Multi-directional Masterclass

Rashied Ali Quintet
Pizza on the Park, London
Saturday July 21, 2007

"True legend" in jazz circles is a frequently-used cliche. This time it's true. Rashied Ali is the man who pioneered an approach to drumming which threw out the traditional idea of the drummer as human metronome. His work with John Coltrane in the great saxophonist's final years is a high point of avant-garde creativity. It was Coltrane who coined the term "multi-directional" to describe Ali's loose, free style of rhythmic propulsion.

His current touring quintet with Greg Murphy (piano), Joris Teepe (bass), Josh Evans (trumpet) and Lawrence Clark (tenor saxophone) is playing a style which combines modern post-bop with Ali's trademark free jazz. During two hours at Pizza Express they performed only six tunes, averaging 20-30 minutes in length.

Every band member was given space for long improvisations on Jaco Pastorius's composition "Dania", which kicked off the night. Ali's revolutionary technique was evident from the start as he strayed in and out of timekeeping with an emphasis on snare drum usage. Second on the bill was the Monk classic "'Round Midnight" and the set ended with the ominous, fanfare-like melody of Coltrane's "Liberia". This was the first point at which the bass and piano dropped out, leaving Ali alone with Clark on saxophone. It was almost like two simultaneous solos, highly reminiscent of Coltrane's final studio album "Interstellar Space" which is a series of duets with Ali. The diners didn't know what had hit them; Saturday night in Knightsbridge is usually more genteel. It was a fitting tribute to 'Trane, with this concert coming days after the 40th anniversary of his death.

The second set featured two more standards and ended with "If only I had a Gig", the band's take on songs from The Wizard of Oz. There were further moments of sax-drums duelling, bassist Teepe produced one of the most melodic solos of the evening, playing on his own for several minutes, and Evans on trumpet also impressed with screamingly passionate lines.

Rashied Ali may be nearly 70, but his creative instincts continue to develop. His work with this young lineup constantly throws up new challenges and his solos burst with complexity. Hopefully this will carry on for some years to come.

Sunsplash Finale

The last days at Sunsplash were pretty mixed. A couple of acts really caught my imagination, namely Ziggy Marley and Groundation, but there was a also a disappointing return to the artificial stylings I wrote about on the first few days.

Having been recommended to check out Groundation some time ago, I have a few of their records, but the band is equally good if not better to see live. In the post-show press conference, keyboardist Marcus Urani talked about how the group started off playing jazz together before introducing elements of reggae and gradually arriving at the progressive sound they have today. Indeed, there was a strong emphasis on individual improvisation to complement the strong roots reggae foundations of the music. The horn section of trumpet and trombone were treated to frequent solos and it was fitting that the first bass solo I'd heard at the whole festival came on the last day. All were of a high standard and the crowd also felt the impact of the lyrics, which consciously tackle a number of prominent issues. Definitely one of the highlights of the festival for me.

I'd heard mixed things about Ziggy Marley and wasn't really sure what to expect, since I don't own any of his albums. There was some talk of the cheesy catch-line "love is my religion" as one of his major slogans, but he didn't really go on about that during his set. Instead, the extensive band gave a tight display of mostly roots-style reggae, combining original songs with new arrangements of a few Bob Marley numbers. Ziggy definitely has a hauntingly similar voice to his great father and there was no messing around with live "rewinding" or anything like that. A couple of tunes near the end did get a little commercial and tiresome, but on the whole I really liked his music.

Some of the other acts of the final two days included Tanya Stephens, Famara, Toure Kunda and Shaggy. The iconic pop-dancehall singer was making a highly anticipated appearence, which the festival organisers didn't stop emphasising was his only in Europe this year. I don't want to think about how much they paid him, but I won't go on with criticism because I think there's been enough of that recently. Out of the other names on that list, I enjoyed the African reggae sounds of Toure Kunda and his band from Senegal. Maybe it was a bit of a token gesture that he was the only real African artist playing at the festival, but the music was chilled out and relaxing - perfect for winding down on the penultimate day of this long festival.

