Jah9’s previous musical projects include her 2011 EP 9MM- Message Music produced by Rory Stone Love Gilligan. This dynamic pair has again collaborated to bring us New Name, her highly anticipated debut album.  This combination of a Reggae music veteran with a relatively fresh face and sound to Roots Reggae is a prime example of extraordinary new talent being noticed and nurtured by established elders of the industry.

As a yoga teacher with deep spiritual roots, Jah9 believes that all things happen just as they should, and when they should. As such, she has learned to practice patience along her musical journey. “I surrender all plans to the will of the Most High”. When asked about this project, she sees it as “An evolution of faith, which has now culminated in the public declaration of the truth I have found.”

The venue for the New Name launch will be Red Bones Blues Café (1 Argyle Road, Kingston 10), where Jah9 will perform songs from the 12-track album.

The event will begin at 7pm with radio personality Elise Kelly hosting the night’s proceedings.

The New Name launch will be free for public attendance, along with live streaming of the event on JamaicansMusic.com. Copies of the album will be available for purchase.

Contact pr@anubiscommunications.com or 868 9422 for more information and stay tuned to jah9.net.

KINGSTON, JAMAICA – The contemporary urban landscape is like a jungle, and city streets are likened to the mountains and valleys. This is how Jah9 sees the condition of present day society in ‘Jungle,’ her latest release ahead of her upcoming New Name album.

The track is a call to action for young men to assume the oft-forgotten responsibilities of manhood because “the pride needs defending by a lion” and “when the lions are leading there is nothing to fear.” Meanwhile, “the lionesses rise to the occasion” of mentally strengthening the males in the healthy communities envisioned by the songwriter.

Both song and record are produced by none other than Stone Love’s Rory Gilligan. The pairing of this veteran with Jah9, a relatively fresh face in roots music, is a prime example of extraordinary new talent being noticed and nurtured by established elders of industry.

New Name is expected to be released in February 2013.

KINGSTON, JAMAICA – There is mounting anticipation for Jah9′s debut album, New Name, slated for release later this year. Now her fans will be rewarded for their patience with the smoothly produced title track by Rory “Stone Love” Gilligan.

‘New Name’ has an anthem quality, with Jah9′s trademark clarity of voice, enunciation and solemnness of message all colliding in a milestone piece of music. If four and a half minutes could begin to capture the magnetism of Rastafari for this rising generation, ‘New Name’ would be it.

The song will be available for purchase on iTunes, Amazon and all major distribution sites.

KINGSTON, JAMAICA – In an era when firearms take away many young lives, there is one calibre that may be eagerly anticipated. A piercing shot from a 9mm could very well feed the youths’ minds rather than spill their blood. That is the likely outcome with Jah9′s new musical project called 9mm - ‘message music.’

As soon as it begins, it is easy to tell that the singer/songwriter is interested in steering her listeners towards a mental posture of self-determination. Throughout the experience, and with a sense of purpose, Jah9 recites words previously uttered by the well-known characters of Haile Selassie I and Marcus Mosiah Garvey as well as those spoken by a much less recognized leader, Walter Rodney, who was banned from Jamaica due to his liberation activities.

The nine tracks of this absolutely free download are lyrical bullets aimed directly at youngsters who will benefit from the guidance provided. The entire experience is peppered with the voice of Rory StoneLove, who actively promotes Jah9′s message music as a critical sound of the future. Indeed, 9mm is not only a preview of the artist’s 2012 album. It is also a preview of a new breed of revolution music that will pave the way into the foreseeable future, bringing with it not death, but new life.

9MM FREE DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/?di07g4crda5rk14

LISTEN TO 9MM ONLINE: http://soundcloud.com/jah9online/jah9-9mm-message-music-vol-1/s-VhQM6

LISTEN TO RELEASED SINGLES:  http://soundcloud.com/jah9online/sets/latest-releases

FORMER Bob Marley and Lauryn Hill guitarist Earl ‘Chinna’ Smith led a band of global musicians and jammed to the philosophy of Rastafari at Red Bones Blues Cafe in Kingston, last Thursday night.

Flagged in red, green and gold, Chinna sat with legs crossed and acoustic guitar atop. Relaxed, as if Inna de Yard — the title of his acoustic CD series — he accompanied or sang songs of God, ganja and the ‘gideon’.

