KINGSTON – All eyes were on the “Roots of Reggae: The Ernest Ranglin Story”, a documentary on Jamaica’s world class guitarist Ernie Ranglin featured last night at the US Embassy’s “The Blues… and then some” film series at Red Bones Blues Café in Kingston.
As an added treat, the musical genius himself, Ernie Ranglin was on hand with Brian Jobson, one of the film’s directors, to answer questions from the audience.
“Roots of Reggae: The Ernest Ranglin Story” parallels Ranglin’s career with the growth of ska and reggae music around the world. It features extensive reflections with Ernie Ranglin, and exclusive on screen commentary by Chris Blackwell, Jimmy Cliff, Rico Rodriquez, Perry Henzell, Damian Marley, Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare among others.
The film is the first Jamaican feature to be added to the Embassy series now in its third year. “We have been looking for Jamaican films to include in the series, and I believe we started with a winner,” said Glenn Guimond, Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy.
In honor of Black History Month the Embassy is running the series every Thursday during the month of February. The third film “Lightning in a Bottle” will be on February 15. It documents a gig from February 2003, held at New York’s historic Radio City Music Hall, celebrating 100 years of blues music.
The film series is part of the activities planned by the United States Embassy’s Office of Public Affairs in support of African American History Month. Other events to take place include two lectures in association with the Jamaica National Bicentenary Committee and a free Blues concert featuring Chicago Blues singer Zora Young as well as Jamaica’s own A.J. Brown, Dean Fraser and the Maurice Gordon Group. This will be held on Friday, February 23 at the Devon House in Kingston.
