star, all-singing, all dancing outdoor concert, recorded live at Fort Charles, Jamaica. To get to first things first, I don't doubt that it was shown on Public Broadcasting System stations in 1988, although it was not done for PBS, but rather for Cinemax-- the old "Cinemax Sessions" series that started in the mid 80's. Either way, I don't remember it; and I hardly think a purchasing decision as to whether to get this needs to be dependent on whether you do. It was an informal concert that burst with upbeat music, immediacy and emotion, so much so that it was sometimes hard to tell the audience from the performers. Featured are some of the greatest names of reggae, and some sons of the greatest names, too.

Bunny Wailer gives us electric versions of "Roots, Radics, Rockers and Reggae," and "Rise and Shine." Ziggy Marley, cute son of the great reggae star Bob Marley, performs a pulsating "Conscious Party." Chrissie Hynde, formerly of the Pretenders, steps lively on "Waiting in Vain," and "Steppin'Razor," in tribute to Marley, and Peter Tosh. Native Jamaican Grace Jones, who must stand at least seven feet tall in an outrageous hat, does just fine with "My Jamaican Guy." The hard-working Toots Hibbert gives us a high-energy Jamaican version of John Denver's "Country Roads," and a great call and response "5446 Was My Number." The Neville Brothers give us two hard-rocking tunes: Carlos Santana joins them as guitar god for both, and, for once, Aaron Neville gets to just hang out and play with the brothers, rather than singing lead.

Jimmy Cliff is introduced as the man who's played his way through ska, rock steady, and reggae. He brings along his own fire-eater, semi in the audience (several of the stars carried subsidiary performers along with them) for "Hanging Fire." The show's stars all join Cliff onstage for the finale, "The Harder They Come," and there is joy --joy-- among the singing, dancing performers, and in the singing, dancing audience.

If you are gloating right now because you have tickets to Jamaica for Christmas in your desk drawer, accompanied by tickets to a great outdoor reggae concert at Ft. Charles, then I guess you don't need this DVD, although I don't know why you wouldn't want it. Or if you have too much joy in your life, I guess you wouldn't want it. Otherwise, it's rare that the world throws up a concert with so many stars together, and it's rarer still that you can get this much joy for less than $20.

This is one of the series of 15 or so All-Star Sessions produced to be aired on TV as Cinemax Sessions in 1987-89. The best of the are Tell It like It Is (Neville Brothers, Greg Allman, etc.), Fats and Friends (Fats, Jerry Lee and Ray Charles), Black and White Night (Roy Orbison, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello et al), Paul Simon Gospel Session (Jennifer Holiday, Luther Vandross, Oak Ridge Boys, Mighty Clouds or Joy, and many more), Blues Session (B. B. King, Albert King, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Gladys Knight, Etta James and more), Soul Session (Aretha Franklin, James Brown, and more), Latin Salsa Session, Sarah Vaugnn Session (Sassy and horns with Dizzy Gillespie, Maynord Furgusen, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, et al. with an amazing solo by Don Cherry), and a bunch more.
This is the treasure trove of All-Star sessions that started the rest.

I recorded this on VHS back in 88. I've been searching for it on DVD for years ! SO happy to find it....I think every performance is fabulous ! Can't wait to receive it in the mail

a reggae fan and or lovers of good music and perfomances will never regret having this in their collection.