“Home-grown in my backyard and the police know its mine…If you come to my place I will give you a taste,” he sang with honesty before entering another song. “Marijuana, marijuana to my head.”

The full house howled to the guitarist’s signature vocals. Chinna told the audience which comprised of expatriates and locals, that he was “not promoting drugs nor alcohol because ganja is not a drug”.

Chinna is a character whose hospitality equals his short temper. He will allow eager musicians to jam and freely learn at his home, but those deemed arrogant soon feel his wrath (this reporter included). Humility is key for Chinna who can boast of recording on many Grammy-winning albums with credits extending to over 500 albums that include Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Peter Tosh, Dennis Brown, Burning Spears, Sizzla, Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu and others.

Mid-set in a cover of Satta Massagana by the Abyssinians, Skaya on accordion played the theme Augustus Pablo style, whilst Chinna thumbed a solo following the second chorus. Chinna’s guitar style is rooted in the blues and similar to his favourite herb he branches out adding jazz and passing notes. These variations allow him to escape from the blues scale patterns which guitarists ironically call box-shapes. He is also inventive, for instance while soloing on the high strings he switched to finger the bass strings then rapidly slid up and down the fretboard as if his finger was a pendulum. The result was an unusual rhythmic lick — a sound that repeats like a scratched record, and the audience screamed.

Late in the set rising vocalist Jah9 Cunningham sang militant songs with soul in a voice which crosses UK singer Amy Whinehouse and deejay Sizzla. Music poured from her roots and when stirred, her dreads would splash her shoulders and waterfall onto her army jacket.

“You’re my favourite company,” she sang about ganja before entering into another song about perseverance. “Keep holding on, my brothers and sisters don’t let them draw you down, maintain composure inspite of what is going on. Speak the truth or hold your mouth.”

Jah9, the daughter of a preacher man, is poised for heavy rotation due to her signature sound and collaborations with ace producers including Beres Hammond, Don Carlean and Rory from Stone Love.

Most of the night however belonged to Kiddus I on vocals, most known for role in the cult classic Rockers. He was also backed by guitarist Jeff Williams, also a naturalist, lawyer, carpenter and guitar-luthier; Seretse Small on guitar; Skaya on accordion; Druss Leconte on a rich electric piano as opposed to cheesy keyboards; Fanso on percussion and Drumy on drums. Half of the musicians were overseas based.

“Now it won’t be too long, all of the suffering and wrongs will be right,” he sang in his classic hit Graduation In Zion which is also showcased in the film. “Whatsoever man soweth they shall reap the fruits of his labour in the end. So seek good and not evil.”

Kiddus-I doesn’t rush when he sings and delivers every word with clarity.

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With all four poets – Kai Falconer, Raquel Jones, Yashika Graham and Sabriya Simon – on stage simultaneously with singer and the night’s host Janine ‘Jah9′ Cunningham and the production organised into themes, the unity among the performers topped the manifesto. Added to the quintet was a quartet of photographers – Joanna Francis, Renae Simpson and Tiffany Lue-Yen and Simon, whose work was shown on the screen above the bar area.

DJ Afifa on the turntables made it nine women, but Jah9 pointed out from the early going that three men were involved. “We no believe in separating male from female. We separate enough already,” she said, introducing musicians Jesse Golding (congos), Jason Wharton (guitar) and Stephen Jackson (violin, for a short time).

The format was established from the get-go and maintained through the tightly packaged night, Jah9′s “bong, bong, bong” refrain anchoring the first go-round of poetry. Until she was still and listened to it, Simon said, “did not know my body was a divine conduit. And Graham ended her stint with the grim observation “blood, sweat and tears flowed inside”.

Ancient spirit

There was a pause for an introduction cause, Jah9 describing Simon as “ancient spirit”, Graham as someone for who “language is her sport”, attributing Jones with “the voice of the masses” and remembering her first encounter with Falconer when she was reserved and shy.

The interweaving of music, song and poetry continued. The visual of the women swaying, seated on high stools behind the person or persons at the microphone was as powerful as the aural of their delivery.

It was an atmosphere of extended listening, more so than spontaneous cheering during pieces, Tracy Chapman’s Talking ‘Bout a Revolution‘ from the turntables setting the stage for Jah9 to sing to the wanna-be bad men “Do you know what a defibrillator is for?/well if you don’t I don’t think you are ready for war“, then cutting to Anthony B noting “you end it a go bitter”. The poets addressed the theme from different angles, Graham saying “we all know that magic grows on trees” and, after Jah9 did a line from Burnin’ and Looting, Jones demanded “is this what Bob died for/what the Wailers wailed for?”