Of course the programme was always going to be a compromise between the more and less commercial elements of reggae music, and I'm not sure if the formula was balanced in the right way. DJ Neil Perch of Zion Train summed it up during his session at the Reggae University by saying most record companies function like an "audio McDonald's" - they produce what is easiest to sell. That's just the industry for you; I think it's the same in every genre.

And I haven't yet talked about any other activities than the music: the festival consisted of a lot more than only the artists performing on its main stage. The aforementioned Reggae University ran daily sessions in the Dancehall tent on a variety of topics, from history of the music to discussions looking at specific sub-genres such as dub. The eminent biographer of Lee "Scratch" Perry, David Katz, was involved in many of these, as well as a selection of other authoritative guest speakers. The primary setback was that these workshops often ran at a very slow pace due to the need for translation into Italian or English of much of what was being said by different people, but the content was usually of an interesting nature. It was a nice idea to involve this kind of educational programme in the festival, as the history and origins of reggae music are incredibly convoluted and diverse.

There were also other performance areas such as the "original showcase" and a couple of smaller tents, which gave upcoming bands the chance to get some new fans. On the first day there was an international Reggae Contest in the Dancehall tent, the winners of which are now embarking on a lucrative tour of several European festivals. I don't really think music should be about competition, but this idea represents a great opportunity for new and developing bands to gain a greater following. Perhaps unsurprisingly it was an Italian group - Franziska - which emerged victorious; I didn't watch all the contenders, but this genre-mixing band could be one to look out for.

Finally, many attendees of the festival had the chance to develop their own skills during a series of classes in such things as African and Brazilian percussion and various styles of dance. The djembe workshops were particularly popular and it was great to see people from all different backgrounds brought together by the desire to learn.

The general atmosphere of this festival was perhaps the best thing. For the whole nine days everything was so relaxed and laid back, as one would expect from such a combination of the Italian mentality and Jamaican soundtrack. A match made in heaven? The Sunsplash has definitely been a great festival and maybe I will even return next year!

Two in One

Didn't have time to write yesterday, so I'll go through a few highlights of the past couple of days...

The Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra definitely gets my vote for most entertaining act so far at this festival. Band members run around the stage with some outrageous dance moves - the horn players having clip-on mics allows them to do this - and the music was skankingly awesome. The group has been touring for years and years, which is evident from how tight their sound is and the precise accuracy of the music. Individually they are clearly all talented improvisors and their dress code of white gangster suits pretty much completed the audience's captivation. The CD I have is good, but this band needs to be seen live to enjoy the full experience. Catch them if you can!

The disappointment of that night was the fact that Israel Vibration didn't arrive in time and couldn't perform until the next day. I think they finally made it here at something like 6am, so it's impressive they came out to play at 1pm after that. In any case, the legendary roots band lived up to expectations. Both lead singers suffer from polio, contracted during the Jamaican epidemic, and their story of a rise to fame is amazing. Stumbling around the stage on crutches, they may have looked weak in appearance but the strength of their music more than compensated.

Anthony B played an extended set on Wednesday night, which went on for a bit too long in my opinion; nevertheless, I thought he did a good job and went down really well with the crowd. I think this is his second or third time at Sunsplash, so the people here know what they're getting. His press conference after the show was also fascinating: someone asked a question about what reggae artists really think about Africa and if they ever go there, which is a potent issue considering the nature of Rastafarian religious beliefs. Anthony B then talked about how difficult it is for Jamaican people to get visas for any kind of extended stay in many African countries, speaking at some length and giving various examples from personal experience. A lot of people from the island state want to go back "home" to Africa, but are unable to do so because of these political restrictions; Bob Marley's often-repeated call for Africa to unite is clearly still more dream than reality.

