Freddie McGregor with Big Ship Band

Just over a month after Jamaica celebrated 50 years of independence, Blue Note Tokyo gets in on the act with two evenings of gigs by one of the country's great vocalists. Freddie McGregor got recruited as a back-up singer when he was just seven years old, and his career over the subsequent decades has carried him from ska to roots reggae to dancehall and ragga. Now aged 56, he recently released his 36th album to date, Di Captain.