Simon asked, “Black woman, do you know how stunning you are?” and the mood soon shifted into sex, Jones the most verbally aggressive as she cut a braggart down to size “me see the six-pack/Let’s see if the bottom half match … it’s microscopic“.

There was a good laugh all around.

Falconer tried to exorcise the determined demon of lover past from her writing (“I want to write about other things/I want him out of my poetry“), but confessed her weakness with: “I’ve never said this out loud/But I’m afraid to live without him“.

Omega Vibration resumed after the break without fanfare, the pull of Jah9′s voice quelling the mingling. Matters of the heart and the bedroom dominated down the stretch to the preset ending time, 10:30 p.m. Simon sent on a sub-standard swain with “ride on, brother, ride on” and Falconer announced the night’s final theme, energy.

Graham approached it from the environmental perspective (“the sea is sick to its stomach”), while Jones spoke to the poet’s task (“I bleed through this microphone for Jamaica”) and, after Jah9 sang “this one is a warning”, Simon did the popular Dead Man Walking centred around sexually-transmitted infections. And Wharton’s voice anchored with a line from Buju Banton – “put some rubbers pon yu willie”.

Falconer was caustically honest about the situation the black woman often finds herself in, “squeezable, grabbable, just not loveable”. She asked the telling question: “Isn’t it interesting how we adopt to the characteristics of those who whipped our bodies in the past?”

Symbolically the women removed earrings, a bracelet a necklace and Jones her shoes, placing them in a basket beyond the microphones at the front of the stage, before the Omega Vibration ended with Jah9 singing Gone is the Day.

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The festival was hosted on Wednesday in Trench Town and saw a day’s worth of events, starting with activities for children, including workshops. The day ended with a stageshow.

‘Trench Town Rock’ was organised by various music production houses in the community. It cost nothing to attend.

Speaking with The Sunday Gleaner on Wednesday while at the festival, singer and a Manifesto Jamaica ambassador, Janine ‘Jah 9′ Cunningham, was excited that done that will be done in the future.

According to Jah9, Trench Town Rock was organised and conceptualised by production houses from the community such as Triple L Music, I-Manu-Manu Production and Trench Town International Music.

Positive energy

“They contacted me like last week and I got Manifesto Jamaica involved in the project as well, to help put on the huge stage show so that the Trench Town massive can come out and enjoy themselves,” said Jah 9.

The effort came from the entire community as its members pulled together to make all the arrangements to prepare the space.

“We cleared a space on 5th-6th Street that was like a big open land that was full of garbage. It took us six days to clear it so that they could have this whole-day festival and its been really great,” Jah 9 told The Gleaner.

“We’ve been building a positive energy all day. The children are on holidays so they are out, and you know in this neighbourhood persons can be really aggressive so its good for them to learn new things.”

The free stage show featured a number of acts from the community, who spent the week preparing for the event, as well as acts such as the ‘Inna De Yard’ crew, Sangie Davis, Roots Uprising Band, Raging Fyah Band, Junior Reid, Jah 9 herself and many others.

“Trench Town has such a history of music so it’s really good to use music to accomplish healing the people and bringing together the community,” explained Jah 9.

Trench Town has been prolific for nourishing some of the most talented artistes to come out of Jamaica and is often referred to as the birthplace of rocksteady and reggae music. The community is probably most well known as the home of international hitmaker and reggae legend Bob Marley, as well as Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer.

The Trench Town Rock team hope to see the festival develop to include persons beyond the walls of the community.

“We really spent six days doing this project and we’ve got a lot of support. I know if we had more time we could have got support from persons outside of the community and get people involved. It’s definitely something we plan to put on every year. Next year we plan to get more organised and invite persons like the Red Cross, the Cancer Society down here to educate people and get more of a musical strength. If you see what we’ve done already, it’s really inspiring,” said Jah 9.

An example of that inspiration comes from the fact that the residents of Trench Town want the now-clean area, between 5th and 6th street, to be made into a park.

