Campbell

Former UB40 frontman Ali Campbell says his new album will be released in early 2009. He told the New Zealand Press Association that he maintains a reggae vibe on it.

The name of the album is Flying High and it has 12 tracks. Campbell says he collaborated with some well-known acts on the set but was not prepared to disclose who.

"It's a lot brighter and more modern. But it's still reggae and there is some great soul on it as well," he said. "I've got some great acts which I can't talk about because they're too fantastic."

Campbell, who left UB40 in January, says he is keen to do more dub now that he is a solo act.

"UB40 never did enough dub live. We were great at making dub music but we never did it enough. So I'm going to kind of experiment a bit more live with dub," he said.

'Foreigners' still dominate Billboard reggae

Jewish deejay/rapper Matisyahu's Shattered EP (extended play) is top of the Billboard reggae chart for the week ending December 6.

Shattered, which is in its fifth week on the chart, replaced Beres Hammond's A Moment in Time, which dropped to number three in its third week.

A Moment in Time was released by VP Records in November.

Non-Jamaican acts continue to dominate the Top 10 of the Billboard reggae chart. British band UB40, the late South African singer Lucky Dube, Bermudan deejay Collie Budz, and American artistes Rebelution, Rebel Souljahz and Cas Haley are the other non-Jamaican acts in the chart.

The quality of Niney

Holness

As part of its 17 North Parade series, VP Records will release Reggae Anthology - Niney The Observer: Roots With Quality on January 13.

The collection revisits some of producer Winston 'Niney' Holness' finest moments, mainly in the 1970s when his Observer label was at its peak.

Holness started his career as a protégé of producers Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Joe Gibbs and Bunny Lee during the late 1960s, but made a mark as a singer/producer with the 1970 hit song, Blood and Fire, which entered the British pop chart that year.

Some of his biggest hits as a producer came with Dennis Brown (Cassandra, Westbound Train), Sugar Minott (No Vacancy) and Third World (Roots with Quality).

Still tasty after 15 years

Donaldson

FIFTEEN years after it was first released, Enid Donaldson's book, The Real Taste of Jamaica, is still cooking up a storm. Ian Randle Publishers (IRP), distributors of the culinary piece, says it has sold more than 150,000 copies.

The book was reissued by IRP in 2000.

The Real Taste of Jamaica contains over 200 recipes and a glossary of Jamaican eats. Christine Randle, managing director of IRP, says Jamaica remains its biggest market, with 30 per cent of sales recorded overseas.

"Most readers describe the book as a real connection with their past, particularly Jamaicans in the diaspora," Randle said.

Hammond