Aston Barrett, the Jamaican bassist known as “Family Man” who served as the rhythmic architect for reggae legends like Bob Marley and the Wailers, Burning Spear, and Augustus Pablo, has died at the ...

Born in Kingston in 1946, Barrett enjoyed singing as a young man but did not take it up professionally. He was drawn to the playing of the late Lloyd Brevett, a founding member of the iconic ...

Known by his nickname, Family Man, he was the group’s musical director, crafting the hypnotic rhythms and melodies that elevated reggae to global acclaim. By Clay Risen Aston Barrett, who as the bass ...

The visceral melodic pulse heard in the bass playing of Aston “Family Man” Barrett, who died on February 3, is most closely associated with anchoring the messages and providing the sonic heartbeat ...

Aston Barrett, bassist for Bob Marley and the Wailers, died on Saturday at 77 years old. Barrett’s death was shared by Jamaica’s minister of culture on X (formerly Twitter) in a series of tweets.