Musical tour in Jamaica (2005 till now)

At least once a year Michelle (founder of Black Star Foundation) brings a visit to Jamaica and its capital Kingston. Over the years several Dutch artists have been traveling with her to this beautiful island for a musical tour. E.g. Brainpower came to Jamaica to record a video clip with the legendary Yellowman and Michelle accompanied a film crew in Kingston for a Dutch TV program with host Chris Zegers and singer/songwriter Tim Knol. Read more here...

Michelle
Michelle already went to Jamaica in the 90's. In 1993 she visited her brother Tim, who did research for his study in Kingston. In 1996 Michelle and her 2 brothers returned to the island for the marriage of good friend and Reggae artist Floyd Lloyd. They stayed a few weeks at Ska legend Justin Hinds and his family in Steertown, a small village located in St. Ann, the province in the North of Jamaica where Bob Marley was born and raised.

Michelle loves to travel and she visits Jamaica at least once a year. Through time she knows her way around the island, especially in Kingston town, the beating heart of the Jamaican music business. Michelle discovered beautiful spots, good studios and has many good and reliable local contacts in the music industry, so she can give her fellow travellers a safe and pleasant Jamaica experience, focussed on reggae music.

Michelle with Johnny Moore (Skatalites) at the legendary Studio One

Den-Den
December 2005 / January 2006, Selector Den-Den (Black Star Sound) came to Jamaica with Michelle for the first time. They stayed at the Hinds family in Steertown and traveled the whole island from there for various reggae events, such as Stur Gav Soundsystem in Lucy, Unity Splash in Sav La Mar and Teen Splash at James Bond beach. In Steven Stanley Studios (Kingston) they have recorded 2 riddims (drum/bass) with the Firehouse Crew.

Den-Den and King Yellowman

In 2008, Michelle and Den-Den went to Jamaica again. Among many other things, they have met Yellowman (see photo above) and recorded a single with him. Since 2009 Michelle and Den-Den visit the annual Rebel Salute Festival in Jamaica (mid-January) and they stay in the capital Kingston town for studio recordings for Black Star Sound and Black Star label. Den-Den also likes to visit various record stores in Jamaica to expand the record collection of Black Star Sound.

Den-Den at Tuff Gong Record store

Lady K-Wida
January 2009 Lady K-Wida came along with Black Star crew Den-Den and Michelle. They visited Rebel Salute Festival (see photo below) and went to Kingston to record some songs. In Anchor Studios Black Star recorded two new riddims with Firehouse Crew, as well as the tune Bad Girls by K-Wida and Lady G. In Negril Yellowman invited K-Wida on stage during one of his shows and they performed One Man Woman together. Check the video here!

K-Wida and Tarrus Riley backstage at Rebel Salute Festival 2009

Brainpower
The cooperation began when Brainpower found out that Black Star Foundation was collaborating with Yellowman. Yellowman is one of the first DJ's (80-ties), an inspiration for rap and hiphop music in the US. Yellowman is a big hero for Brainpower, which eventually resulted in two combination tunes.

Brainpower at the house of Peter Tosh

January 2010 Black Star crew and Brainpower went to Jamaica. In Negril, Brainpower could perform with Yellowman! After a relaxing week at the beautiful beach of Negril, a visit to the home of Peter Tosh (see photo above), the Appleton Rum Estate and Rebel Salute Festival, the crew went to Kingston. Brainpower recorded a video clip and mini-documentary with Yellowman. Black Star Sound also mixed a riddim and recorded two dubplates with the legendary John Holt (see photo below).

Brainpower with John Holt

Hit The Road
In September 2012 BNN broadcasted the program 'Hit the Road'. Michelle accompanied a Dutch film crew of Endemol, presenter Chris Zegers and singer/songwriter Tim Knol to Kingston (Jamaica).

Tim Knol, Carron McGibbon (Unit3), Michelle and Chris Zegers in Jamaica

Michelle arranged various film locations and transportation for the crew, but also the band Unit3 to back-up Tim Knol. They went to Alpha Boys School, Bob Marley Museum and Tuff Gong Studios to record Tim Knol's biggest hit Sam in Reggae style. In addition, they went to buy records at Techniques Record store, and to parties like Stone Love Sound system's party Weddy Weddy Wednesdays and Tim Knol met the legendary Toots Hibbert. Watch Hit The Road here

Leah Rosier
In 2015, 2016 and 2018 the female reggae artist Leah Rosier from Amsterdam went to Jamaica with Black Star. In 2015, in a period of only 3 weeks, she did 6 performances (check the movie here!), recorded 4 new songs, shot material for 6 video clips (like Rude Boy) and was interviewed live on Bess FM, one of the largest national radio stations in Jamaica.

