In Rastafarian culture, Babylon symbolizes the corruption of Western society. Bob Marley sang of its oppressions; the Melodians wept by its rivers. But for Watty Burnett, a Jamaican reggae musician who recorded with Mr. Marley, these days Babylon is just a Long Island town nine miles down the road.

“I do a lot of my shopping in Babylon,” Mr. Burnett said recently.

Mr. Burnett — a wiry, bespectacled man with thin dreadlocks and a white cloud of a beard — is the baritone vocalist for the Congos, a group whose 1977 record “Heart of the Congos” is considered one of the greatest roots reggae albums of all time. But while his bandmates Cedric Myton and Roydel Johnson continue to live in Jamaica, Mr. Burnett, 63, has quietly resided in the affluent suburb of Dix Hills, N.Y., since 1980.

When not on tour with the Congos, he does some work as an electrician, records music on his own and occasionally performs with a local reggae outfit called Noah’s Arc, a group of young musicians he met at a house party in Patchogue.

And he is now in the midst of a comeback of sorts. Last year, a collaboration between the Congos and two young Los Angeles-based psych-rock musicians, titled “Icon Give Thank,” was hailed as one of the best albums of the year by the popular music Webzines Pitchfork and Tiny Mix Tapes.