Just Music Festival 2017 In Rome

Rag ‘N’ Bone Man – 20th June at Ex Dogana

Soul, blues, and hip-hop beats for a grand opening night at the Just Music Festival, with Rory Graham aka Rag ‘N’ Bone Man. Born and raised in a little village in the southeast of England, Rag ‘N’ Bone Man grew up on early blues and soul before discovering hip-hop culture in the nearby city of Brighton. He has since established himself as one of the most forward-thinking and technically gifted soul and neo-blues singers in the United Kingdom thanks to his deep, powerful, soulful and bluesy vocals mixed with hip-hop-style beats.

At the Just Music Festival he will perform his first full-length effort for Columbia Records, Human (2017), his most mature but also most eclectic album, which contains also the globally acclaimed hit of the same name.

Nicolas Jaar – 21st June at Ex Dogana

One of the least predictable and most experimental dance music producers of the 2010s comes back to Rome for the second event of the Just Music Festival, to present his most recent full length album, Syrens.

Known for his reflective and emotional downtempo style, Nicolas Jaar’s background is indebted to jazz and modern classical, as well as minimal techno and electro. He was born in New York but spent much of his early childhood in Santiago de Chile – the birthplace of his father, Alfredo Jaar, an internationally acclaimed visual artist and filmmaker – until he moved back to New York in his early teens. Jaar is a multi-tasking figure, producing, remixing, performing, composing scores for films and DJ’ing. He jumped to the world’s attention with his first album, Space is Only Noise, which was released on Circus in 2011 and became a huge critical success, earning Jaar fans from both the dance and indie rock worlds.

In 2016 Jaar released his last proper full length album, titled Syrens, which is going to be presented for the first time in Italy at the Just Music Festival.

Sizzla – 2nd July at Ex Dogana

Sizzla Kalonji is one of the most prolific leaders of the conscious Reggae dancehall movement of the present day. Born of devout Rastafarian parents and raised in the close-knit community of August Town, Miguel Collins aka Sizzla Kalonji began his career in the music industry in his early teenage years, emerging as a prominent artist in the latter half of the ’90s. Over the course of his career he has released almost fifty solo albums, crossing different genres and styles, playing a primary role in the redefinition of the new dancehall movement, with his vision heavily influenced by roots in the reggae and Rastafarian tradition.

At the Just Music Festival, Sizzla will perform in the Roots In The City event, together with the legendary Firehouse Band, one of the oldest and most significant crews in Jamaica since being installed as King Tubby‘s studio band in 1986. The Firehouse Band’s sound is a nice fusion of up-to-the-minute computer beats and organic old-school reggae grooves.

Fatboy Slim – 9th July at Ex Dogana

Quentin “Norman” Cook, aka Fatboy Slim is simply the most influential artist at the edge of electronic music and pop in the late nineties and early 2000s. He’s a musical chameleon who grew up in Surrey, UK, and began DJ’ing when he moved to Brighton in the late ’80s. Fatboy Slim can be considered not only as the most important exponent, but as the actual father of the big-beat sound, who ruled the charts and the dancefloor at the turn of the millennium in Europe and worldwide. In January 1999, the Fatboy Slim single “Praise You” topped the UK general chart, setting a new record in the electronic music industry. Cook’s wide success lies in his ability to speak to consistently new and different audiences, rather than experiment in the range of a niche or a style. His sets and productions blend funky breakbeats with the most catchy melodies and riffs, combining fundamental elements of rock and dance cultures.

Support us!

All your donations will be used to pay the magazine’s journalists and to support the ongoing costs of maintaining the site.