Reggae group EASY Star All-Stars

Reggae group EASY Star All-Stars

They rock every crowd they play for, whether it?s to thousands at festivals or hundreds at club gigs and private events (like the wedding of NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg?s daughter).

Thanks to their best-selling tribute album releases, Dub Side of the Moon (2003) and Radiodread (2006), as well as Until That Day (2008), an original EP, the Easy Star All-Stars have built a growing, dedicated fan base throughout the world, bringing together fans of reggae, classic rock, dub and indie rock into one big family.

Their newest release, Easy Star?s Lonely Hearts Dub Band, due in April, tackles the Beatles? Sgt. Pepper?s Lonely Hearts Club Band in complete reggae fashion.

Originally formed in 1997 for Easy Star Records? earliest recordings, the Easy Star All-Stars existed mostly as a studio entity until releasing Dub Side of the Moon in 2003.

The group, which operates as a collective with a rotating cast of musicians and singers, was put together by Easy Star co-founders Michael Goldwasser, Eric Smith and Lem Oppenheimer.

These three have directed and managed the band ever since. Goldwasser, as producer, musical director, arranger and guitarist, has been the man behind just about everything the All-Stars have done in the studio and on stage. He's the one who spends months transforming songs by Pink Floyd, Radiohead and the Beatles into reggae tracks.

As a producer, he has maintained a delicate balancing act by making albums that rock fans can embrace, without alienating the notoriously demanding hardcore reggae audience. Previous to 2003, the band made regular appearances in New York City, backing reggae legends Sugar Minott and Johnny Osbourne, and providing the live backbone for a celebrated tribute to Augustus Pablo. It wasn?t until Dub

Side of the Moon?s tremendous success that a touring version of the band was assembled.

The other members of the Easy Star All-Stars, past and present, read like a who's who of New York's reggae, ska, dub and jazz scene. The core of the touring band has remained largely intact since 2003: Ras I Ray (bass, vocals), Ive-09 (drums), Kirsty Rock (vocals), Jennifer Hill (saxophone, flute) and Buford O?Sullivan (trombone).