Popular dancehall artists Fantan Mojah and Beenie Man have also performed here on the last couple of evenings, but I didn't really enjoy them as much as Anthony B or Gentleman. There was one funny moment when Mojah brought a random girl out of the audience to dance with on stage, but she was clearly too spaced out to know what was going on and didn't respond at all. Beenie Man was going down well with the people and he has a great presence, but the "King of Dancehall" only had a couple of tunes which I really liked.

Last night I discovered an original trio playing one of the smaller cafe tents at the festival. Triad Vibration are comprised of drums, bass and didjeridoo and their largely rhythmic style had people dancing like crazy. As a sax player in a funk band, it was great when the bass player brought out a bit of the slap technique - I had been dying to hear something like that for quite a while. I think they're hanging around to play a few more days too, so I will definitely be going back to that tent.

Tonight there's an interesting lineup including bands from Switzerland and Senegal, with Ziggy Marley finishing things off. He was a fairly late addition to the festival programme and I don't know much of his music, so I'm looking forward to see what kind of influences he draws from the style of his father and brothers.

Roots Rock Reggae?

Five more bands to look forward to this evening, starting in probably just over an hour with the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra. This ten-piece ensemble has apparently played at Sunsplash before and went down very well; I've got one of their albums, but I definitely didn't expect the band to show up here, coming all the way from Japan. In any case, it will be nice to have a change from the reggae and dancehall vibes of the last few days.

Second on the main stage are the legendary roots group Israel Vibration. The band emerged in 70s Jamaica coming out of serious poverty to record a number of popular songs. Since then an extensive discography has amassed, but the original vocal trio has been through various splits and rifts and is now a duo. A friend of mine in Romania originally recommended Israel Vibration to me and I have enjoyed their music ever since, so to see them live today is pretty exciting.

Perfect, Fantan Mojah and Anthony B complete the lineup. I recently acquired Anthony B's latest record, Higher Meditiation, and there are some good tunes on there. His style is less roots and more dancehall again. As for the other two, I don't really know very much, but I have heard some positive things around here about Fantan Mojah.

As for last night, the major headline name was Gentleman and his Far East Band, which was more than impressive. It was definitely the best backing group I've seen at the festival so far, with a full horn section and three singers as well as the standard guitar, bass, keys and drums. So much of the time dancehall rhythms can become easily monotonous, with the same patterns coming out song after song, but this was not the case with Gentleman and that made the set a lot more interesting for me. He also player a few tracks from the album I have, entitled Journey to Jah.

Katchafire weren't quite as original as they had described themselves, but it was still a good show and their final song was a great cover of Bob Marley's "Iron Lion Zion", one of my favorites of his tunes. Prince Theo and Horace Andy were playing roots reggae and I especially enjoyed the latter, who came on to play the final set at around midnight. Andy has an amazing voice - some might even think it to be female first listening - and his songs were all about issues which were a lot more apt and suitable than what most of the modern reggae singers talk about. There's another recommendation for you.

Torrential Downpour

So far I haven't really had the time to write about anything other than the music here at Sunsplash. I'm planning to talk about things like the atmosphere of the festival and other activities which have been going on, but today it's going to be the weather...

Up until yesterday afternoon everything had been perfect, with the festival living up to its name and the campers drenched in sun. It must have been nearly 30 degrees at times - definitely what I had been needing after mixed fortunes in Brussels and Prague over the last couple of weeks. I knew something would eventually have to give... and yesterday it did, with heavy rain and then a tropical storm like no other I have ever seen. Rain pounded down for what seemed like hours and when I returned to my tent after the music I felt like it was going to be swept away by the gales. I think I managed to get to sleep after a while, but then at around 7am it took off again. Everything was completely soaked this morning; I'm surprised no water found its way inside.

Having said that, things seemed to have brightened up today and the park seems to be slowly drying off. Hopefully the process will be completed by the time the music starts later.

