Onmilwaukee.com Review
By: Bobby Tanzilo - onmilwaukee.com

If you weren't paying close attention you might have missed the fact that Jamaican roots reggae royalty rode into town Sunday in the form of harmony duo Israel Vibration, which played at Turner Hall Ballroom. Even if you were there, you may or may not have noticed that anchoring the backing band was legendary studio and stage duo Style Scott on drums and Errol "Flabba" Holt on bass. On tour in support of its latest disc, "Stamina," released last year by Tafari Records, singers Lascelle "Wiss" Bulgin and Cecil "Skelly" Spence rocked a crowd that didn't pack the main level of the venue, but filled it comfortably. Mixing tracks from throughout their 30-plus-year career, Bulgin and Spence alternated lead vocals throughout a 90-minute set that kicked off with backing band Roots Radics reeling through a brief instrumental medley of Israel Vibes' best-known tunes. The two have some of the most distinctive and emotive voices in music today and, although it's a well-worn cliché, it seems safe to say the crowd -- a multi-racial mix of rastas, hippies, college-age couples and others - would have been happy to hear Spence and Bulgin sing the Milwaukee phone book. When the singers appeared, the crowd cheered, and whenever the two veteran vocalists danced, the audience went wild. That's due, at least in part, to the inspiring sight of seeing the two singers skanking joyfully Read More...