THE NIGHT STUFF
A rare chance to hear a reggae original

By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Bunny Wailer brings his soulful tenor voice to the Waikiki Shell on Saturday. With Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, he was a founding member of The Wailers, the band that brought reggae out of the slums of Kingston and into the consciousness of an appreciative worldwide audience.

That alone would be reason enough for afficionados to see the still-recording, still-performing and still only 57-year-old Wailer throw down the roots live at Reggae In Paradise at the Waikiki Shell on Saturday. But while his solo music has never really achieved the larger worldwide impact fellow Wailers Bob Marley and Peter Tosh did, Bunny Wailer has succeeded in keeping his career alive and vital on his own terms.

Unwilling to tour with The Wailers outside of Jamaica, Wailer (born Neville O'Riley Livingston) left the trio in 1973 shortly before Tosh's departure ended the group for good. Wailer's relationship with the feuding Marley and Tosh, however, remained strong.

Both contributed vocals to Wailer's first — and still best — solo effort, 1976's hushed political and spiritual statement "Blackheart Man." But while both Marley and Tosh traveled the world raising their respective musical profiles, Wailer stopped performing live altogether from 1975 to 1982. He finally began touring America in earnest in 1986, briefly flirting with sub-par dancehall sounds before returning to his roots with 1989's critically well-received "Liberation."

Wailer's soulful tenor has since won him three Grammy Awards — two of these, for tribute albums honoring Marley's and The Wailers' past works. His Saturday performance — with spiritual '90s roots vocalist Luciano — arrives a week after headlining the opening night of California's annual Reggae on the River fest, one of the genre's largest music gatherings.

The Shell show starts at 4 p.m.; tickets are $35. Call (877) 750-4400.

JIMMY COMES HOME

Well, for a couple of weeks anyway. Go Jimmy Go takes a day off from the beach and Zippy's plate lunches to play the Hard Rock Café on Saturday. Doors open at 10 p.m.; 21 and older only. Cover is $10. Back home after a two-month swing through the East Coast and Midwest, the guys depart for the Mainland again on Aug. 24 for more West Coast road trekking through the fall.

NIGHTSPOTTING

The Provide Soul Lounge-Vol. 1 at Wave Waikiki, with Trace & Kimo James, Emirc, Stone Groove Family, etc., 9 p.m. — 4 a.m. Sunday ... L.A. DJ Kimberly S at Fresh: The Summer Ball, 10 p.m. — 4 a.m. Saturday, at Level 2, 2301 Kuhio Ave. ... Soul & Bass @ Le Fonque, with classic soul, funk, old-school and liquid-funk drum-n-bass grooves, 10 p.m.-2 a.m. tonight, Mercury, 1154 Fort Street Mall.

Reach Derek Paiva at dpaiva@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8005.