Roots Reggae Returns
Everton Blender was one of the most prominent reggae musicians and producers in Jamaica in the ’90s, and his smooth tenor, up-tempo arrangements, and spiritually uplifting themes still resonate in 2016 at the crossroads of roots reggae and dancehall. Today’s club scenes tend to pull reggae’s pure and simple sounds into the realm of the shallow and hyper-sexualized, but “if the people tell you that them want rubbish,” Blender says, resist and lean back toward tradition. “Always righteousness. That’s what we’re working for.” His show – performed outside, if the weather holds – helps draw MASS MoCA’s summer music series to a close.
Everton Blender: Saturday at 8 p.m. $5-$16. MASS MoCA, 1040 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams. (413) 662-2111, massmoca.org.
— Hunter Styles
