June 21, 2019
Now based in Turtletown in the Southeast corner of Tennessee, the roots reggae band, Natti Love Joys, plays the classic reggae of Bob Marley and others, R&B hits played in reggae style, and their own original music. The band was formed by the husband and wife duo of Jati and Marla Allen. Tony “Jati” Allen is from Kingston, Jamaica, where reggae originated. He played bass with Bob Marley and Cedric Brooks during the golden age of reggae during the late 1970s, and he became a core member of such bands as The Congos and Itopia in New York. Marla was born Sonia Abel in Brixton, England, of Jamaican parents. With one of her cousins, she formed the successful girls group, Love Joys. Jati and Marla met in a recording studio in The Bronx, New York, and eventually married and formed a new group together in 1998. The Natti Love Joys have performed internationally at the Montreaux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and the Dominican Jazz Festival in the Dominican Republic and across a wide swath of the USA from New England to Colorado. After settling in the mountains near Turtletown, they started their own reggae festival, Camp Reggae, in a beautiful shaded outdoor amphitheater and taking place on Memorial Day and Labor Days weekends.
Located at Knoxville Museum of Art
Friday, June 21 - 6pm
Visit: www.knoxart.org