Groundation-A reggae band you can all appreciate

[frogmonkey]

The crowd would have not gotten it or not liked it because of the culture. It's kind of hard to explain. That band Groundation sounds very white/deadish. I know it sounds mean to say but I can tell you that they would be a hard sell to a West Indian Crowd. I know it because I have seen and experienced it. It's not anyones fault but more where the music is. We can appreciate it as musicians

 

I don't think they sound deadish at all. They really do sound a lot like Israel Vibration to me.

 

And I don't know why you think John Brown's body is a deadhead band, either. All the reggae elements are there solid, and they don't noodle. Ok, I DO know, and it IS a cultural thing: they are white guys from Boston, and a big part of their crowd is hippies. But musically, it is totally unfair to call them deadheads.

 

 

Sure, all music has its influences. Still, a style or genre is 'pure' to the extent that it can be identified by its sound.

 

Play more than a triad or too many chords period, someone will say that sounds Jazzy.

 

When folks hear the bubble or one drop, it sounds like Reggae.

 

This thread is regarding the mixture of two distinctive genres, Reggae and Jazz. They are pure in that context.

 

IMO, Dancehall and Smooth are diluted forms of Reggae and Jazz respectively.

 

Dancehall and Smooth :lol:

 

But how can you define what a style or genre should sound like in order to be identified as such? Take a Toots song like "54-46 Was My Number", or any old Toots song. There are more elements defineable as Soul or Gospel than there are Reggae elements.

 

And how can we determine if music is authentic or not? And who are we to make that judgment, anyway?

 

I don't claim to be above such unfair judgments, either. For a while I listened to Groundation and enjoyed it quite a bit. But I stopped listening, in part because I wanted to be influenced directly by Jamaican Reggae, not by some American music-school types (like me).

[richwhite9]

If it isn't being played by their DJs by their bands on their radio stations then its American breakout music. Good luck with that marketing to Islanders. Or any form of music for that matter. Who's the target audience for ersaltz anything? Certainly not the authentic original audience.

[Outkaster]

The crowd would have not gotten it or not liked it because of the culture. It's kind of hard to explain. That band Groundation sounds very white/deadish. I know it sounds mean to say but I can tell you that they would be a hard sell to a West Indian Crowd. I know it because I have seen and experienced it. It's not anyones fault but more where the music is. We can appreciate it as musicians

 

I don't think they sound deadish at all. They really do sound a lot like Israel Vibration to me.

 

And I don't know why you think John Brown's body is a deadhead band, either. All the reggae elements are there solid, and they don't noodle. Ok, I DO know, and it IS a cultural thing: they are white guys from Boston, and a big part of their crowd is hippies. But musically, it is totally unfair to call them deadheads.

 

 

Sure, all music has its influences. Still, a style or genre is 'pure' to the extent that it can be identified by its sound.

 

Play more than a triad or too many chords period, someone will say that sounds Jazzy.

 

When folks hear the bubble or one drop, it sounds like Reggae.

 

This thread is regarding the mixture of two distinctive genres, Reggae and Jazz. They are pure in that context.

 

IMO, Dancehall and Smooth are diluted forms of Reggae and Jazz respectively.

 

Dancehall and Smooth :lol:

 

But how can you define what a style or genre should sound like in order to be identified as such? Take a Toots song like "54-46 Was My Number", or any old Toots song. There are more elements defineable as Soul or Gospel than there are Reggae elements.

 

And how can we determine if music is authentic or not? And who are we to make that judgment, anyway?

 

I don't claim to be above such unfair judgments, either. For a while I listened to Groundation and enjoyed it quite a bit. But I stopped listening, in part because I wanted to be influenced directly by Jamaican Reggae, not by some American music-school types (like me).

 

No it's not but they are dead-type musicians that have not really learned the music correctly. I have seen them with other Jamaican musicians and they said it even. Trust me I have seen them a bunch of times and they are around here a lot. Those are the type of guys that think music stopped in 1981. That is a huge pet peeve of mine. It's not like I pull this stuff out of there because I have been doing it a long time.

[frogmonkey]

I'm hearing two conflicting criticisms there: One, they don't play the music correctly. Two, their sound is dated.

