Ras Michael

Michael George Henry OD (born 1943), better known as Ras Michael, is a Jamaican reggae singer and Nyabinghi specialist. He also performs under the name of Dadawah.

Biography

Henry was born in Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica, where he was raised in a Rastafari community. As a teenager he moved to Kingston's Waterhouse district where he played with local Rastafari musicians. He set up the Zion Disc label in the mid-1960s, and also worked at Coxsone Dodd's Studio One as a session musician and released a number of singles. He was the first member of the Rastafari movement to have a reggae radio program in Jamaica (The Lion of Judah Time program first aired in 1967 on the JBC). His band is called The Sons of Negus and are known for their traditional Nyabinghi drumming and chanting.

Tommy Cowan saw Ras Michael's group in 1974, and released an album of their music later that year as Nyahbinghi. The album did not sell well, so Cowan produced a second album, Rastafari (1975), with the group augmented by top studio musicians, including bassist Robbie Shakespeare, guitarist Earl "Chinna" Smith, keyboard player Robbie Lyn, and additional guitar from Peter Tosh; Rastafari, which featured a painting...

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