Triston Palma aka Triston or Tristan Palmer (born 1962, Waltham Park,

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

) is a

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

singer/

deejay A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile D ...

. He has been active since the mid-1970s.

Biography

Palma was born in 1962 and grew up in the Waltham Park area of Kingston, and decided from an early age that he wanted to be a singer.Larkin, Colin (1998) "The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae", Virgin Books, van Pelt, Carter (1998)
Interview by Carter Van Pelt
, 3 February 1998 He began by singing to the accompaniment of

Soul Syndicate Soul Syndicate, originally called the Rhythm Raiders, were one of the top reggae session bands in Jamaica from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s. History In the first half of the 1970s the band from the Greenwich Farm area of Kingston recorded ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

ist

Tony Chin Albert Valentine "Tony" Chin is a Jamaican guitarist, who has collaborated with many reggae musician, artists including Bob Marley, Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, Freddie McGregor, Bunny Wailer, Big Youth, U-Roy, Max Romeo, Don Carlos, Mikey Drea ...

. His first recording was "Love Is A Message" for producer

Bunny Lee Edward O'Sullivan Lee OD (23 August 1941 – 6 October 2020), better known as Bunny "Striker" Lee, was a Jamaican record producer. He was known as a pioneer of the United Kingdom reggae market, licensing his productions to Trojan Records i ...

when he was eight years old, which was followed by "A-Class Girl" for the Black Solidarity label, which was co-run by Palma and Ossie Thomas.Rebel Base interview
/ref>Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd edn.", Rough Guides, Palma made a major breakthrough with his performance in 1979 at the General Penitentiary Memorial Concert for

Claudie Massop Claude Massop (16 April 1949 – 4 February 1979) was the leader and strongman of the Phoenix Gang, later renamed the Shower Posse, belonging to Tivoli Gardens, Wellington Street, Rema, Denham Town and the surrounding areas of West Kingston, Ja ...

, which also featured

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

.Triston Palma Biography
", Big Up Radio At one point in the early 1980s, Palma had nine songs in Jamaica's Top 40. They included his biggest career hit, the dancehall influenced "Entertainment" produced by Nkrumah Jah Thomas and using a reworking of the rhythm from

Vin Gordon Vin Gordon (a.k.a. Trommie, Don D. Junior or Don Drummond Jr) (born 4 August 1949) is a Jamaican trombone player. Biography Gordon grew up in Jones Town, Kingston, Jamaica as one of eight children. He went to Kingston's Catholic Alpha Boys S ...

's "Heavenless". Palma became a popular artist in the "

singjay Singjaying is a Jamaican style of reggae vocals combining toasting and singing in an elastic format that encourages rhythmically compelling and texturally impressive vocal embellishments. The performer is called a singjay, a combination of singer ...

" style in the early 1980s. enjoying further successes with

Jah Thomas Nkrumah "Jah" Thomas (b. 1955, Kingston, Jamaica) is a reggae deejay and record producer who first came to prominence in the 1970s, later setting up his own ''Midnight Rock'' and ''Nura'' labels. Biography Named Nkrumah after Ghanaian nationali ...

including: "Water Bubbling", "

Spliff A joint (), also commonly referred to as a "doobie" or "doob", is a rolled cannabis cigarette. Unlike commercial tobacco cigarettes, the user ordinarily hand-rolls joints with rolling papers, though in some cases they are machine-rolled ...

Tail", "Raving", "Touch Me, Take Me" and "Run Around Woman". Palma has worked with

Linval Thompson Leval Alphonso Thompson (born 12 October 1954, Kingston, Jamaica), also known as Linval Thompson, is a Jamaican reggae and dub musician and record producer. Biography Thompson was raised in Kingston, Jamaica, but spent time with his mother in ...

, who produced his ''Joker Lover'' and ''Settle Down Girl'' albums, and also

George Phang George Phang (born 29 March 1956 in Saint Andrew, Kingston) is a Jamaican reggae record producer, famously known for owning the ''Powerhouse'' label. Phang started his reggae label Powerhouse in the early 1980s. His first hits were Little John's ...

, Tony Robinson,

Sugar Minott Lincoln Barrington "Sugar" Minott (25 May 1956 – 10 July 2010)Campbell, Howard (2010)Reggae singer Sugar Minott dies at 54, Associated Press, 11 July 2010. Retrieved 12 July 2010Peru, Yasmine (2010)Godfather of Dancehall, Sugar Minott, dead at ...

, Bunny Gemini, and Castro Brown. In the mid-1980s, Palma became involved in the

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...

-relief charity project

Music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

is Life, along with

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Gregory Isaacs Gregory Anthony Isaacs OD (15 July 1951 – 25 October 2010)Thompson, p. 127. was a Jamaican reggae musician. Milo Miles, writing in ''The New York Times'', described Isaacs as "the most exquisite vocalist in reggae".Miles, Milo (1992),RECORDI ...

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, and

Steel Pulse Steel Pulse are a roots reggae band from the Handsworth area of Birmingham, England. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, and were composed of David Hinds (lead vocals, guitar), Basil Gabbidon (lead guitar, vocals), and Ro ...

