Dennis Bovell in conversation: Wise Music In Dub

Dennis Bovell – aka Blackbeard – has changed the face of UK music. A bold claim, and one he might be shy to agree with, but true nonetheless. Born in Barbados in 1953 and moving to South London when he was 12, after forming his band Matumbi in the 70s, guitarist, singer, bass player and producer Dennis went on to work with a Who’s Who of modern music and become a key figure in UK Lover’s Rock while he was at it. Now as he celebrates his 72nd birthday, Dennis is releasing a brand new album that shows he’s in the best musical form he’s ever been.

Dennis will celebrate the release of Wise Music In Dub at Louder Than Words Festival 2025 where we will have limited edition white label singles for sale as well as discount ticket offers for the event that guarantee your copies for Dennis to sign after his in conversation. His event will cover his entire career, not least Lovers Rock as well as his latest releases.

Available digitally and on vinyl through Wise Records, Wise Music In Dub is a new collection of tracks made in the label’s London recording studio. Featuring tracks that are neither strictly dub nor instrumental but manage to incorporate elements of both, Wise Music In Dub hosts an impressive cast of musical legends and collaborators.

Released as a lead track, My Heart Is Gone ft. Winston Francis is available digitally, as is the follow up Train To dUbville. In addition, these tracks feature on two strictly limited 10” singles: My Heart Is Gone ft. Winston Francis b/w Black And White ft. Brinsley Forde, and Train to dUbville b/w dUb hEaD. dUb hEaD is an interpretation of Argent’s 1971 hit Hold Your Head Up that ONLY Dennis Bovell could make.

Always the perfectionist, Dennis brought together a peerless team of musicians to collaborate on Wise Music In Dub. In full splendour here are vocalists Carroll Thompson on a cover of Minnie Riperton’s Les Fleurs, Imagination’s Leee John on The Stylistics You’re A Big Girl Now, Papa Dee on Don’t Stay Out Late, while Winston Francis and Brinsley Forde feature on My Heart Is Gone and Black And White respectively.

Musicians featured include drummer Perry Melius, who has contributed to Aswad and African Headcharge and is a member Billy Ocean’s current live band, Robin Hopcraft on trumpet and trombone and Idris Rahman on saxophone, both of whom are members of Soothsayer’s. Sarah Tobias plays flute, Nick Straker is on keyboards, John Kpiaye on guitar, Duke Baysee on harmonica and Ras Happa on repeater. Swizz The Panist played steel pans on Dutchie dUb and dUb Delight, while Fabio Marchiori played organ on dUb hEaD and Ian Alleyne provided acid guitar for dUb Season.

By blurring the distinctions between dub, vocal and instrumental music, Dennis has breathed new life into the genre. He explains, “I wanted to give the listener an insight into what dub means in the 21st century, so I pushed and pulled on all the right stops to create a record that is both bang up to date and unmistakably dub.”

And after Marcus Wise invited him to choose material from the publisher’s expansive catalogue, even the choice of songs was a revelation. Marcus explains, “Dennis has made essential contributions to the evolution of dub and British music and we worked together to reintroduce iconic tracks many of which had never been performed as dub versions or reggae songs.” He continues, “One of the main things we set out to achieve was to showcase some of the most talented voices and instrumentalists in UK reggae today.”

On Wise Music In Dub Dennis proves his enthusiasm for new challenges and musical escapades, combined with his irrepressible talent and playfulness, remains undiminished.

Wise Music In Dub tracklist:

1. Train To dUbville

2. dUb Season

3. Dutchie dUb

4. dUb Together

5. Don’t Stay Out Late ft. Papa Dee

6. My Heart Is Gone ft. Winston Francis

7. Black And White (Extended Mix) ft. Brinsley Forde

8. dUb hEaD

9. You’re A Big Girl Now ft. Leee John

10. Les dUb ft. Carroll Thompson

11. dUb Delight

About Dennis Bovell

Dub music was born in the recording studios of downtown Kingston during the early Seventies and was a revolutionary style of mixing that initially caused great excitement and ultimately changed the face of popular music. Dennis Bovell took to it immediately, but at the time no one believed dub from the UK was equal to that coming out of Jamaica on white label 45s with jukebox sized holes in them. Dennis was having none of this, so as an experiment he pressed up his next batch of dub discs to look identical to the Jamaican imports. And when DJs played them - thinking they were from Jamaica - the doors to a lasting recognition and appreciation of UK reggae and dub were thrown wide open.

By the time Dennis had left Matumbi he’d produced Janet Kay’s genre defining Lover’s Rock hit ‘Silly Games,’ composed the soundtrack to ‘Babylon’ (the British film equivalent to The Harder They Come), forged a powerful allegiance with dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, and established himself as the leading dub specialist and daring trailblazer who was unafraid to journey into the unknown. In addition to working with reggae artists from around the world he produced many hit albums with artists including The Slits, The Pop Group, Orange Juice, Bananarama, Fela Kuti and Ryuichi Sakamoto. More recently Dennis has been working with Jarvis Cocker, The Smile, and he is currently in the studio with Eliza Rose.

Dennis was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2021 Birthday Honours list for services to music.

About the Host:

Ryan Walker is a writer and musician from Bolton. He lives in Manchester. He is a member of Volk Soup, Quick Drop and formerly, Gad Whip. He is passionate about the preservation of independent culture and believes everything in life to be rooted in the true spirit of Dub.

About Wise Records

Wise Records is a boutique record label started by CEO Marcus Wise in 2022 and is part of Wise Music Group. The most recent label to join the Group alongside Storyville, Old Town and Node, Wise Records is a platform to release unique reggae, dub and electronic recordings. Its first two releases were the masterpiece ‘Mango Walk’ by multi-instrumentalist Clive Hunt (The In Crowd, Azul, Lizard), and Dennis Brown’s roots classic ‘Milk and Honey’.