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Sly & Robbie

Theirs is the ultimate musical marriage, a partnership that, once formed, re-etched the very landscape of not just Jamaican music, but every kind of music.

Jamaica

Sly & Robbie

The rhythms of drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare have been the driving force behind innumerable songs. They linked in 1975, but by then they had already become established figures on the Jamaican scene. Sly Dunbar had made his recorded debut with producer Lee Perry. Meanwhile, Shakespeare had also made a name for himself, and by the early '70s, he was a member of producer Bunny Lee's house band the Aggrovators.

As a production team, the pair has been the equivalent of a creative storm, the cutting edge of modern dub, ragga, and dancehall, producing with their own label, Taxi, numerous artists as Jimmy Cliff, the established French singer Serge Gainsbourg (his 1975 album Aux Armes et Cætera), Culture, Peter Tosh, Toots & the Maytals, Gregory Isaac, Max Romeo... They also provide the pulsing rhythms for albums of Bunny Wailer, the Mighty Diamonds, Jacob Miller, Barrington Levy...and tour all over the world with many bands including U-Roy, Peter Tosh, and Black Uhuru (opening for the Rolling Stones).

Over the years Sly & Robbie have consistently worked with artists far removed from the reggae scene, as Joe Cocker, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Monty Alexander, Herbie Hancock, Grace Jones... The breadth of their productions and playing seemingly knows no boundaries.

Booking contact for ex-Yugoslavia, Balkans and Caucasus: balkanmusicbox@gmail.com

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