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?]

I'm not much familiar with Reggae, but the only album I know which I think to some degree extends the form of usual Reggae is 

 

Anyway, I like it a lot.

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

Ah yes, great album! Familiar with this, similar in sound to early Steel Pulse

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

I found Treasure House:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqlNqA4CUC0" rel="nofollow - Treasure-House - YouTube

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

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.

What a journey! That reggae element really kicks in around 12:30 with the bubbling organ, very nice :)

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!

Early Steel Pulse is indeed proggy as "real" reggae artistes can get, but I think Third World topped that

Hrychu wrote:

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

Now then, you're just quoting 10CC lyrics! 

The Caravan is a nice tune, cheers :D

Dub Trio are definitely one seriously cool band!

Cheers!

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

Yes! Catch a Fire and Burnin are very special albums to me. Despite the great things Bob went on to do at the behest of Chris Blackwell, the original Wailers were, in their own way, extremely progressive. Before them Reggae was just re-hashed versions of 50s doo-wop and rock'n'roll. With their jazz, rock and African influences they entirely defined what reggae was to become (not that the supporting cast of the brothers Barrett and others can be ignored either). But, definitely there was a unique chemistry at play between Marley, Tosh and Bunny Wailer.

To quote Peter Tosh (after the Wailers):

The Ozrics have already been mentioned.. IQ had a foray into 'white reggae' (urrgh.. ) in their very early days i seem to remember (Barbell is in..)

Of course the Orbs glorious 'Towers of Dub' has to have a mention

The Dark Elf wrote: Listening to Catch a Fire currently. Such a splendid album. I couldn't care less if folks are looking for "progessive reggae".  I'll stick with Bob, Peter Tosh and Bunny.

That and Burning (love the Zippo Gimmick cover of CaF)... And for the later BM&TW albums, I'll take Live at Lyceum and Babylon By Bus (caught them on that tour)

Quantum Fantay goes reggae quite often, but also David Gilmour has done a bit of reggae on the coda of Cruise.

And when I see progressive music and reggae put together, I always think about Rush - Vital Signs.

Oi Mr Gleeson, I like that song. Ok, it might not make many people's Led Zep Top 10 but I don't care.

It's a fun song! Just goes to show Bonzo wasn't going to give up his signature style for anything - not even a hint of swing in those hi-hats! However, I have to say the lyrics are, well... trash basically.

No doubt, it was Plant's idea being a man with a fondness for reggae, as evidenced by a live bonus track on an expanded edition of one of his 80s/early 90s albums, where I was quite surprised to hear a Bob Marley cover, before the band launched into one of Plant's songs. Wish I could find it now...

Admittedly not my cuppa tea, but Christafari -- it had to be done didn't it! 

Heck of a lot of common ground between Christianity and Rastafari anyway. I once played at a Rasta Christmas event (celebrated around January 8th) -- never felt so welcomed by such lovely people. And the dumplings were lovely :)  

^the still from the video just about sums up my reaction whenever I hear that song!

I used to play it (well, play and sing it I'm ashamed to say ) in a cover band. It was always delivered at breakneck speed, just to get it over with!

Reggae is more of an accent ingredient in prog and other genres. Since the genre is deeply linked to Rastafarianism, any use of it outside of that context isn't really true reggae.

Because reggae music incorporates a steady groove it's not super compatible to odd time signatures and progressive rock characteristics therefore what we would deem as progressive reggae doesn't exist.

The term is used on the internet but is never really clearly defined. I guess refers to subject matter that's deeper than normal.

As an accent ingredient, here's a cool track that has a wild reggae part towards the end.

^ i love their debut album! I wouldn't call comedy reggae progressive by any means.

Maybe novelty reggae is more accurate :)

Robert Plant likes Dread Zeppelin too. 

My thoughts echo the above quite closely... You could argue there's only so much you can do with reggae 'till it's not reggae any more. 

As an aside... I saw a bit of stuff calling itself psychedelic reggae earlier on youtube... only to find out it's dub/reggae style intros, then launches off into good old psytrance! [For some music that started out as goa/psy, then was quite artfully dubbified, I would recommend "Hallucinogen In Dub".]

 

Anyway, since you mentioned odd time signatures, here's the sort of thing I really like to hear -- it's a steady groove for sure, but I love the way the time changes between 4/4 and 6/8 are incorporated so seamlessly.

And then, there's the version of Money from Dub Side of The Moon... still managing to get the offbeat skank in there over 7/4, although the toasting section instead of the guitar solo is a sad loss!

 

Definitely a Vegas-era Elvis, rather than the Elvis that Plant was originally listening to in his formative years.

To be honest, they don't stand up to repeated listening, more of a comedy/novelty act to my mind. But very good nonetheless.

I remember Dub Side of the Moon! That was a great album!

I think it's important to learn the distinctions between ska, rocksteady, reggae and dub.

Reggae really refers to Rastafarianism and African religious concepts

What we hear in songs by Rush and other bands that use those syncopatic staccatos is primarily ska and dub

Although i don't have a huge appetite for any of these styles of music, they do scratch the itch on occasion especially the more soulful styles of roots reggae a la Bob Marley, Wailing Souls, etc

Undercurrent is a bit more hip hop than reggae, but the dub elements are much greater here and the album was composed through jamming seasons, so I would consider it a jam band album, too. Long songs - no track is under six minutes and most are over seven, and two exceed ten minutes, with the closer exceeding thirteen minutes. I have no other way of describing it than progressive dub, honestly, but it's certainly on the more abstract side of the hip hop realm of things. Definitely recommend it:

I didn't link it earlier because I don't quite consider it a reggae album, but the elements of it are still there for sure.

A big shame he deviated from this excellent style as his new album from last year is awful, imo, and lacks any and all progressiveness he had going before. It's just a pop album.

Interesting that you included the Live at Stubbs material; Now that you mention it, I agree it is great addition. I would also add the eponymous track from Youth as well:

Great question! It would help to think where there are connections between prog and reggae already, but I think more examples can be found in dub, which has a large influence over genres in and out of prog. (Think of a dub mix of any danceable song you can imagine.)

We can hear reggae influences, such as in "Saving My Heart" by Yes. There are also dub mixes, like "Rhythm of Dub" by Yes, out of many possible examples.

Consider as well collaborations with dub artists. For example, Jah Wobble's work with Holger Czukay (Rome Remains Rome) and Eno (Spinner). Listen to the Snake Charmer EP by Wobble, The Edge, and Czukay, with one track, "Hold On to Your Dreams," featuring jazz singer Marcella Allen.

Mostly, I think it's worth looking at the work of Wyclef Jean, formerly of the Fugees, who I remember on a TV awards program toasting with a backup orchestra! I would have to study him more, but that's probably a good place to begin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLdG11By-cY" rel="nofollow - (2) Pterodactyl - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIBdKX_e82o" rel="nofollow - (2) Shaka regatta - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c06tJgG4k7o" rel="nofollow - (2) Dub in psych clothing - YouTube

And it's awesome! Gonna dig more into this