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Sly & Robbie

The most famous drum and bass duo in reggae history, Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, will perform with their Taxi Gang group and Marty Dread at the Maui Theatre on Saturday evening.

The Grammy Award-winning reggae superstars, known as the “Riddim Twins,” have played with many reggae icons including Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Black Uhuru and Gregory Isaacs, and music legends like the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Sting.

In his “Life” memoir, Rolling Stone Keith Richards recalled playing with the iconic duo. “One of the greatest sessions I played on was when I went to Jamaica, and Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare were making a Black Uhuru album,” he wrote. “Sly and Robbie were one of the best rhythm sections in the world.”

“The first time we came to Maui was in 1981 with Black Uhuru,” says Sly. “We enjoyed it so much, we’ve always said we wanted to come back to Hawaii, but we never get a chance.”

The concert is being billed as the first edition of the Maui Theatre’s Music Icon Series with “A Tribute to Legends of Reggae.” The concert will also celebrate the release of Marty’s new CD, “Marty Dread – Icon Series Volume 1.”

“I will be the featured vocalist,” says Marty. “I’ll be doing a sort of hits review with a couple of songs by Black Uhuru, and songs by Ini Kamoze, Yellowman and Half Pint. This is huge for me. For a local guy from Maui, this is about as good as it gets.”

Talking with Sly and Robbie is a bit like a history lesson in the evolution of reggae. As Jamaica’s most influential and prolific rhythm section, the duo have played on thousands of reggae records since the mid-1970s.

“Sometimes you go into the studio and you don’t know what is going to be a hit or what people will like,” says Sly. “Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose and don’t know what will work. You just keep on trying.”

Born Lowell Charles Dunbar, Sly gravitated to the drums while attending Kingston’s Trench Town Comprehensive School. He says he was inspired by drummers like Al Jackson of Booker T & the MGs, Joe Isaacs and Carlton Barrett (Bob Marley and The Wailers).

“I listened to all of them and then decided I have to find my own style,” he shares. “Jamaica was going through a creative process in the music industry when people were open to new things and they wanted fresh things.”

Both Sly and Robbie recorded with the Wailers, Robbie on the “Catch a Fire” album and Sly on “Punky Reggae Party.”

“He was a very cool person,” says Sly of Marley.

“I knew him from a long time,” adds Robbie. “I did ‘Concrete Jungle’ and ‘Stir it Up’ on ‘Catch a Fire.’ I used to do some work with the Wailers from even before.”

After Marley, they both spent time touring and recording with Tosh, on some of his best-known albums, including “Equal Rights,” “Legalize It” and “Bush Doctor.”

“It was great, I enjoyed every moment,” says Sly.

The “Bush Doctor” album (which Robbie produced) was highlighted by Tosh and Mick Jagger’s duet on “Don’t Look Back.” It marked the first time the duo backed a Rolling Stone. During this period, they performed with Tosh when he opened for the Stones on some dates of their 1978 tour.

“The first concert we did was for 110,000,” Sly notes. “I couldn’t believe it.”

The duo earned Grammy attention after they began recording and touring with Black Uhuru. In 1984, the first year reggae got its own Grammy category, they won with Black Uhuru’s album “Anthem.”

“We produced their first record,” Sly notes. “Then we took the ‘Sinsamilla’ album to Island Records and asked them to listen to the group. Chris (Blackwell, founder of Island) was madly in love with them the first time he heard them. He signed them, so we were part of Black Uhuru. Robbie and myself were the key musicians. The concerts were great and people who came were spellbound.”

Along with performing with Black Uhuru, the duo were also working with the cream of Jamaica’s reggae artists including Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, Jimmy Cliff, Barrington Levy, Yellowman and Half Pint.

Artists outside of reggae began tapping their talent like Grace Jones (“Nightclubbing”) and Joe Cocker (“Sheffield Steel”), and then Dylan came calling.

“We couldn’t believe it” says Sly. “We were in Nassau and we got the call that Bob wanted us to come up to New York and work on his album with Mark Knopfler. I said to Robbie, ‘Are you sure?’ I think he listened to the Grace Jones stuff and liked what he heard and sent for us. We did the whole (‘Infidels’) album and it was so great working with an icon that we loved so much. We were kind of nervous playing with the big guns.”

Also in 1983, the Rolling Stones invited Sly and Robbie to play on their “Undercover” album. The Jamaican rhythm section was essential to the driving beat that propelled the album’s opener and first single, “Undercover of the Night.”

“We set the groove up,” Sly explains. “I like dance music, music that can make you dance.”

A couple of years later, when Jagger decided to make his solo album, “She’s the Boss,” he called on Jeff Beck, Herbie Hancock, Pete Townshend, and Sly and Robbie for help.

“We did four songs,” says Sly. “You looked around and it was like a mall of musicians walking around and we were the Caribbean guys among the big-name stars.”

In recent years, they’ve continued to work with a variety of artists playing with Ziggy Marley on a duet with Dionne Warwick, producing No Doubt’s “Icon” album, working with Michael Franti on “Rebel Rockers” and helping produce UB40 singer Ali Campbell’s “Great British Songs.”

“Ali’s a good friend of ours,” says Sly. “Most of the time when he’s working on a new project he will probably call Robbie and me. We just set a good groove and direction.”

And when Sting needed some rhythm assistance covering “Another Pyramid” on Elton John and Tim Rice’s adaptation of “Aida,” he returned to his reggae-flavored Police days with Sly and Robbie on drums and bass.

“It was cool working with Sting, we were great fans of the Police,” Sly says. “We opened for the Police in America with Black Uhuru.”

Having played together for close to 40 years, Sly suggests that the Riddim Twins have maintained their successful longevity because, “We have respect for each other and love for each other. We always leave the ego aside, there’s no ego tripping. We try to please the people that support us and make music that people can enjoy.”

***

Country star Billy Currington will return to the Maui Arts & Cultural Center on Nov. 19, performing outside at the A&B Amphitheater.

Tickets are available to MACC members starting Saturday and go on sale to the general public Oct. 8. A platinum-selling artist, since his self-titled debut album in 2003, Currington has scored 10 No.1 singles.

* For more information, visit www.mauiarts.org.

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In other country news, Eric Church and Lee Ann Womack will headline a concert at the MACC on Dec. 2 as part of the second annual BMI Maui Songwriters Festival.

* For more information, visit www.mauisongwritersfestival.com.

***

The 11th annual Maui ‘Ukulele Festival will be from 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday at the MACC’s A&B Amphitheater. This free show will feature Uncle Richard Ho’opi’i, Willie K, Paula Fuga, Nick Acosta, Arlie-Avery Asiu, Nelly and Daniel Buduria, Kamakakehau Fernandez, the Hula Honeys, Aidan James, Alika Nako’oka and Derick Sebastian.

Also performing are some of Maui’s talented student musicians in the Seabury Hall Hawaiian Ensemble, and the Kolohe ‘Ukulele Club, a group of 25 musicians and hula performers traveling to the festival from their home base in Huntington Beach, Calif.

Renowned ukulele teacher Roy Sakuma will serve as emcee. The public is invited to bring low-backed beach chairs or blankets to sit on. No outside food, beverages or coolers are allowed.

On Saturday, a free ukulele workshop will be held in the MACC’s McCoy Studio Theater, from 10 a.m. to noon, with registration starting at 9. This workshop is for students of all ages, with lessons designed for beginning and intermediate players.

* For more information, visit www.mauiarts.org.

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