ROOTZ UNDERGROUND
Since their start in 2000,
performing at live jam sessions
in
Kingston, Jamaica at
Harry's bar, to RE Unplugged at
Weekendz and then becoming the
main act at Mystic Urchin's
Tuesday Nite
Live at Village,
Rootz Underground have
gained notoriety for their live
performances. The group
performed live for five years
before beginning the recording
process for their debut release:
MOVEMENT. The band has
had the opportunity to perform
at such Jamaican festivals such
as Reggae Sumfest, Welcome To
Jamrock, the
Air Jamaica Jazz & Blues
Festival and Flashpoint Film
Festival.
The six-member group unites
Stevie G Newland (lead
singer),
Charles Lazarus (lead
guitar),
Jeffrey Moss-Solomon
(rhythm guitar),
Colin Young (bass
guitar),
Paul Smith (keyboard) and
Leon Campbell (drummer)
to form a revolutionary roots,
rock, reggae band.
After a successful one year run
at
Tuesday Night Live in
Kingston, Rootz
Underground attracted the
interest of
Steve Wilson and
Neil Robertson of
Mystic Urchin, a seasoned
team of management and record
label professionals who have
played a role in launching the
careers of some of music's
highest-grossing live acts and
top-selling recording artists
out of
Jamaica including Sean
Paul, Luciano, Beenie Man, Cutty
Ranks, Ky-Mani Marley, Farenheit,
Jovi Rockwell and the Stone Love
soundsystem.
The
Mystic Urchin management
team has partnered with Rootz
Underground to direct a
strategic marketing effort
resulting in an artful web
presence, interesting music
videos and high profile
performance dates.
MOVEMENT, is the first
of many to come on the
Mystic Urchin label which
has secured U.S. record retail
distribution through Ryko
Distribution. MOVEMENT is
scheduled for a release date of
March 4, 2008. Ryko is
home to many other kindred
"roots" music independent labels
such as Alligator Records, Blood
& Fire, Pressure Sounds,
Greensleeves, Tuff Gong
Worldwide, and Zappa Records.
Other distribution partners
include Europe's Nocturne and
Groove Attack imprints.
Rootz
Underground built its live
show and readied the songs for
MOVEMENT after the
tremendous response they
received from their community.
Their shows rapidly became an
institution in
Kingston and throughout
Jamaica. The group
developed a fan base that was
fertile for this growing “reggae
rock" music scene that has now
taken "root" in
Jamaica. Employing the
dynamic combination of a
contemporary roots, rock sound,
universal messages and energetic
and compelling stage shows,
Rootz Underground goes beyond a
niche definition - reaching
across reggae boundaries into
pop music realms.
MOVEMENT has benefited
from a sophisticated team
crafting some of the greatest
recordings in reggae today.
Each track of this 19-song set
tells a vivid, nuanced story
with moody - Jazz influenced
guitar solos, nimble keyboards,
ethereal segues, delay effects,
traditional African/Jamaican
hand drums, razor sharp mixing
and call and response chorus
vocals that find members
harmonizing in agreement with
the lyrical message. A rich
sound, full of careful layers,
serves as a comfortable bed for
some of the most universal and
honest lyrics to rest in a
reggae mix. This sound doesn't
rest alone in the reggae genre,
the songs have a serious rock
music sensibility with
breakdowns into hard-hitting
grooves, intense builds and
smooth transitions back to the
one-drop reggae rhythm. The
album’s use of interesting
vignettes takes us into the
realm of the underground and
beyond to position ourselves in
the movement for a closer
listen.
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First released to radio and as a
video is the compelling
VICTIMS OF THE
SYSTEM, produced by
Wayne Armond (as is the lion’s share of the record) that
preps us for the mindset of a modern Jamaican “underground”
twenty-something. The current single and companion video for
HAMMER
features the production talents of
Bobby Digital, an
influential reggae and dance hall producer. The dreamy
TIME IS AN ILLUSION is
produced by Rory Gilligan
of the legendary Stone Love
sound system who makes memories of dancehalls past come to life
on the album intro vignette taken from a 1990’s session shout
out that introduces the 19-song set like a night on the town
that lasts through the wee hours until dawn.
The lead singer
Stevie G
has an urgent and focused stage presence, his vocals are
delivered with reverent passion and a plaintive sincerity. But
the fact that he shares vocal duties with other members and
takes an ensemble role makes him stand out from the “front man”
role in the reggae genre, stating his message with the energy of
the group and the compositions at the forefront of the mission.
The group members share the stage with timely instrumental solos
or choreographed dance and vocal portions from other members
forming an integral part of the
Rootz Underground
show.
At no other time in the history of reggae have its players been
so widely accepted as the present. People from cultures all over
the world look to the music and message of
Bob Marley and the Wailers for sustenance, enjoying the
standards of reggae excellence. Artists and bands such as Sean
Paul, Damian Marley, Morgan Heritage, Culture, and Burning Spear
tour continents filling stadiums and selling out festivals
devoted to this revolutionary art form.
Now the younger generation has decided to take up their "arms"
and come as warriors with words, sound and power to hip clubs in
Kingston and subsequently to radio, TV and festival
stages outside their island of Jamrock. The band members of
Rootz Underground have
been schooled in the institutions of higher learning and
mentored by present-day musicians and producers in
Jamaica. Their signature sound is inspired both
Bob Marley's contemporaries in '70's traditional rock as
well as modern giants in pop music.
Like the founders of reggae and their offspring who fuse
elements of traditional reggae and ska, R&B, Jazz, Latin, rock
and then punk rock, Rootz
Underground uses elements of revolutionary
Rasta-influenced reggae, trance, rock, Jazz, and dub to forge a
modern reggae rock sound. Reggae afficionados, critics,
promoters and DJ's alike concur that Rootz Underground is a
group that can make an impact as large as their predecessors in
ensemble reggae recording and song writing, inviting comparisons
to bands such as Midnite,
Steel Pulse,
Black Uhuru, Third World, and the legendary Wailers.
Many of the finest musicians in reggae are found on stages and
in the studio as "backing bands" for touring artists. What this
meant around the turn of the millennium was limited live music
scene in reggae's homeland of
Jamaica. Musicians would assemble in order to record
music or back other artists, or perform recording session work
for popular rhythms that multiple artists record over. The
vacuum created by this tendency set the stage for the rise of
Rootz Underground as a
band whose originals present a fresh sound and paint a vivid
canvas for the future of Jamaican music.
Rootz Underground
Links:
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