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Mama G lit a candle before she poured a libation, proclaiming blessing on all before the live music picked up on Gabre Selassie’s good roots-reggae selections. And, nearly six hours at an event that went on far too long, close to the end of their concert-closing set, an inspired Uprising Roots hit a high with the title track of their recently released album Skyfiya.

“What a beautiful day!” Blackush, lead singer and drummer, said between verses as Uprising Roots went into the dub.

Sunday’s concert at The Deck was the first in the Iration Ites Recovery Series for Uprising Roots and was an encouraging display of camaraderie among a resurgent roots and live-band music scene, as well as a common thread of commitment to rockers-style reggae among generations.

On the elder side of the roots equation were The Viceroys, the trio hitting home with capable harmonies and the enduring Yaho, among other cuts. Fredlocks turned up in tribute mode, paying homage to Sugar Minott and Dennis Brown as well as slipping in his seminal Seven Miles of Black Starliners on an unexpected rhythm to delight.

Still, the night’s host Denise ‘Isis’ Miller, demanded more of Fredlocks’ material and he complied with I’ve Got a Joy, the One Drop band picking up very quickly after he hummed the notes to the bass guitarist.

On the younger side of the night’s roots-reggae continuum were Protoje and Jah9, performing in tandem. Protoje was up first with Argument among his opening salvo, and he told the enthusiastic audience that Uprising Roots was not only the first band he worked with but so also was the connection with Jah9. The latter started with a steady, sure dismissal of the negative (“I am going to let my body wash you out”) and, in their extended, excellent stint, the interaction between the two was interesting.

At one point, Protoje sat on a speaker cabinet while Jah9 sang; at other points they passed the microphone much in a near surreptitious style, hands down low as they passed each other, making for smooth transitions.

In between the roots elders and relative youngsters were Prophecy, with a very strong voice and presence to take the house down from his opening Too Little Love through to Bodybags, and I-Cient-Cy Mau and the Mau Mau Warriors. Lead singer I-Cient-Cy Mau’s gentle voice was in contrast to hard-hitting lyrics as he sang of Struggle and Jah blessings, but his intense body movement came off as very studied.

Also on the elder side was Bongo Herman, dipping into his accustomed bag of percussive tricks – ending with the enamel chamber pot – and slinging his bag over his shoulder to pay respects to Sugar Minott with Oh Mr DC, which the audience enjoyed.

Still that audience, never very large to begin with, sloughed away over time, as although the music was in the main good (in the early going a youngster committed the musical sacrilege of missing a few lines from Bunny Wailer’s Dreamland) there were four bands with the attendant changes. And Uprising Roots, who took the opportunity of presenting persons from their True Music camp in the early going, came on at 12:45 a.m., very late hours on a nine to fiver’s working morning.

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The rockers era, distinguished by the innovation of new musical patterns and vocal styles, evolved in the 1970s and is hailed by some as the Golden Age of reggae music. Rockers was recorded at a turbulent time in Jamaica’s history, fraught with chronic unemployment, rising world oil prices and the dissipation of skilled labour and investment capital. The sounds that emerged during the rockers era were reassuring, inspiring and healing … real rebel music.

Four young women, dubbed The Tribal Council – 1980s babies, raised on the music of the ’70s – have made a commitment to reviving the fire for roots rock reggae among their generation.

The next phase of the group’s mission launches on Saturday with ‘Vibes is Right: The Rockers Edition’, a dance party on the shores of Wickie Wackie Beach in Bull Bay, St Andrew.

Socio-economic conditions

When asked about their inspiration to produce a rockers edition of Vibes is Right, Lesley-Ann Welsh commented, “Reggae music, rockers in particular, is at once spiritual and revolutionary. Rockers comes out of an era that was characterised by socio-economic conditions that are very similar to those we’re experiencing today. We want to spread the music and its message among our peers, and inspire nostalgia among the elders of our parents’ generation.”

Janine ‘Jah9′ Cunningham, also a member of the Tribal Council, cites the need for more events that “bridge an inter-generational gap, complement the resurgence of live music and, most importantly, promote dancing and positive vibrations. We want people to dress the part and come out ready to dance, meet a stranger and have a good time.”

The other members of the Tribal Council are Natalie Reid and Kareece Lawrence.

Tickets cost $700 presold and $1000 at the gate. Presold tickets are available at Ashanti Oasis, both locations of Veggie Meals on Wheels or by calling 354-8812 /868 9422.

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