This band is now ready to conquer the world

We are in safe hands

Sunday, December 04, 2011

I attended the Manifesto Jamaica festival two weekends ago and was impressed with the level of organisation, the sophistication and breadth of activities and the sheer enthusiasm and commitment displayed by their volunteers and management team.

This organisation, in its short life-span, has taken its commitment to empower inner-city youths by giving them the kind of skills-training which will not just give them basic qualifications and experience for the working world, but will go a far way in re-socialising those who have been impacted by the programme as well as re-orienting their mindset.

It is unfortunate that other than Director of Culture Sydney Bartley, I did not see other representatives from the public sector or captains of industry and commerce for whom, I'm sure, this festival would have been an inspiration if they had attended.

That being said, however, I wish to highlight in particular the concert held in the Vera Moody Concert Hall on Saturday night and the Evening of Poetry held at the dance auditorium on the Sunday night. Mutabaruka, Tanya Stephens and Cherry Natural really did themselves, and Jamaica, proud with their poetry on the Saturday night. But, there were some Jamaican Canadians who also performed at this poetry session and their perspective, given the race issues that they have to contend with in that society, revealed the continuing struggle of blacks in Canada against a system that is stacked against them.

The Uprising Roots Orchestra's performance could only be described as awesome. The addition to the group of the horn section and Bo-Peep on rhythm guitar, has truly transformed the band into one of the best sounding local bands in Jamaica presently, and by the end of their performance the entire audience was in a trance. This band is now ready to conquer the world!

Edna Manley had their graduation ceremony on Saturday November 22 at The Little Theatre. I had the pleasure of witnessing their rehearsals for this function on the previous Thursday and Friday, and was totally fascinated and pleased by the concept of Pierre Lemaire and the arrangements of the musical director Michael 'Ibo' Cooper. They were able to take A Night in Tunisia on a trip through genres ranging from classical, to jazz, to dancehall, so seamlessly weaving the styles together one hardly knew where the actual transitions took place. They were also able to stunningly marry the more stringent European influences to our indigenous sounds, art, and movement.

It is a little known fact that many of the current crop of Jamaica's top, popular bands and artistes, attended and/or graduated from the Edna Manley School of Music; Romaine Virgo, C-Sharp, Raging Fyah, Uprising Roots, Further Notice, Chevaughn, Shereita, Dubtonic Kru, Roots Underground, Diana Rutherford and Warren McPherson (who got the highest marks for the grade 10 classical piano exams) granting him a trip to Winnipeg for a Master Class a few years ago).

Many graduates of Edna Manley have told me that the portion of their success attributable to their tutelage at the college under the mentorship Ibo Cooper; they think of the school as having two phases, BC (Before Cooper) and AC (After Cooper). One student actually said he was about to leave the school because of the direction he saw himself taking was not being fostered by the previous atmosphere of all classical/jazz, all the time.

Last Saturday, I had the most exhilarating night of live music while attending the Bands Incorporated Concert at Lindsay Avenue. The four bands on the lineup, Blue Grass in the Sky, Roots Underground, Dubtonic Kru and Raging Fyah are four of the top performing groups currently in Jamaica and each has its own distinct sound and vibe.

Raging Fyah stood out on Saturday night with a performance that was second to none. The crowd would not let them leave and demanded two encores before they allowed the band to leave the stage.

The following day we drove over to Asante Adonai in Winefield, St Ann for Jimmy's Jam, and I am certainly glad that I did not miss this event. Even though the attendance was less than a hundred people and the rain fell throughout the afternoon, this did not have a great impact on the recorded and live musical program. DJ Afifa played two excellent sets featuring Jimmy Hendricks, Led Zeppelin and many other famous guitar-driven hits from various genres of music which led to lively discussions, debates, arguments that just added to the sheer enjoyment of the afternoon. Then we had a live performance from an impromptu band featuring Omar Francis & Maurice Gordon on guitars; Shurwayne Thompson on bass; Akil Krram and Shane Campbell on drums. They literally brought the hills alive with the sounds of music.

