Maxi Priest Albums List

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TheHollywood Bowl's annual World Festival, presented in conjunction with KCRW 89.9 FM, continues with Reggae Night IV, which pays homage to old school roots reggae, on Sunday, August 28, 7 p.m.

Laying down the groove are four acts that lead the pack. British reggae/pop phenomenon Maxi Priest, whose 2005 album 2 the Max includes the hit "Believe in Love," is the world's most successful solo reggae artist since Bob Marley. Dedicated to the principles of truth and justice, Israel Vibrations has emerged as one of reggae's most spiritual and positive groups.

L.A.'s own Hepcat mixes Caribbean melodies, soulful harmonies and swing-inspired rhythms in a ska/rocksteady beat that appeals to Rastas, skate punks, mods and Latin jazz fans alike. Culture - whose album Two Sevens Clash was the only reggae album to make Rolling Stone's Top 50 list of all-time coolest records - offers harmony-based roots reggae The New York Times calls it "conscious reggae." Anne Litt of KCRW's "Weekend Becomes Eclectic" hosts the show.

Over the course of 10 albums and countless live performances, singer MAXI PRIEST has unleashed a one-world music that heals, rejuvenates and uplifts. The U.K. native, the second youngest of nine children of Jamaican parents, has a sexy soulful sound and has earned accolades for balancing hard-core reggae vibes with more mainstream pop sensibilities. Since his 1988 debut, Priest has become one of the most successful reggae solo artists in the world, second only to the legendary Bob Marley. With numerous worldwide hits and the no. 1 pop chart smash "Close To You," Priest is recognized for helping to spread the gospel of reggae and Caribbean music. His most recent album, 2 The Max, released in 2005, includes the hot new single "Believe in Love" and dancehall tunes "Full Hundreds" and "Sweat A Go Buss," featuring Beres Hammond. In 1996 Priest release the hit CD Man With The Fun, which contained the Grammy-nominated crossover single "That Girl," a duet with Shaggy. Among his other hits are Priest's collaborations with Roberta Flack, "Set The Night To Music," and with Shabba Ranks, "Housecall."

Overcoming tremendous personal obstacles, Jamaicans Cecil Spence (Skelly) and Lascelle Bulgin (Wiss) have endowed their band ISRAEL VIBRATION with a deeply spiritual element. The singers' positive vibrations, resonating sound and traditional roots reggae have been spellbinding audiences and critics for two decades. Both victims of Poliomyelitis (Polio), they met as children in a rehabilitation center. The youths never let their physical situations overcome their willpower and creative abilities. Finding strength in the Rastafarian faith, they began composing and singing songs that expressed their spiritual beliefs. Their 1976 hit "Same Song," brought the group international attention. Following a split, the two reunited in 1988 and have never looked back. Israel Vibration's album Jericho, released on RAS Records in 2000, helped redefine "roots reggae" for the new millennium. The rich vocal harmonies deliver lyrics from the heart. Earlier albums include Strength of My Life, Praises, Forever, Vibes Alive, IV, and On The Rock, whose videos "Rudeboy Shufflin'" and "Feeling Irie" aired on BET and other programs abroad. Free to Move hit number one on the CMJ New World charts.

The vocal trio CULTURE, led by mystical and charismatic singer and songwriter Joseph Hill, helped define the sound and style of Rastafarian roots reggae. Its 1977 debut album, Two Sevens Clash, a spiritual manifesto against racial injustice and poverty that won a huge following in Jamaica and U.K., is still considered a roots reggae landmark. Rolling Stone included it on its Top 50 list of all-time coolest records, the only reggae album on the list. More than two-and-a-half decades later, Culture, which also performed at the legendary One Love Peace Concert in 1978, released the acclaimed album World Piece in 2003. Rich with Hill's entrancing melodies, blazing brass and funk elements, it shows why Culture is still at the top of the roots reggae roster.

Reflecting the melting pot from which the band hails, LA's HEPCAT has carved out a richly textured sound that layers ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub, soul and jazz. The nine-piece group released its first album Out of Nowhere, in 1993 on Moon Records, showcasing its songwriting chops, and tight vocal and instrumental work. Three years later Scientific was issued on BYO Records, fueling its growing reputation. Hepcat's 1998 album Right On Time has firmly put the group at the forefront of modern ska. With complex vocal harmonies from dual front men Greg Lee and Alex Desert, who also starred in the hit cult film "Swingers," Hepcat's vocal attack is as full-bodied as its music. The group, previously featured on the Conan O'Brien Show, has opened for such renowned acts as Desmond Dekker, the Wailers Band, the Specials, and Ben Harper, among others, and its videos "Bobby & Joe" and "No Worries" garnered considerable airtime on MTV.

