Roger Steffens’ 65th—& Final—Tour of the “Bob Marley One Love Experience” / Video

It’s impossible to overstate the positive contribution Roger Steffens has made to reggae. And Steffens has done it through so many varied vehicles, including: radio broadcasts; speeches; brilliant photography; interviews; his prodigious “Reggae Archives” (recently purchased by Joe Bogdanovich—heir of the founder of Starkist Tuna—who plans to move Roger’s epic, one-of-a-kind collection to Jamaica); album liner notes and magazine articles Steffens has written; and, of course, multiple books Steffens has authored, including his magnum opus, “So Much Things to Say: The Oral History of Bob Marley.” Adding to all this, Roger recently served as the official tour guide for the “Bob Marley One Love Experience”—a visually stunning, informative, well-crafted exhibition, replete with photography, art, and artifacts; a traveling exhibit, it was on display at the Ovation Hollywood, in Los Angeles, between January and May. Of course when Roger—with whom I’ve been friends with ever since moving to California—invited me to come, on May 20, to his 65th and final tour of the “Bob Marley One Love Experience,” I leaped at the opportunity. There was no way I could pass it up, especially when Roger secured permission for me to film, photograph, and publish the content I would happily soak up from this historic and irie happening. I wanted to be sure the reggae family worldwide could, for all of time, benefit from the wealth of reggae-knowledge Roger—a wise and still-spry octogenarian—has acquired (and which he so generously and colorfully bestowed to all the many tour participants he entertained and educated). What follows is a video made of clips shot at the exhibit. Give thanks also to Mike’s wife, Leslie Pawka, for photographing Steffens and I together during the tour, and bless up Jonathan Shank—as well as Universal and the Marley family—for authorizing the publication of all the media contained in this article. The highest respect and many thanks are due, also, to the legendary and incomparable Roger Steffens. Photos/Clips by Stephen Cooper Edited by Teacher@ReggaeVibes Video compiled by Teacher@ReggaeVibes ©2023 Stephen Cooper