December 10, 1999
Web posted at: 6:09 p.m. EST (2309 GMT)

From Bruno del Granado
CNN WorldBeat Correspondent

(CNN) -- The music of reggae master Bob Marley is going through a resurgence, with a spate of new releases by his offspring and an all-star tribute concert.

The most recent release, "Chant Down Babylon," was produced by son Stephen Marley. Like his October release "A Rebel's Dream" (Polygram), "Chant" digitally enhanced Bob Marley's past works.

As a bonus, it also used modern dubbing techniques to incorporate "duets" -- a la Natalie Cole's duets with her deceased father, Nat King Cole, on her 1991 album "Unforgettable" -- with Erykah Badu, Busta Rhymes and a daring fusion with members from Aerosmith on "Roots Rock Reggae."

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"It's not only the artists that are on the track that are new, but Bob's performance is also new," Stephen says of "Chant Down Babylon." "We tried different things, like not using the vocal that everybody knew, but the vocal that they didn't use."

Lauryn Hill, who is married to another son, Rohan Marley, fulfilled a dream with her contribution to the project. She produced and sang the single "Turn Your Lights Down Low."

"People would always ask me, 'Who would you love to do a collaboration with,'" she says. "And I would say, 'It's so hard for me to answer that, because the people who I would love to duet with are not with us right now.' I would say Bob would be No. 1 on the list."

"Whatever color, creed, race, background, as long as you're a person, you can relate to what (Bob Marley) is saying. So I think that is why people continue to feed off his music -- because it is food spiritual food. And everyone needs that."
--Sharon Marley

Marley was 36 years old when he died of cancer in Miami on May 11, 1981.

Busta Rhymes, Erykah Badu and Aerosmith treat Marley's work with reverence in their performances. Meanwhile, Stephen, Damian and Julian Marley are regulars with the Melody Makers, alongside sisters Cedella and Sharon, and brother Ziggy.

Members of the Marley family put on a musical tribute to their patriarch on the beaches of Jamaica. "One Love: The Bob Marley All-star Tribute" is scheduled to air on TNT -- a sister company to CNN Interactive -- on Sunday at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Performers include Badu, Hill and Rhymes as well as Tracy Chapman, Ben Harper and Queen Latifah.

His children say their father's musical talents and stage presence made for a lasting legacy.

"I think that his ability to reach out to people was because of his sincerity in what he was doing," Ziggy Marley says. "And the truth in which he did it in. He had no ulterior motive. He wasn't trying to be something. He wasn't into gimmicks. He wasn't trying to be a star. He was trying to express himself."

"The continuance," Sharon Marley says, "is based on the content of what he is singing. It is always relevant to someone somewhere -- whatever color, creed, race, background, as long as you're a person, you can relate to what he's saying. I think that is why people continue to feed off of his music, because it is food spiritual food. And everyone needs that."

Many observers are hailing 23-year-old Ky-Mani Marley as the closest embodiment of his father. His sentiments are reflected in the song "Dear Dad," written to the father he never met.

"I've been in the middle of nowhere, and all of a sudden I hear a Bob Marley tune play. I see somebody in a Bob Marley T-shirt. For me, that man is my father. It's very very powerful."
--Ky-Mani Marley

"At no time did I have a problem about what the next word would be," he says. "It basically flowed. And then, halfway through the song, I found that the emotions were starting to get intense. Really and truly I had to walk away for a moment and catch myself.

"There are many nights that I actually feel like he's standing there with me. And that brings out all kinds of inspiration within itself."

Ky-mani says he sees reminders of his father everywhere he travels: "I've been around this country, been to Africa, a few other places, some little holes in the wall. ... I've been in the middle of nowhere, and all of a sudden I hear a Bob Marley tune play. I see somebody in a Bob Marley T-shirt. For me, that man is my father. It's very, very powerful.