Progressive Reggae? - Progressive Rock Music Forum

I had occasion to mention Reggae in another thread... a throwaway comment really, but it got me thinking...

Can there be such a thing as progressive Reggae?

The closest I can think of, maybe, would be some of Steel Pulse's work which certainly broadened the Reggae genre, binging in elements of Jazz and Rock. Also, Groundation from the US... certainly have done something rather interesting with Reggae, adding a great deal of Jazz/Rock influence.

Maybe Dub would be more likely to contain elements that we normally associate with progressive music?

The strongest contender in this area would be, fairly obviously, Easy Star All-Stars - Dub Side of The Moon

And there's no doubt that many Progressive bands use elements of Dub and Reggae in their music.

But.. Progressive Reggae as a sub-genre? Not sure really... be interested to hear any thoughts... especially since searching for "Reggae" on this forum rather surprisingly only brings up my own post comment on the subject and nothing else! [maybe I'm using the search incorrectly?]

There is this song by Kaipa: Treasure-House from Vittjar (2012). But I can't find links to audio.

And there is this classic minor hit from the Flower Kings (1997) :

projeKct wrote:

There is this song by Kaipa: Treasure-House from Vittjar (2012). But I can't find links to audio.

And there is this classic minor hit from the Flower Kings (1997) :

4L5nmpFb6Q8

Thanks for that! Ghost of the Red Cloud is a nice tune, can see why it was a "minor hit".

I found Treasure House:

Treasure-House - YouTube

Judging by the sound of the rest of the album, this would be the "chillout" tune!

Edited by Megistus - February 10 2023 at 10:31

“On the day of my creation, I fell in love with education. And overcoming all frustration, a teacher I became.”
— Ernest Vong

Saperlipopette! wrote:

All my suggestions are closer to Dub:

I think Cedric im Brooks kind of has a progressive approach (but especially when their not reallty reggae/dub anymore).

Same goes for Count Ossie & The Mystic Revelation Of Rastafari

Maybe stuff like Augustus Pablo and King Tubby qualifies. It's sonically quite interesting and rich in sounds. Progressive or not, I love it nevertheless.

Some nice tunes there... especially the Count Ossie, what a nice tune and great production. Augustus Pablo, definitely a firm favourite of mine for many years.

This reminded me that really Dub as a genre, especially during those halcyon years in the 70s, was pretty "progressive" in its own way, if not "prog" as we think of it, most definitely extremely psychedelic, even though that description was never really attributed to it until later.

I feel Mad Professor needs a mention at this point:

I was fortunate enough to see the man at Glasto one year in the Greenfields, him on mix, a 70 year old black lady in a silver sequin jump-suit on vocals and a ten year old boy on drum machine -- it was a trip for sure!

Hrychu wrote:

You'll also find a couple of regae tracks on Gentle Giant's Interview album.

let's just stay above the moral melee
prefer the sink to the gutter
keep our sand-castle virtues
content to be a doer
as well as a thinker,
prefer lifting our pen
rather than un-sheath our sword

Frankly, I don't like reggae, so I don't care much about anything related to the genre. Therefore, I wouldn't know about prog reggae.

Dub Trio from NYC are kind of prog adjacent- an instrumental power trio which does live dub and has recorded for Ipecac.
When 70s proggers dipped a toe into reggae the results were generally cringeworthy (VDGG, GG, Led Zeppelin's ill advised D'Yer Mak'er). As others have pointed out, Ozrics are partial to a dubwise bass line and generally pull it off convincingly.
There has been a discernible crossover between the sonic explorations of dub pioneers like Lee Perry and some more experimental artists found on PA; Can and Tortoise spring to mind, while Faust have a similar approach even if it's not particularly audible in their style of playing.
Reggae was also a big influence on the more sonically adventurous post rockers from PIL and The Pop Group onwards.
And if you think you don't like reggae, chill out with King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown and maybe think again.

'Like so many of you
I've got my doubts about how much to contribute
to the already rich among us...'

Robert Wyatt, Gloria Gloom

Syzygy wrote:

Dub Trio from NYC are kind of prog adjacent- an instrumental power trio which does live dub and has recorded for Ipecac.
When 70s proggers dipped a toe into reggae the results were generally cringeworthy (VDGG, GG, Led Zeppelin's ill advised D'Yer Mak'er). As others have pointed out, Ozrics are partial to a dubwise bass line and generally pull it off convincingly.
There has been a discernible crossover between the sonic explorations of dub pioneers like Lee Perry and some more experimental artists found on PA; Can and Tortoise spring to mind, while Faust have a similar approach even if it's not particularly audible in their style of playing.
Reggae was also a big influence on the more sonically adventurous post rockers from PIL and The Pop Group onwards.
And if you think you don't like reggae, chill out with King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown and maybe think again.

Dub Trio are definitely one seriously cool band!

No mistaking the dub influences, rather ingeniously mixed with heavy rock. Love it, I can see myself getting into these guys :)

Agree about Ozrics -- personally I think the most authentic reggae/dub vibes were on the earlier releases when Roly was on bass -- he had a gift for that sort of thing

Easy Money wrote:

African Head Charge
Creation Rebel
Bill Laswell
Jah Wobble
Prince Jammy
Augustus Pablo
Mad Professor

Cheers!

I'm loving this thread... shaping up nicely for a youtube playlist methinks: "Progressive Reggae-Dub"

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