 

You can't win-- if you innovate, you are disrespecting the tradition. If you play old-style, you aren't modern enough.

 

Not that I think they are great innovators. I'm not a fan. I do respect them, but for some reason that guy's singing also gets on my nerves (like the Groundation guy, it seems affected). They are on my radar for a number of reasons, one of which is that they keep stealing my horn players. OTOH if they played a free show in my town and I had the night off, I would go with my girlfriend and we would dance ourselves silly.

 

What are they doing wrong in this song?

John Browns Body at Last.fm

That's not a rhetorical question-- I'd really like to hear your opinion.

[Outkaster]

Well Kevin Kinsella is not there I forgot he went solo. He got on my nerves also. Yeah I don't like that singers voice either. They sound dated which is ok but if you do that at least do it right. They don't look confident and what they are doing and are kind of "dead". They execute music differently. The drummer is not on top of the beat enough. The music has to be stronger. This band gets all kinds of accolades. I respect that they do Reggae but as musicians they have parts of it wrong. I can bet the crowd is a bunch of stoners also.

[Bobadohshe]

JBB is a great band. Having said that, I'm not a huge fan. They certainly know and respect reggae, no question about that. The production on some of their albums is not to my taste though. Live their great. Their engineer is great. The players are great. They are also much less of a band without Kevin K.

 

In this country, reggae audiences these days are composed of a good amount of these two factions: 1) old school rastas, and 2) other folk who embrace the fact that Rastafarianism celebrates the marijuana they love so much and ties it to a spiritual experience. But there are others who are neither stoners nor rastas, who just dig the music and at times the message. I love the music and I don't smoke weed nor am I a Rasta.

 

In other countries, mainly African and South American, reggae is huge. In Brazil it is borderline popular music. I have played for huge audiences down there and the crowd loves and connects with roots reggae. Each country is different. In Brazil, they love roots more than Dancehall. In Jamaica, roots might as well be classic rock or even oldies.

 

I think you can argue what constitutes a reggae sound, but first you have to declare what reggae sound you are talking about, because there are many eras and sub genres. If you want to say a band isn't reggae, you have to say what it is that makes them not reggae. There are many quantifiable things that make real reggae sound like real reggae, and many musicians, even great ones, have no idea if they have little experience in the genre.

[Outkaster]

I aggree I think I pretty much described JBB and gave reasons why they don't sound that good. It is in their execution not really the genre of Reggae they are playing. I just don't like that attitude that the music stopped because Bob Marley died and it is prevelent with the hippy crowd. That is huge bitch of mine. It would be the same if it was Salsa music. Culture music is something you have to respect.

[Bobadohshe]

I just don't like that attitude that the music stopped because Bob Marley died and it is prevelent with the hippy crowd.

 

+1

[ProfD]

It is good for a musician/artist/band to know the history and tradition of their chosen style of music. Still, there is no reason to get stuck in the past.

 

The audience is ever-changing. Poeple are hearing a variety of sounds.

 

Also, being fans of music themselves, musos want to incorporate those elements into their own bag too.

 

Sure, I'd be perfectly comfortable with Steel Pulse doing a concert and playing all tunes recorded before 1988.

 

Yet, I would respect their desire to reach a wider audience by incorporating elements of Dancehall. Doesn't make SP any less of a Roots Reggae band.

 

I'm certain that if Bob Marley were alive today, he would be working with and incorporating the ideas of his offspring too.

 

Regardless of how musicians feel about it, music will continue moving forward as a result of a combination of styles, influences and newer audiences.

 

 

[tucktronix]

I'm certain that if Bob Marley were alive today, he would be working with and incorporating the ideas of his offspring too.

 

I'm sure Bob Marley would. (Correct me on this Jay)A lot of his later stuff were pop/rock/r&b influenced anyway.

[Outkaster]

He would have. He already was going after the African American audience with songs like "could you be loved" and "I know".

[frogmonkey]

Funny timing... last night on the way home from the gig, someone played an album by the Groundation singer, a slightly different project.

 

It was a little more experimental, with more instrumental stuff, more improvisation. His singing still left an itch unscratched, but the sounds of the instruments and the production of the album were absolutely stunning! The dub was amazing, too.