In Jah Music, Sebastian Clarke has offered a wealth of information on Jamaican popular music especially to this reader who, although a musician and ethnomusicologist, knew very little about the popular music of Jamaica previously. Clarke has provided material on the roots and history of the music: the birth and development of Rastafarianism, then the evolutionary development of Jamaican music, and its three most powerful exponents, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer. There is also a chapter on the spoken word, which is the key to all African-derived music. Whether articulated by voice or by another instrument, the word is the essence of all musics which have sprung up in the Western hemisphere with roots in Africa. The book has a very detailed index, directory of artists and discography, and is scrupulously footnoted to support the author\u27s conclusions