Last night four bands headlined the festival. Tony Rebel, Ras Charmer and Warrior King were all pretty similar in my opinion, mostly in the dancehall style. The opening group, however, provided a refreshingly creative outlook on reggae. Coming from Switzerland, the Moonraisers started off playing to under 20 people straight after the first shower, but more quickly joined in as the set got underway. Their sound wasn't roots reggae in the strictest sense: they incorporated various aspects of world music as well, including one tune which featured only didjeridoo and percussion. To finish off, the band played cover versions of Hotel California (which apparently they are quite famous for) and a Bob Marley classic.

The lineup this evening consists of Prince Theo, Katchafire, Gentleman and Horace Andy. I am familiar with only the third of these names, but according to my research the others are playing largely in a roots style and Katchafire, from New Zealand, blend elements of traditional tribal music into their songs. Horace Andy is a well-known vocalist who has worked with such artists as Massive Attack, so it will be good to see the material he produces under his own name. Gentleman, from Germany, is a predominantly dancehall artist and he is the one I knew already, since I have one of his albums. Hopefully the material tonight will be of a similar quality.

Technical Rastafari

Last night was definitely the best one for music so far. Four hugely differing acts took to the main stage and three of them were really good.

Starting at 6pm were the Brazilian group Olodum, whose style I can only describe as a unique form of world fusion. With a full samba rhythm section of nine individual drummers, the beats coming out were utterly danceable. The use of reggae-style vocals and chord patterns, as well as Latin horn section arrangements, created an exotic cocktail of musical ingredients from across the globe. I don't have much time to write more now, but I'm definitely going to be on the lookout for this band and I recommend anyone with an open ear to check them out.

Second on the main stage was General Degree, an emerging dancehall artist from Jamaica. A couple of his tunes managed to get the crowd going, but in my opinion his style was closer to commercial hip-hop than any kind of reggae music. This was particularly notable from his lyrics and the apparent love of gripping his own crotch during songs, with the microphone in the other hand. Maybe this guy needs to get a degree in musical enlightenment. And one other thing: why do so many groups adopt the habit of making false starts to tunes, before doing a rewind and starting again? Degree did this at least five times and so have many other bands over the last few days. I can see what they're trying to do in building up suspense, but when people start dancing and then have to stop after a few seconds it can really shatter the mood.

The final two acts - Zion Train and the Easy Star All Stars - are definitely among my favourite performances so far. I finally managed to find an ounce of satisfaction at my nationality following the performance of Zion Train, as this dub/dance outfit hails from the UK. Their set took quite a long time to get going, largely due to technical difficulties at the very beginning, but the combination of alternating vocalists with a DJ laying the foundations and a live two-piece horn section was perfectly formulated. Typically their songs began with a couple of layers in dub, building up the atmosphere before heavier beats set in. I'm definitely going to try and get hold of some of their material back at home.

The Easy Star All Stars, coming from New York City, famously play reggae cover versions of well-known albums. To date they have released Dub Side of the Moon and Radiodread - covers of Pink Floyd and Radiohead respectively. Last night they showcased material from both discs, which I have heard in snippets before, and had the people dancing for the whole show. For me it was great to see a little more space given to instrumental solos than is normal - the guitar, keyboard, trombone and sax players all had opportunities to break out. My expectations for this act had been high and they were definitely fulfilled.

Tonight sees four more groups: Moonraisers, Ras Charmer, Warrior King and Tony Rebel. I haven't had much time to check out information, but Moonraisers look like an interesting band and the last two names are pretty big in the world of reggae. So hopefully it's going to be another good one.

Sunsplash Day 2

After the first day's disappointing musical lineup, I was thinking the only way could be forward. This proved to be true and my predictions from yesterday about the artists turned out to be correct. Junior Kelly's style was largely based in dancehall rhythms, but sadly it was of a more commercial nature than I would have liked. However, it was still worth checking out and he also gave a public press conference after the show - I think this is a really nice idea because it gives the fans a chance to get a greater insight into the personality of performers.

