Morgan Heritage is a family band, made up of five children of reggae artist Denroy Morgan (pictured here is Roy Morgan). The band mixes smooth vocals, gentle acoustic guitars, and roots reggae inflections with touches of somber acoustic pop and more energetic dancehall.
Morgan Heritage sings many songs that serve as a corrective to the general travel-agent image of Jamaica that a lot of reggae advances. Poverty, corruption and violence are topics the group returns to. Morgan Heritage feather in dub and more spiritual touches of Rastafarianism, while never being strict traditionalists, despite releasing a record last year called “Strictly Roots.”
See a reggae dynasty with plenty or roots, and broad far-reaching branches too, when Morgan Heritage plays Toad’s Place, 300 York St., New Haven, Thursday, Dec. 15, at 9:30 p.m. $25. toadsplace.com and 203-624-8623.