One of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a seating capacity of nearly 18,000, the HOLLYWOOD BOWL has been the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since its official opening in 1922, and in 1991 gave its name to the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, a resident ensemble that has filled a special niche in the musical life of Southern California. The 2004 season introduced audiences to a revitalized Hollywood Bowl, featuring a newly-constructed shell and stage and the addition of four stadium screens enhancing stage views in the venue. To this day, $1 buys a seat at the top of the Bowl for many of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's concerts. While the Bowl is best known for its sizzling summer nights, during the day California's youngest patrons enjoy "SummerSounds: Music for Kids at the Hollywood Bowl," the Southland's most popular summer arts festival for children, now in its 37th season. Attendance figures over the past several decades have soared: in 1980 the Bowl first topped the half-million mark and close to one million admissions have been recorded. In February 2005, the Hollywood Bowl was named Best Major Outdoor Concert Venue at the 16th Annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards; the Bowl's summer music festival has become as much a part of a Southern California summer as beaches and barbecues, the Dodgers, and Disneyland.

Music insiders would have you believe that there are a variety of musical genres and categories, and that common ground is few and far between. However, the bottom line is that people embrace music and rhythms that mean something to them, no matter what their background. As MAXI PRIEST knows, music is universal. Over the course of 10 albums and countless live performances all over the globe, Maxi has unleashed a one-? world music that heals, rejuvenates and uplifts.

The second youngest of nine children, Maxi's parents had moved to London, England from Jamaica. His father was a steelworker in a factory, while his mother devoted her life to Christianity; she was a missionary at a Pentecostal Church and lead singer for the church choir, and as a youngster Maxi grew up listening to gospel, reggae, R&B, as well as pop music.

While working as a carpenter building speaker boxes for a local reggae sound-?system, Maxi Priest began singing over the mic at live dancehall sessions with artists such as Smiley Culture. In 1984 Maxi made a bit of history after he and Paul "Barry Boom" Robinson produced Philip Levi's "Mi God Mi King, " the first UK reggae tune to reach Number One in Jamaica.

His 1988 album Maxi, was recorded in Jamaica with legendary musicians Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, and Willie Londo, and was released in America by Virgin Records. With "Some Guys Have All the Luck", a cover of Cat Steven's classic "Wild World" that gave Maxi his first U.S. smash hit, and roots tracks like his duet with Beres Hammond, level, gaining him worldwide recognition.

In 1991, Maxi's collaborations with Roberta Flack, "Set The Night To Music", and with Shabba Ranks, "Housecall," again took Maxi to the highest chart echelons, and he capped off the year by releasing Best Of Me, a powerful compilation of hits from his four previous albums.

By the early to mid 90's, Maxi was critically acclaimed for his skills in balancing hard-?core reggae vibes with more mainstream pop sensibilities and that approach added to his growing popularity as both a recording and touring artist.

In 1996, Maxi released the hit CD Man With The Fun, which contained the crossover single "That Girl," a duet with Shaggy. "That Girl" became a Grammy Nominated track and the accompanying Hype Williams-?directed video became and MTV staple.

CombiNation, released in 1999, is a sexy and soulful album embracing reggae, hip-?hop, R&B, rock, jazz, pop and rhythms, containing production and songwriting work by Sly & Robbie, Robert Livingston, Simon Law, and Joe. The album contains "Mary's Got A Baby," featuring a sizzling rap from Beenie Man; pumped up electro-?dancehall beats on the fierce and furious "She Wants To Dance" featuring toasters Degree and Red Rat; an uplifting track "We Tomorrow's People" a collaboration with the acclaimed acid jazz band Icognito; the smoothed out old-?school R&B Donny Hathaway/Roberta Flack cover of "Back Together Again" featuring Elisha La'Verne; and the righteous reggafied take on Stevie Wonder's classic Golden Lady."

Since his 1988 debut, Maxi has enjoyed tremendous success as a singer with popularity and recognition around the world. In fact, he is the most successful reggae solo artist in the world, second only to legend Bob Marley. He has enjoyed numerous worldwide hits as well as a Number one pop chart smash and is widely credited with helping spread the gospel of reggae and Caribbean music.

Maxi Priest's music continues to grow. 2008 saw Maxi on tour with UB40, Toots and the Maytals, Third World and Rik Rok on the great Reggae Sunsplash Tour. Also Maxi's new video, "Makes Me Wanna Hallah" (from the album to be released soon) is capturing a new and excited group of Maxi Priest fan.

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