Historic Reggae Recordings Brought To Life at The Kennel

For the past several months, reggae producer Clive Chin and The Kennel chief engineer Billy “Prince Polo” Szeflinski have been working to digitize, catalog, embellish and mix hundreds of hours of previously unreleased recordings by some of the biggest stars of the golden age of ska and reggae.

As The Kennel reports on its blog, the archive consists of hundreds of hours of reggae music recorded from 1968-1978 by Clive Chin and his father, Vincent “Randy” Chin, at the legendary Studio 17 in Kingston, Jamaica. Included are performances by such major artists as Bob Marley, the Wailers, Peter Tosh, Alton Ellis, Gregory Isaacs, Lord Creator, John Holt, U-Roy, Tommy McCook, I-Roy, Augustus Pablo and many more.

Prince Polo in the control room with one of the historic reels

The original master tapes, which lay undisturbed in Jamaica for nearly 30 years, were brought to the U.S. through the assistance of E.M.P. (Experience Music Project) and Microsoft founder Paul Allen. The tapes have been digitized and cataloged for the first time by Chin and Szeflinski, working at The Kennel – a recording studio in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

An up-and-coming dub reggae producer, Szeflinski has not only remixed the recordings, but also added new instrumentation and vocals to the tracks, many of which were unfinished instrumentals.

On Saturday, June 16, an event at The Frost Theatre of the Arts in Williamsburg will offer attendees a first listen to these historic recordings and a reggae history lecture by Clive Chin (moderated by Pat McKay of SiriusXM Radio).

The music will also be showcased at the Reggae Dance Party being held immediately afterwards at Loreley in Williamsburg, with top NYC DJs and artists performing alongside Chin.

Tickets to the event are on sale now at The Lost Archive of 17 North Parade website.

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