105 / 116
7:30 PM THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 2018
PAVILION
MATISYAHU
–Intermission–
STEPHEN MARLEY
†
†
Ravinia debut
MATISYAHU
Born in Pennsylvania and raised in New York,
Matisyahu was first interested in jam-band mu-
sic like the Grateful Dead and Phish in his teens
before becoming enamored of reggae and hip-
hop. Around the same time, he grew closer to his
orthodox Jewish roots and began fusing those
themes with his reggae in concert, signing with
the Jewish label JDub Records to release
Shake
Off the Dust … Arise
in 2004. While touring the
following year, a concert at the famous Austin,
TX, venue Stubb’s was recorded for a live album,
nationally released by Epic Records around the
STEPHEN MARLEY
The second son of cultural icon Bob Marley,
Stephen Marley first entered the family music
trade at age 7 as a singer on “Children Playing
in the Streets,” a charity single recorded by his
elder siblings’ band Melody Makers to benefit
UNICEF. Around the same time, Stephen made
several concert appearances alongside his father
and The Wailers before settling in as a guitarist
and occasional singer and songwriter forMelody
Makers, which by the late 1980s was formally led
by his brother Ziggy. The group began regularly
appearing at the Reggae Sunsplash and touring
internationally, leading to a record deal with
Virgin and working with Talking Heads mem-
bers Tina Weymouth and Chris Franz on pro-
duction of the Melody Makers discs
Conscious
Party
(1988) and
One Bright Day
(1989), both of
which won Grammys for Best Reggae Album.
Stephen turned his own hand to production in
the mid-’90s, working on albums by his young-
er brothers Julian and Damian and contribut-
ing remixes to the Fugees’ disc
Bootleg Versions
(1996). Marley subsequently produced tracks
for such artists as Krayzie Bone, Erykah Badu,
and Eve, and in 1999 spearheaded
Chant Down
Babylon
, a compilation of remixed classics from
his father’s catalogue. He began working on his
debut solo album in the early 2000s, but contin-
ued collaborations with his brothers—produc-
ing Damian’s Grammy-winning discs
Halfway
Tree
(2001) and
Welcome to Jamrock
(2005) as
well as forming a promotion/production house
with Ziggy—delayed its completion until 2007,
when it was released as
Mind Control
. En route
to being awarded the Grammy for Best Reggae
Album, it topped the genre’s chart and made
the top 20 of
Billboard
’s R&B/hip-hop chart.
An acoustic version was released the following
year, and in 2011 Marley produced the similarly
successful
Revelation Pt. 1 – The Root of Life
. A
sequel,
Revelation Pt. 2 – The Fruit of Life
, was
released in 2016, featuring more electronic and
hip-hop elements, as well as guest spots from
Wyclef Jean, Waka Flocka Flame, Iggy Azalea,
and Shaggy, among other. Stephen Marley is
making his Ravinia debut.
same time that Matisyahu was invited by Phish
frontman Trey Anastasio to do a surprise set
with the band at Bonnaroo 2005. The studio al-
bum
Youth
followed in 2006, catapulted to the
top five of each of
Billboard
’s top 200, rap, and
reggae charts by the popularity of “King With-
out a Crown” and earning a nomination for the
Best Reggae Album Grammy. After his backing
band pursued a side album, Matisyahu returned
in 2009 with both a live EP,
Live at Twist &
Shout
, and a studio album,
Light
, which held the
top spot on the reggae chart for over half a year
and featured the gold-selling single “One Day.”
Following another live disc from a Stubb’s con-
cert in 2011, Matisyahu began embracing more
secular themes, which debuted on the 2012
studio album
Spark Seeker
, produced by Kool
Kojak (Kesha, Nicki Minaj). His fifth LP,
Akeda
,
was released in 2014 and featured guest vocals
from Collie Buddz on the single “Confidence,”
and a third Stubb’s set went to disc in 2015. Af-
ter extensive touring, Matisyahu returned to the
studio to create a digital EP,
Release the Bound
(2016), in collaboration with electropop artists
Polish Ambassador and Salt Cathedral, and his
most recent LP,
Undercurrent
, his fourth top-20
record. Matisyahu previously appeared at Ra-
vinia in 2008.
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