Island Records 50th Anniversary Events
GRACE JONES, ASWAD, THE I-THREES, VV BROWN & TINCHY STRYDER CONFIRMED TO APPEAR AS FEATURED GUESTS WITH SLY & ROBBIE
ON TUESDAY 26th MAY AT “ISLAND LIFE” WEEK OF CONCERTS
AT SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE
Grace Jones, Aswad (Brinsley Forde, Drummie Zeb and Tony Gad), the i-Threes (featuring Rita Marley, Marcia Griffiths and Erica Newell), VV Brown and Tinchy Stryder will be the featured singers with Sly & Robbie and The Compass Point All Stars on Tuesday 26th May at Shepherds Bush Empire as part of the previously announced Island 50th birthday celebrations. Each of these will perform a song or two (or even three) from Island’s illustrious back catalogue with one of the most famous Jamaican rhythm sections of all time.
Grace Jones signed to Island in 1977 and really hit her stride when Chris Blackwell suggested she work at the Island studios in Compass Point with Sly & Robbie; together they created many of her signature songs including ‘Private Life’, ‘Pull Up To The Bumper’, ‘My Jamaican Guy’ and ‘Nipple To The Bottle’. Aswad, the UK’s most successful reggae group, signed to Island in ’76 and this performance with Sly & Robbie will reunite original members Brinsley Forde, Drummie Zeb and Tony Gad for the first time since 2000. The i-Threes were Bob Marley & The Wailers’ legendary backing singers. VV Brown, singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/producer and fashion darling is a recent signing to Island and will release her debut album “Travelling Like The Light” in June ‘09. Tinchy Stryder, another new millenium Island artist, has come from the underground grime scene to top the charts this week with his third single ‘Number One’ taken from his debut album which is coming out this summer.
As previously announced ‘Island Life’ [supporting Amnesty International and The Oracabessa Foundation (JA)] – a week of live shows by Island artists past and present - will take place at London’s Shepherds Bush Empire week commencing 25th May ‘09. NB There are no headliners at these shows; every act appears with equal billing. The ‘Island Life’ line-up confirmed so far is as follows:
26th May – SLY & ROBBIE & THE COMPASS POINT ALLSTARS featuring GRACE JONES, ASWAD, THE I-THREES, TINCHY STRYDER, VV BROWN;
27th May – THE FRATELLIS; STEEL PULSE; BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB;
28th May – CAT STEVENS/YUSUF; BAABA MAAL
29th May – PAUL WELLER; SPOOKY TOOTH; ERNEST RANGLIN
30th May – KEANE; TOM TOM CLUB; LADYHAWKE
31st May – AMY WINEHOUSE; TOOTS & THE MAYTALS; I BLAME COCO
Tickets are available from www.island50.com and other agents.
The Island label has been responsible for the careers of some of the biggest stars in music including U2, Bob Marley, Cat Stevens, Traffic, Free, Fairport Convention, Nick Drake, Sandy Denny, Toots & The Maytals, John Martyn, Marianne Faithfull, Aswad, Tom Waits, King Sunny Ade, Third World, Roxy Music, Robert Palmer, the B52s, Sly & Robbie, Melissa Etheridge, The Slits, Steel Pulse, Grace Jones, Tom Tom Club, Pulp, Tricky, Talvin Singh, and latterly Amy Winehouse, PJ Harvey, DJ Shadow, Sugababes, Keane, The Fratellis, Scott Matthews, Paul Weller, The Feeling and Portishead.
Regular updates and announcements at:
www.islandrecords.co.uk and www.island50.com
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