Tuesday, August 29, 2006  

Bob Marley Roots Rock Reggae Festival

Washington Post, Tuesday, August 29, 2006; Page C05

Ziggy and Stephen Marley closed their annual Bob Marley Roots Rock Reggae Festival tour at Wolf Trap on Sunday, and while it celebrated their father's life, it also highlighted how unenviable it is to try to compete with their pop's prodigious talents. Stephen and Ziggy are very likable as individual artists, but you can't help but compare them to Robert Nesta Marley -- and in that light, they suffer from the blazing sun that is their dad's legacy.

Perhaps because nobody knows the music from his long-delayed forthcoming CD, "Mind Control," Stephen stuck primarily to his dad's catalogue, including "No Woman, No Cry," "Could You Be Loved" and "Buffalo Soldier." Or perhaps Stephen is just more attuned to the real reason why the crowd turns out for this festival.

Ziggy Marley, left, helped headline the Bob Marley Roots Rock Reggae Festival at Wolf Trap; cellist Ken Slowik was one of the soloists with the Smithsonian Chamber Players at the American Art Museum.

Stephen may sound and look eerily similar to his father -- his stage movements are especially haunting -- but it's Ziggy who's had the greater commercial success as an artist. But the eldest of Bob's sons didn't play any Melody Makers hits, preferring to concentrate on tunes from his mediocre new CD, "Love Is My Religion." Ziggy's recent songs are so-so at best, ignorable at worst, which is something you can't say about the Bob Marley compositions that his son covered, including "No More Trouble," "Forever Loving Jah" and a concert-closing version of "Get Up, Stand Up" featuring Stephen Marley and Bunny Wailer.

In fact it was Bob's old Wailers band mate Bunny who put on the best performance of the festival, which also featured the funk band Ozomatli and the singer- songwriter Jon Nicholson. Decked out in a white military-like suit decorated with silver spangles, the great Bunny looked like the captain of the good ship Rasta as he joyously danced and sang his way through classic Wailers songs such as "Simmer Down" and "I'm the Toughest" as well as "Cool Runnings" and "Rootsman Skanking" from his own rich solo career. --Christopher Porter

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