Doors at 9:00 pm; Show at 9:30 pm
Tickets are $25 advance / $30 day of show
Any time Don Carlos returns to Ashkenaz, it is an event. The reggae giant has performed here many times over the decades, and tonight is backed by the Dub Vision band, which has accompanied Carlos for more than 15 years. Don Carlos will include many of his hits, as well as more recent songs such as “Gimme Your Love,” “Harmony,” and “Righteous Chant,” and he usually includes requests. This is classic, conscious reggae of the highest order. A singer whose lyrical messages echo the spiritual side of the late Bob Marley, Don Carlos has led the cause of conscious reggae for more than three decades.
Born Euvin Spencer, he grew up in the impoverished Waterhouse district of Kingston, Jamaica, along with other future reggae greats including King Tubby, King Jammy, and Junior Reid. Carlos started popular Jamaican vocal trio Black Uhuru in 1973, then left for a solo career in the ’80s and ’90s that began with his solo album debut, “Suffering,” along the way joining a reunion of the original members of Black Uhuru in 1992. For most of his life Carlos has been an influential singer of conscious lyrics – songs of peace, love, politics, understanding, freedom – all driven by the classic reggae sounds and dance rhythms he helped popularize in such albums as “Day to Day Living” and “Them Never Know a Natty Dread.”
Ever since they were brought together as the backing band for Don Carlos, Oakland-based Dub Vision has flaunted a passionate, energetic force that has earned fans worldwide. Dub Vision consists of some of the powerhouse reggae musicians on the U.S. West Coast, including Hodge, Toho, Night Sun, Jamie, Gavin, Balboa, Tony, Gabe, Wadi Gad, and other guest musicians combining hundreds of years of musical experience. The band has toured with Don Carlos since 1999, traversing North America, Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia. Other artists Dub Vision has backed include Dillinger, Charlie Chaplin, Sister Carol, Everton Blender, and many more.
With original music filled with spiritual insights and teachings, Oakland’s Reggae Angels spend most of their time on the road spreading the message. Launched in 1992 by Fenton Wardle (he and Cynthia Roots are the lead vocalists, and now include Fenton’s singing daughter Angelica Wardle), the Reggae Angels quickly gained a reputation as both the best backing band and leaders on their own. In addition to their own tours, the Reggae Angels have done a 50-city U.S. tour with Andrew Tosh and toured with and backed a who’s who of top names in reggae (Sugar Minott, Big Youth, the Abyssinians, Frankie Paul, Everton Blender, and Don Carlos, to name a few), in North and South America and Hawaii. The Reggae Angels are well-known not just for their dynamic rhythmic grooves, but also for their universal message of guidance and inspiration, with lyrics affirming wisdom, generosity, and gratitude. The Reggae Angels have their own recording studio in Oakland called The Workshop, where they help produce other artists as well as their own works.
