"Reggae" and "U.S. Open" aren't two words that are frequently said in the same sentence, but this weekend, Reggae Carifest will assuredly change that. The day-long concert will take place at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, home to the aforementioned world-class tennis tournament. The festival is a benefit, supporting Keep a Child Alive, a charity which fights AIDS in Africa.

Appearing on the bill are some of reggae's greatest names: Matisyahu, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Joseph Israel, Midnite, and more. I'm more than jealous of you New Yorkers who are a mere train-ride away, so be sure to come back and tell us all how fabulous it was.

On a side note, I just learned from Jeff Cooper, About.com's Guide to Tennis, that Ashe Stadium is a hard court, which makes a tennis ball bounce differently than, say, a fast grass court (like Wimbledon's) or a slow clay court (like Roland Garros). Does this, however, make any difference to the way reggae sounds when played on, above or near it? I cannot say for sure. I do know, however, that I wish I could be there to find out.

Some people credit Bob Marley with the invention of reggae. In fact, though, most reggae historians (yes, that is a real job, and yes, I am amazingly super-jealous of the people who have it) credit a simple feud between Lee "Scratch" Perry and a producer named Joe Gibbs as the starting point for what would be the first "reggae" recording (though it wasn't called reggae at the time). Perry worked as an assistant producer in Gibbs' studio in Kingston, Jamaica, and after they had a falling-out, Perry recorded a song called "People Funny Boy" (listen/download), which was intended to make fun of Gibbs, calling him a baby. Interestingly enough, for all you rap fans out there, "People Funny Boy" was one of the first songs to ever make use of a sample - a little bit of recorded sound, replayed or used as a musical effect. In this case, it was a crying baby. Also, though, the background beat was faster and more emphatically backbeated than was standard for ska, which was popular at the time... it was what would become reggae.

Lee "Scratch" Perry is still around and performing. I caught him a couple of years ago, and he's pretty wild and over-the-top, especially considering he was nearing 70 years old at the time. His beard was dyed green, his entire outfit was made of red, yellow and green fabrics, and he was just generally a real character. Has anyone else ever caught this legend in concert? Leave a comment and tell us what you thought!