Carter Van Pelt

Carter Van Pelt has been documenting Jamaican popular music as a writer, radio broadcaster, and archivist since the early 1990s. He has a master’s degree in arts administration from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Nebraska. His master’s thesis examined collective rights management in Jamaica.

Among his published articles, two are collected as book chapters in Reggae, Rasta, Revolution, ed. Chris Potash (Schirmer Books, Simon & Schuster, 1997) and Let The Fury Have The Hour, ed. Antonio D’Ambrosio (Nation Books, 2004). The Beat magazine has published six of his articles as cover features. In the late 1990s, he briefly published the fanzine 400 Years.

Carter produced the DVD documentary for Burning Spear’s album Our Music in 2005. He hosted “Radio Free Mondo” on KZUM in Lincoln, Nebraska for eight years and has been co-host of “All Star Reggae Thursdays” on WKCR 89.9 FM in New York City since 2005. He has also been a guest commentator for National Public Radio’s Morning Edition.

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