Leah Rosier in Jamaica

In 2016 Michelle and Leah visited many parties in Kingston! Leah also did several interviews, made recordings for the video clip 'One Day' and performed on Vinyl Thursdays in Kingston (check the movie on Facebook).

In 2018 Leah performed again at different events, like Inner City Dub and Vinyl Thursdays (watch the movie here)! Besides that, Michelle shot a new video from Leah for the song 'Smile Vibe High' from her latest album 'The Black Star Tracks'. Coming soon...!

Leah Rosier during video shoot in Botanical Gardens in Kingston (2018)

DJ Dab
DJ Dab (Skank Around Sound, especially known from the Reggaebomb parties in Utrecht) had never been to Jamaica yet and asked Black Star for a musical tour (January 2016).

DJ Dab with Black Star crew in Negril, Jamaica (2016)

After spending a relaxing week in Negril and a tourist trip to Roaring River, they went to Rebel Salute Festival (St. Ann) and then to the capital Kingston, where they visited a number of parties (Dub Club, Rae Town, Weddy Weddy Wednesdays, Vinyl Thursdays) and some studios, such as Studio One.

SBMG
In October 2016 Michelle accompanied the Rap / Hip hop / Dancehall crew SBMG and their label Top-Notch to Jamaica for recordings for their upcoming album 'No Mickey Mouse Business'. The group recorded a video clip for 'Caribbean', one of the new songs on their album.

SBMG while recording a video clip in Jamaica

They also recorded a live riddim for the tune 'At At' at Anchor Recording Studios in Kingston with the original Firehouse Crew! End 2016 the album and video clip were released, including a documentaire of the whole trip: Part 1 / Part 2

SBMG crew recording with Firehouse Crew at Anchor Studios

Rastaplas crew
Michelle showed the organisation of Rastaplas festival around in Kingston (October 2016). Rastaplas is a yearly reggae festival in Zoetermeer, Holland and the promotor of the festival invited two volunteers (Erik and Danny) to the reggae eiland. They stayed in Negril, but they also wanted to see Kingston town... So Michelle took them to different places, like Cross Roads, Studio One, Channel 1, Trenchtown, Tivoli Gardens, Bob Marley Museum and they closed the evening with a soundsystem party by Stone Love (Weddy Weddy Wednesdays). Jamaica, no problem!

Ivo (Rastaplas) with Bongo Herman

Black Star Sound
In 2016 Black Star Sound played at Vinyl Thursdays in Kingston and they played a 40-minute dubplate selection on Bess FM (Jamaican national radio). In January 2017 Michelle arranged 6 different performances for Black Star Sound in Jamaica! The tour was supported by the Performing Arts Fund NL.

Black Star Jamaica tour 2017

January 2018 Black Star Sound returned to Jamaica whereby Den-Den played vinyl on 2 different events in Kingston!

Joggo
January 2018 Joggo came to the island of Jamaica for 10 days, mainly for relaxation and inspiration. Together with Michelle and Leah Rosier, who was also there that same period, they had dinner with Yellowman, visited the Bob Marley museum plus some recording studios like Soundwave, Tuff Gong and Sugar Minott Studios. They also had fresh fish at the beautiful beach of Portmore and Michelle showed them the different sides of the party scene in Kingston, with parties like DubClub, Innercity Dub, Mature Mondays, Boasy Tuesday, Weddy Weddy Wednesdays and Vinyl Thursdays. A week full of reggae music!

Joggo and Leah Rosier at Bob Marley Birthday Celebration

Delidel Touch
Delidel Touch is a Cape Verdian reggae band from Rotterdam (Holland). Jorge (singer) and his brother Anibal (producer) are working on their long-awaited debuut album. So they are joining Black Star Foundation to Jamaica, to mix some of their recorded tracks for the album! The brothers were planning to come to Jamaica in February 2019, but unfortunately it never happened yet.

Erik Jan Harmens
Black Star Foundation and Dutch author/poet Erik Jan Harmens are planning to go to Jamaica to record a Dubpoetry album and release this as travel report/book with CD. The trip has been planned for 2022...

You?
Do you also want to go to Jamaica for e.g. recordings for your new album, video clip(s), or a cooperation with a Jamaican reggae artists, bands or sound engineers, and you don't have the right contacts yourself, please contact Michelle by e-mail or phone (+31646041420).