“Tosh Meets Marley starring Fully Fullwood with special guest Nkulee Dube”: The title of this touring band (completing its U.S. tour before heading to Europe) doesn’t quite capture how historically great the group is. In addition to the late Lucky Dube’s fast-rising daughter Nkulee Dube on vocals, the band features a who’s who of Jamaican reggae backing bandmembers, with leader-bassist Fully Fullwood and others from the original Soul Syndicate, a guitarist from Black Uhuru, and others who have played with all the Jamaican stars. The groove is deeper than deep, and the songs are the anthems of reggae.

George “Fully” Fullwood has played bass on nearly every ’70s and ’80s reggae great’s recordings, starting with the late Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, whose songs are featured in this show. In the 1970s as founder of Jamaica’s legendary studio band Soul Syndicate, Fullwood created some of the most distinctive bass lines in reggae, copied and sampled for decades since. He worked with Black Uhuru, the Mighty Diamonds, Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown among dozens of others, and more recently with a new generation including Andrew Tosh. 

www.fullyfullwood.com 

Fullwood’s Tosh Meets Marley band is equally impressive. Guitarist and singer Albert “Tony” Chin was another founder of Soul Syndicate who also performed with Marley, Tosh and so many others. His “flyers” rhythm guitar style has been imitated by generations of reggae players. Vocalist Donovan Carless was Soul Syndicate’s original singer. Lead guitarist Vince Black is a former member of Black Uhuru. Drummer and singer Karl Wright worked with Maxi Priest and many others. While most of the bandmembers hail from Jamaica, keyboardist and singer Jawge Hughes is a native of St. Thomas. 

When she made her Ashkenaz debut a year ago, Nkulee Dube brought her South African band. This time she sings with the Tosh Meets Marley band. The most exciting new artist in the reggae realm, the late great Lucky Dube’s daughter fuses soul, world music, and Afro-jazz into reggae. The 25-year-old singer-songwriter has created a new style all her own, gliding with ease between ragga and ethno-soul as if she were born on stage. She sang with her father’s band at major festivals around the world before beginning her own career. 

www.reverbnation.com/nkuleedube