Soulful blend

In the quarter-century since Maxi Priest became known internationally as a pioneer of pop-friendly reggae fusion, he has been primarily a concert act, an artist who plays festivals and other large events. He’ll be taking a break from the big stage for three nights when he plays the Blue Note Hawaii in the Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort.

“We’ve done the Blue Note for many, many years in Japan, and we’ve had some wonderful times doing that,” he said Sunday, calling from Melbourne, Australia, in the middle of an international tour that includes stops in Sydney and “ragamuffin New Zealand” before reaching Hawaii.

“It’s an intimate situation that allows you to really see in the eyes of some of the people who are supporting what you’ve been doing for all these years you’ve been doing it. When this came up, it was also a great opportunity for us also to come to Hawaii.”

Born in London to parents who had left Jamaica in search of greater economic opportunity, Priest learned to sing in church. He grew up listening to a wide range of pop and soul vocalists — Frank Sinatra, Phil Collins, Al Green and Marvin Gaye — as well as a long list of Jamaican reggae artists.

His blending of pop, soul and reggae is called reggae fusion — typically sung to reggae-style Afro-Caribbean rhythms but without the standard Rastafari patois. The freshest window into what he’s doing with reggae fusion is his new album, “Easy to Love,” released in 2014, that he describes as bringing his music “back to the foundations.”

“Now that we’ve done that, with the next album we can open it up a little bit more and try and experiment and do other things,” he said.

The Blue Note expects to have copies of the CD available at his shows in Hawaii, and those who buy one can look forward to having him sign it during a meet-and-greet that follows each show.

As for the fact that music from the CD can be found on YouTube? “These are the things that we are struggling with,” Priest said. “You can’t chase around running after everybody, trying to take something down. You just have to hope that YouTube catches up with it. I’ve just got to to keep moving forward. That’s what I do.”

Priest made history in 1990 when “Close to You,” a song he had co-written with Gary Benson and Winston Sela, topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It was the first time that a British reggae act had reached the top spot, and only one has done so since — UB40, with its remake of “Can’t Help Falling in Love” in 1993.

Twenty-five years after “Close to You,” no Maxi Priest concert is complete without it. He’s happy that the song still resonates but admits to having mixed emotions about being defined by a song he wrote and recorded a quarter-century ago.

“I think that’s a fact, as much as one side of the coin you’re kind of going, ‘Dang, can we get off of that?’ But then on the other side of the coin we need to do more of those songs that people will associate with. I’d like to think that I have quite a few songs that people pinpoint and say that’s ‘their song.’ It helps me grow as an artist.”

Priest broke out as an international hit-maker in 1988 with a reggae fusion remake of Cat Stevens’ 1970 hit, “Wild World.” Asked what it was about the song that appealed to him, Priest said that if it had been up to him, he wouldn’t have recorded it.

“It didn’t appeal to me,” he recalled with a hearty laugh. “It was my manager at the time, Erskine Thompson, who kept pushing the issue.” When Thompson played him the potential backing tracks, however, which had been laid down by Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, aka Sly and Robbie, the prolific Jamaican rhythm artists, Priest liked what he heard, recorded the song and reached No. 25 on the Hot 100.

“Before I heard that track from Sly and Robbie, I was struggling with it,” he said. “Now it’s another song that I cannot let go — but you’ve got to be open to other people’s thoughts and ideas.”

Addressing another bit of his history, he said that he was as surprised as anyone in 2008 when someone told the British media that he would replace Ali Campbell as lead vocalist of UB40.

“UB40 is a massive group that I have so much respect for. They were doing this long before I came in it; they laid some serious foundation that I truly admire,” he said.

“That was never the plan. We’d known each other for a while and we’d always wanted to do something together, and at the time we were touring Australia. And it just so happened at that time that Ali was leaving the band. I was not aware of the problem. I did the duet (with UB40), and then the next minute everybody ran off with the idea that he’s gone and I’m the new vocalist.”

Summing up, Priest said he’s “been blessed” to remain popular as a solo artist.

“I really have to put my hand up and say, ‘Thank God we still make a living out of it,’” he said. “That allows us to keep going.”