Email: che.campbell@gmail.com

Uprising Roots lights a 'Skyfiya'

Published: Sunday | March 27, 2011

Uprising Roots Band members Lloyd 'Akinsanyah' Palmer (left), Ruel 'Pot-a-Rice' Ashburn (second left), Rashaun 'Blackush' McAnuff (second right) and Joseph 'Junior Congo' Sutherland at their Fairbourne Avenue, east Kingston, headquarters. The band has released its debut album, Skyfiya. - Photo by Mel Cooke

Within a neat border of similarly sized white stones, a fire smoulders at the Fairbourne Avenue, east Kingston, base of Uprising Roots Band. The three logs currently serving their final glowing hours are shifted intermittently with a long metal pole, curved at the end which goes into the fire, by band members.
There have been many logs before those heading steadily towards ash close to midday on Tuesday, as the fire was lit on December 3, 2008, and has never been out since. That was almost a year before the band did Know Yourself, the first song completed for their debut album Skyfiya, which was officially launched on Monday, March 14.
And just as they intend to feed as many logs as necessary to the fire to keep it burning, Uprising Roots' members plan any number of albums - all for themselves.
Band members Rashaun 'Blackush' McAnuff (lead vocals, drums), Lloyd 'Akinsanyah' Palmer (dub poet, keyboards), Ruel 'Pot-a-Rice' Ashburn (bass, engineer) and Joseph 'Congo Jr' Sutherland (percussions) are comfortable close to the fire as they explain the making of Skyfiya. Jeffrey 'Keyzy' also plays keyboards and Vania 'Colours' Isaacs does harmony.
Blackush says the idea of doing an album was broached by the band's manager after they did 'Breakfast with the Stars' at CTV when Jimmy Cliff was the featured guest. The matter was put in stark terms - that they had better do an album because musicians were at risk for suffering.
Frustration and 'suffaration'
"Him say one of you learn to sing," Blackush said. "Me did love vocals. Akinsanyah was in his dub poetry." Pot-a-Rice says there was also a guitarist, Mojo, who was upset that the group didn't have an album for themselves.
Uprising Roots had already experienced the frustration - and 'suffaration' - of investing their time and talent with an artiste, only to be left behind when the income-generating tours came. Akinsanyah points out that the quality of some artistes, including Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Tarrus Riley, is directly related to the band members. Also, Uprising Roots had sought for a lead singer in vain. "From we start we always a look for a artiste to tour with, to lead I an' I," Blackush said.
So they came together and did Know Yourself, the other 12 tracks on Skyfiya evolving from the band as a unit subsequently. Blackush steps from under the shade of the mango tree into the sunlight and spreads his arms as he explains the solar origins of Skyfiya.
"We assassinate we ego," Blackush said of the unified approach to the project.
And they also established a specific routine. Blackush said "In the beginning when we decided to do an album, we had a serious discipline for 52 days." That included getting up at 4 a.m. each day "before the glory of the morning come" and walking out to Rockfort Mineral Bath.
They would watch the sun rise over the mountains, Brightest Light coming from that experience.
Steamers is rooted in the experience around the fire.
The horns on Uprising Roots' debut album are especially striking and Pot-a-Rice says that Steamers was first done with synthesiser horns. Then it was done over with Jamaican hornsmen, along with Skyfia and Brightest Light.
However, although they wanted more songs to get the wind instrument treatment they could not pay for it.
Special moment
Then someone from France-based Makasound, with whom Uprising Roots already had connections, heard the tracks that were already done when he visited Uprising Roots' base. He carried a copy of the songs back to France, where Fiya Horns player Rico got interested in the album, eventually paying his way to Jamaica to record on the set.
"When Rico come is the hardest me ever work as a engineer. Me have to beg him mercy," Pot-a-Rice said. He played several horn tracks and also flute on Blessings.
Then Rico asked for tracks to take back home and played on those as well.
"The horns make the album different, make it special," Pot-a-Rice said.
And the band sees itself as part of a special moment in Jamaican music, pointing out that there are a number of other bands working as self-contained units. Among them are Dubtonic, Raging Fyah, Rootz Underground and I-Cient-Cy Mau and the Mau Mau Warriors.
"What we see is a positive movement coming forward with the musicians as artistes," Akinsanyah said.
Blackush quoted the scripture, that "the players and singers of instruments will be there", but quipped "some singer a gwaan like a singer alone. Them no learn 'bout equal rights and justice".
Uprising Roots plays the Negril One Love series next Tuesday, along with Third World. Akinsanyah says the band is now "very selective" about playing as a backing band.
"We not committed to that anymore," he said.
And Pot-a-Rice said "We ready fe record right now. We going do a whole heap a album and release them as time go on."
- MC