, contributing to the charity single "Land of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

". Palma's popularity continued through the 1980s with

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...

hits that included "Lick Shot", a track that utilized rhythms by

Robbie Shakespeare Robert Warren Dale Shakespeare (27 September 1953 – 8 December 2021) was a Jamaican bass guitarist and record producer, best known as half of the reggae rhythm section and production duo Sly and Robbie, with drummer Sly Dunbar. Regarded as ...

and Sly Dunbar, and he also recorded extensively with Style Scott,

Errol Holt Errol Holt (born 19 July 1950), also known as Errol Carter and by his nickname Flabba, is a Jamaican bass guitar player and a singer who was a member of The Morwells and the Roots Radics and has played on hundreds of Jamaican albums. Biography ...

( the

Roots Radics The Roots Radics Band was formed in 1978 by bass player Errol "Flabba" Holt, guitarist Eric "Bingy Bunny" Lamont and drummer Lincoln "Style" Scott. They were joined by many musicians, including guitarist Noel "Sowell" Bailey, Dwight Pinkn ...

) and renowned sound engineer Scientist (musician) and in the 1990s he recorded the ''Three Against War'' song and album with

Dennis Brown Dennis Emmanuel Brown CD (1 February 1957 – 1 July 1999) was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of lo ...

and

Beenie Man Anthony Moses Davis (born 22 August 1973), better known by his stage name Beenie Man, is a Jamaican Dancehall deejay. Biography Davis was born in the Waterhouse district of Kingston in 1973.Moskowitz, David V. (2006) ''Caribbean Popular Mus ...

. Palma has worked as a producer himself, working with artists such as

Phillip Frazer Phillip Frazer (born 1 May 1946, in Melbourne, Australia) is a writer, editor and publisher. He was a founder of the weekly teen pop newspaper ''Go-Set'' in 1966, NOTE: This PDF is 282 pages. which was a popular Australian music paper from 1966 t ...

, Josey Wales, and Robert Ffrench, and has provided backing vocals for singers such as

Tony Tuff Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

, and

.Triston Palma at Roots Archives
/ref> He also built his own ''Star Creation'' studio.

Discography

Albums

*''Presenting Triston Palma'' (1981) Black Roots *''Fancyness'' (1982) Gorgon *''Joker Lover'' (1982) Jah Guidance *''Showcase In A Roots Radics Drum & Bass'' (1982) Midnight Rock/Vista Sounds/Gorgon *''Joker Smoker'' (1982)

Greensleeves "Greensleeves" is a traditional English folk song. A broadside ballad by the name "A Newe Northen Dittye of ye Ladye Greene Sleves" was registered by Richard Jones at the London Stationer's Company in September 1580,Frank Kidson, ''English Fol ...

/Clocktower *''Touch Me, Take Me'' (1982) Midnight Rock/Vista Sounds/A&A *''Nice Time'' (1982) Jam Rock (with

Toyan Toyan aka Ranking Toyan (born Byron Letts, died 1991) was a Jamaican reggae deejay active since the mid-1970s and best known for his early 1980s recordings. Biography Toyan began his career in 1974, deejaying on Kingston's sound systems, such ...

) *''Entertainment'' (1982) Midnight Rock *''Settle Down Girl'' (1983)

Trojan Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * ''Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 189 ...

*''The Big Showdown'' (1984) Black Solidarity (Trison Palma and

) *''Triston Palma Meets Early B The Doctor'' (198?) Fantastique (Garrick Robertson Triston Palma and

Early B Earlando Arrington Neil, better known by his stage name Early B, was an early dancehall and reggae deejay whose lyrics had a cultural bent, noted mainly in his hits ''Visit of King Selassie'', ''History of Jamaica'' and ''Wheely Wheely'', the ...

) *''I and I and Inity'' (198?) Drum & Bass (with Philip Frazer) *''Wounded'' (1989) Bungem *''The Best of'' (198?) Rohit *''Three Against War'' (1995) VP (with Dennis Brown and Beenie Man) *''Triston Palmer Meets Jah Thomas Inna Disco Style'' (1996) Munich/Majestic *''Born Naked'' (1997) I&I Foundation *''On The Attack'' Blue Mountain *''Wounded'' Bungem *''Spliff Tail'' Black Solidarity *''Triston Palma Meets Michael Palmer'' Midnight Rock (with Michael Palmer) *''Two Roads'' (2000) Easy Star ;Contributing artist * ''

The Rough Guide to Reggae ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (1997)

World Music Network World Music Network is a UK-based record label specializing in world music. The World Music Network website features news, reviews, live music listings, and guide sections on world music. It also features an online "Battle of the Bands" competit ...

Singles

*"Melissa" (1982) JR 7" *"My Father Love" Vasco 7" *"Spliff Tail" Black Solidarity 7" *"Another Girl" with Phillip Frazier Solidarity International 7" *"Ghetto Vibes" I&I Foundation 7" *"The Struggle" with

Norris Man Norris or Noris may refer to: Places In Canada *Norris, Ontario, in Algoma District In the United Kingdom *Hampstead Norreys (or Norris), Berkshire In the United States * Norris, Illinois * Norris, Missouri * Norris, Nebraska * Norr ...

I&I Foundation 7" *"Can't Let Them Do That" (1997) Artistic 7" *"Jah Is In Charge" (1997) Ruff Stock 7" *"Cuss Cuss" (1997) Massive B 7" *"Original Fussing & Fighting" (1998) Ranking Joe 7" *"Sweet Reggae Music" "Corner Stone 12"

References

External links

Triston Palma
on Myspace
Triston Palmer at Last.fmTriston Palmer at riddimguide.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palma, Triston 1962 births Living people Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica Jamaican reggae musicians Easy Star Records artists