He's putting reggae's roots on film

Filmmaker and MIT radio DJ Generoso Fierro in Kingston, Jamaica, where his documentary on Lynn Taitt screened in February.

As Generoso Fierro haggled over some rare records, he realized he might be in over his head when the seller pulled out a machete.

But the MIT radio DJ, who was visiting Kingston, Jamaica, in February to show a documentary at the island nation's first-ever Reggae Film Festival, kept his cool. He threw down 6,000 Jamaican dollars (worth about $100 at the time) and got 15 records.

Two years after completing that documentary, "Lynn Taitt: Rocksteady," Fierro is making a film about ska pioneer Derrick Morgan. And though no one's pulled any weapons on him for this film, making it has brought stresses of its own.

The goal is "preserving history," said the 39-year-old Fierro, who lives in Somerville. "It's probably the only chance I'll ever get to see these guys again."

Reggae, ska, and rocksteady developed in the 1960s, combining American R&B with native Jamaican Mento music. Fierro discovered the genres at age 12, when a friend brought him to see the ska band The Specials.

"I had never heard anything like it. It was so exciting," he said.

Fierro then "went backwards and started listening to these Jamaican records they were covering."

Now he's such an authority that the Barbadian government contacted him for information on Jackie Opel, a musician who died mysteriously at a fairly young age. Fierro still marvels at the query: "Italian Generoso Fierro from Philadelphia!"

But, "when you know what you love, it makes it a lot easier," he said, brushing aside praise.

Morgan was "one of the first superstars" of Jamaican music, Fierro said. He had his heyday in the 1960s and cut Bob Marley's first records.

To put together the new film, Fierro flew Morgan in from Jamaica in June for a Father's Day concert at the Middle East club in Cambridge. It was Morgan's first Boston area appearance since 2001. A video crew recorded the performance, rehearsals, and one-on-one interviews.

Fierro, already exhausted from a crazy week at work, had his hands full coordinating events that night, fretting about the attendance (hurt by a Celtics-Lakers finals game, he thought), and taking care of his 68-year-old star, who has problems with mobility and sight.

"It's kind of like having your parents visit, if your parents had 37 number-ones [hits] in Jamaica," Fierro said, wolfing down an energy bar that night.

Fortunately, concertgoers and the crew appreciated his efforts.

"He's bearing most of the weight of [the process] himself," videographer Scott Willis said before the show, "which is pretty extraordinary."

Standing outside, "Mister" Balbanah Williams, a Jamaican émigré who lives in Cambridge, said, "What he put out tonight, it was very nice."

"It highlighted the best part of our culture," said promoter Orlando Bowes, who had come from Miami. "We are very proud."

After the tension of the concert, Fierro made the editing process sound almost easy - though postproduction on his Taitt documentary had taken about 400 hours. He aimed to be largely finished on the Morgan film by the end of this summer.

Late last month, in Fierro's office at MIT - where he is an event coordinator for the Comparative Media Studies Program and hosts his weekly midnight radio show, "Bovine Ska and Rocksteady" - he ran down a checklist for his film.

Interviews scheduled with Morgan's former duet partner and his long-ago archrival: check.

Searching for archival footage: check. (The Jamaican culture ministry offered to help, he said).

Starting to edit: check, though his technician, undergraduate Conor Lenahan, had joined the project only four days prior.

In a rough version of the film's opening sequence, Morgan sits in the green room as his Boston backing band, the Void Union, plays. As his wife leads him onstage, the lights glint off his shades. He spreads his arms wide and starts to sing in a voice still elastic. A man in the audience bops, wearing a porkpie hat.

And the music keeps going. That's important to Fierro, who was offended when a recent film on the late punk legend Joe Strummer of The Clash had celebrity testimonials overshadowing Strummer's songs. "A music documentary with bad sound is like a car with no tires," he said.

Fierro plans to submit the finished product to festivals. As for money, he plans to offer Morgan the option to sell it himself.

"It's all out of love, really," he said.

Though Morgan has spoken to Fierro only a couple of times since the shoot, the legendary singer acknowledged the effort in his own, distinctive style. In the footage, singing "The Conqueror," Morgan rolls out a litany of thank yous, including a shoutout to "Papa Gene."