Reggae festival brings Caribbean rhythms to Carson.

L.A. Times Archives

June 23, 1989 12 AM PT

Caribbean-flavored reggae--with its rhythmic guitars, drums and lilting vocals--is “feeling good” music for the people who play it and those who listen.

And that’s the mood the city of Carson hopes to create Saturday when it stages a free afternoon Reggae Festival at Anderson Park.

It’s “really nice. . . . We get a family atmosphere,” said Park Director Shelley Watts. “A lot of people bring a picnic basket and spend the afternoon at the park.”

In addition to spotlighting the music Watts described as a combination of calypso, soul and rock ‘n’ roll, there will be comedy, and the sale of African-style arts and crafts, as well as spicy Caribbean food.

There will be a limbo contest for the limber, with prizes for three people able to pass under the pole when it is closest to the ground.

Boom Shaka, a five-piece Los Angeles group that has been making a name for itself through recordings and concerts, will headline the afternoon. It is “considered one of the best new bands in the small but thriving local reggae scene,” wrote Times reviewer Craig Lee, after Boom Shaka played at the Palace in Hollywood in 1988.

Second Thoughts, a six-member band formed last year by a group of Carson youths, shares the bill. Leader Peni Toomalatai, whose two brothers also are in the band, said Saturday’s expected audience of several hundred will be the largest for the group. The band has played in small clubs and at private parties, but Toomalatai says the festival “is an opportunity, our first big one.”

The comedy will be supplied by T. J. McGee, a club and television comedian who says: “I’m like Eddie Murphy without the swearing, but I’m much funnier.”

Reggae is a musical irony, according to musicians and some who have written about it. It was born in Jamaica out of a religious fervor and a desire for political and social reform. But its messages--often about poverty, loneliness, oppression and other evils--are carried by tunes so bright and engaging that “it makes people feel good even though it’s about something bad,” said Trevy, Boom Shaka’s leader who was born on the Caribbean island of Dominica.

The music “tries to make a better way for people,” he said. “You have to feel good, take care of the planet and respect each other.”

To Boom Shaka manager Jim Roppe, reggae is uplifting music that embodies “social and political commentary at its best” and sometimes includes spiritual themes. “A lot of the music centers around Jah, another word for God, which is taken from ‘Jehovah’,” he said.

One of the group’s songs is “Pieces of Africa,” about how Caribbean cultures were shaped by Africans transplanted from their homeland. Another is “Creation,” which Trevy wrote to celebrate the birth of his first child three years ago.

The 19- and 20-year-old members of Second Thoughts write their own music, getting ideas from their lives and events around them. “The songs are about everyday life, love, disasters, poverty, the rich and the famous,” says lead singer Ralph Storey.

The group’s tune, “Don’t Want to Die,” is about “getting away from drugs, all those bad things like gangs,” said Toomalatai. And “Vibes So Nice” is about playing reggae music.

But whatever reggae tunes are about, Watts, the park director, said it’s the kind of music that gets a response. “No matter what you’re doing, you find yourself just moving to it,” she said. “People get up and dance.”

Carson first staged a reggae festival in 1987, and this will be the second one. Despite little publicity, 600 people turned out two years ago and the city decided this year that it ought to become a regular event.

Said Watts: “We want people to come out and really enjoy themselves. You sit back and listen to this type of music, and it takes you away. It makes you relax and feel good about yourself.”

-- Gerald Faris

What: Reggae Festival.

When: Saturday, noon to 5 p.m.

Where: Anderson Park, 19101 S. Wilmington Ave., Carson.

Admission: Free.

Information: 603-9850.