Mista Savona

Melbourne-based musician Jake Dominic Savona launched his career in the mid-1990s, working as a keyboardist, solo performer, and producer with a core emphasis on reggae and dancehall. Billing himself as Mista Savona, he quickly established a presence within Australian reggae circles while maintaining frequent early partnerships with Diafrix and Illzilla and fostering connections among other aligned artists. His initial solo outing arrived with the 2001 release Bass & Roots, followed three years later by Invasion Day, yet international attention arrived with the 2007 project Melbourne Meets Kingston. That record assembled material Savona had developed across four years and united prominent figures from both the Australian and Jamaican reggae communities on fresh collaborative pieces.

He revisited the same approach for 2011’s Warn the Nation, which included appearances by Horace Andy, Capleton, and Alton Ellis—the latter’s contribution ranking among his final recordings. During this period Savona began making trips to Jamaica to collaborate with dancehall legend Sizzla, and the pair spent the subsequent three years shaping the 2014 full-length Born a King, which earned widespread critical praise. In 2017 Savona orchestrated the expansive Havana Meets Kingston, extending his concept of uniting distinct regional reggae traditions by capturing studio sessions between storied Cuban and Jamaican musicians working over productions conceived by Mista Savona. A documentary film that followed the Havana recording process accompanied the album.