The ludicrously-named Bitty McLean was next on the main stage and I didn't stay for long. It was pretty much the same kind of music that I had been dreading: the unoriginal blend of pop-style vocals and the occasional reggae background. I also thought it was pretty funny when he piped up in a strong Birmingham accent between tunes. As well as the songs, there was another disappointment for real reggae fans regarding this act. The original festival programme had listed that McLean would be appearing with Sly and Robbie, the legendary drum/bass production duo, who are credited with changing the face of reggae several times since the 1970s. However, it emerged that the pair cancelled their performance, stating the reason of a broken leg; this will surely disappoint a lot of fans and one person told me it's not the first time a withdrawal had happened for this same reason. Suspicious.

Africa Unite were the last band to play. They are the oldest Italian reggae group, having been active for 25 years or more, and the performance was suitably distinguished. Although most of the songs were in Italian, I still really enjoyed the rhythms and musical moods they created. Elements of dub, roots reggae and sometimes rock were present in the mix and there was also creative usage of electronics involved. They played until around 2.30am after an encore and the inclusion of several guest vocalists, and it was definitely the most enjoyable act I've seen so far.

Tonight looks to be another varied one on the main stage, featuring dancehall, dub, roots, samba and more. I'm looking forward to the Brazilian group Olodum, whose description sounds like something truly unique. More later.

Live at Rototom Sunsplash

A green haze has descended on the beautiful surroundings of Rivellino Park near the village of Osoppo, north Italy. Music lovers from this country and around Europe have arrived en masse for one of the continent's biggest reggae festivals: Rototom Sunsplash. The skies are clear and the sun is shining; the volume of smoke generated by this event must surely be worrying aircraft pilots flying overhead.

But where's the Reggae?

Last night the main stage was pretty disappointing. I can only say I enjoyed one of the four artists on display; the others were playing such a distorted, pop-centric version of reggae that I found it pretty much impossible.

The first three acts - Zoe and her "Okada Supersound" band, Maxi Priest and another singer whose name escapes me, were not really playing reggae in my opinion. The backing bands were well-drilled and immaculate, but the songs were certainly not traditional of this genre. Instead, they went on and on about love and the usual kind of popular kitsch; the only thing which distinguished them from bog-standard manufactured pop tunes was the presence of real musicians and the occasional insertion of off-beat reggae chord structures.

Maxi Priest is apparently the greatest-selling reggae artist currently alive. I don't pretend to be an expert in this style of music, but surely Bob Marley - whose giant image overlooks the performance area - would be turning in his grave from this fact. His voice is identical to any of the pop singers you hear on the mainstream radio stations and the same can be said of Zoe. They share the same richly cliched approach of using false American accents, which in a way probably explains their apparent popularity with the standard audience. However, it was pretty satisfying when, on receiving the question "do you want some more Maxi Priest?" from the announcer, the crowd's response was less than enthusiastic and he did not return.

Now, that's probably enough moaning about the bad music. I had been looking forward to the final act even more after the opening disappointments, and Sizzla definitely lived up to expectation. His performance was full of energy, vibrance and charisma which brought great relief to the hardcore fans. After less than five actual reggae songs from all the combined preceding artists, it was good to have some real music at last. Frequent calls from the singer for people to raise their lighters (and other assorted pyrotechnic devices) kept everyone involved and he patrolled the stage commandingly.

Hopefully that will be a sign of things to come, because I've had enough soft pop-reggae to last me for the rest of this nine-day festival. Of the artists on show tonight, I'm looking forward to Junior Kelly's similar dancehall tunes and Africa Unite, which is one of Italy's oldest reggae bands. Bitty McLean from the UK looks to be more of the same regurgitated pop nonsense, so maybe I will give that a miss.