AFM 2018

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Summerside International Rocks AFM
With The Documentary Rock The World
The Impact Of Jamaican Ska Mixing With
Italian Culture Across A Broader Spectrum

L-R Nicola Tassoni, Co-founder; Francesca Manno, CEO & Managing Director, Summerside International

Francesa Manno, Managing Director and CEO of Summerside International, attends AFM, with a number of new titles for international buyers. Among them is Rock The World, an extraordinary new documentary that merges the Jamaican Ska sound with Italian culture remixing the Ska Jamaican sound with Italian expression and interpretation. Behind the push of the completed documentary is Richie Stephens, Jamaican Grammy award winning singer and Italian Reggae Singer, and producer duo Rankin Lele and Papa Leu who started working together in 2015 on an album with a new musical mission. The shared intention behind the Jamaican-Italian creative collaboration of Richie Stephens & the multicultural Ska Nation Band is about the positive release of energy through music and dance.

Richie Stephens & the multicultural Ska Nation Band

Ska is the second sound originated in Jamaica, but the first to sweep the world internationally. Fittingly, in April 2016, Richie Stephens & the Ska Nation Band released its first album internationally, and began blazing a trail of fyah-full performances from the Jamaica Sumfest stage in 2017 to Germany’s Summerjam slot in 2018. In August 2018 the second release Root of the Music was released via VPAL distribution. Internationally is a 14-track tribute to Ska; a re-introduction. Together with legendary Jamaican reggae musicians, like Cleveland ‘Clevie’ Browne, Dean Fraser and Stephen Lenky Marsden, and Kirk Bennett, Richie Stephens & the Ska Nation band created a body of work. With half of the album being completed in Italy (Adriatic Studios) and half the album completed in Jamaica (Mixing Lab, Big Yard, Kirkledove, Steelie & Clevie, Area 39/Diwali, 40/40 Productions), Internationally is also symbolic of the passion and impact ska music has on a broader spectrum.

This latest album Root of the Music includes reinterpreted classics, and new rendering s features an impressive cast of contributors. Richie Stephens & the Ska Nation Band have set their sights on re-shaping the ska sound: Track after track, Richie delivers solid vocal performances in English and Italiano, supported by an assemblage of musicians from Salento, Italy who deliver a genuine appreciation and tremendous musicality. The album opens with the title track, Root of the Music and in its intro Richie sets the tone and lays the foundation for the musical journey on which the listener embarked. The previously released Country Bus and Joy feat. Toots Hibbert are included on the album, as is a brand new major collaboration called No G.M.O. featuring Mutabaruka, Cocoa Tea, Ninja Man, Louie Culture, Romain Virgo, Tammi T, Wanye J and Ed Robinson.