Promotional Information

This insider look at the forces that came together to make Canada’s reggae scene reaffirms the power of music to combat racism and build bridges between communities and cultures.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments

Introduction: King Alpha’s Song

1 Hybridity and Jamaican Music

2 Music of the Black Atlantic

3 Jamaica to Toronto

4 Place and Meaning in Toronto’s Reggae Text

5 The Bridge Builders

6 Blackness and Whiteness

7 In Search of the Canadian Sound

8 A Strange Land

Notes; Bibliography; Index

About the Author

Jason Wilson is a bestselling author, two-time Juno Award nominee, and winner of a Canadian Reggae Music Award. He is the author of The Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club: Official Centennial Publication, 1917–2017 and Soldiers of Song: The Dumbells and Other Canadian Concert Parties of the First World War. The latter was turned into a play that toured across Canada. Wilson’s life story has been featured in documentaries on CBC’s The National and BBC Radio. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Guelph.

Reviews

...maybe the most comprehensive focus on reggae and Jamaican culture in Canada's most populous city.
*Jamaica Observer*

King Alpha's Song in a Strange Land  is a vital contribution to scholarship on reggae and Canadian music and culture... Wilson disrupts many notions asasociated with reggae, leaving readers with a deeper appreciation for the music in Canada and all over the world.
*CAML Review*