Jonathan Cunningham

When it comes to roots-rock-reggae music, few old-school legends who are still touring have the pedigree for great songwriting that Don Carlos possesses. Although he's often overshadowed by more popular Jamaican reggae singers like Burning Spear and Toots Hibbert, Carlos started out in the same era (early '70s) and arguably...

Like the Allmans or the Wainwrights in their own genres, the Marsalis clan is indisputably one of the first families of jazz. Of the six sons raised by the family's 74-year-old patriarch, Ellis Marsalis Jr., and his wife, Delores, four have grown into revered jazz musicians in their own right...

Southern California's rock/ska band Sublime was one hell of a music outfit while it lasted. The group, fronted by affable lead singer Bradley Nowell, kicked out funky riffs and dubbed-out ditties about smoking sinsemilla and hardcore substance abuse. Although the band lasted only from 1988 to 1996 (when Nowell died...

Toronto is known for its cultural mash-ups, and its musical exports are naturally reflective of the demographics. You can hear some of that multiculti genre-fusing in the sounds of the New Deal, an exploratory "livetronica" band that merges house, breakbeats, and electro on top of global drum programming. As a...

It's hard to understand why Jah Cure's trajectory hasn't been as strong as many people thought it would be in 2008. He was the hottest name in reggae in 2007 but this year has been sort of a cool-down. In a sense, that's just setting him up for an even...