I wrote some more cool songs with Ras Isachar this morning. Writing with a Selecta is like having a library of vibrations at your disposal.
Isachar claims he’s not a singer, but that’s a pretty incredible vibrato you have there, Sir.
If you dig that African medallion, Mamadou Diakite is your MAN in West Seattle. If you need a Selecta in Kingston, Ras Isachar is your Roots Reggae specialist.
I want Isachar to come to Seattle and do some guest radio sets and reggae nights.
He was showing me these beautiful minor chords he learned when Prince Allah would pass him the guitar as a youth.
He told me a story of how he saw an ad for a guitar in the back of a comic book as a child. He wrote thr company and he said they wrote back, but he couldn’t afford the instrument. You wonder what would have happened had he had but one guitar surrounded by so much talent.
University of Kingston Music School. Morning classes. Spliff and smoothie, acoustic guitar and recorder. Good music knows no borders.
This is a still from a video of Italee Watson thanking Eric Struthers and Jack Knight for donating this beautiful new Michael Kelly bass guitar.
Getting it through customs is another story we’ll discuss later! But thanks to these two gentleman a dream of bringing professional instruments to the next generation of Jamaican musicians has begun.
It’s not just my dream. It’s Italee’s dream. It’s Eric’s dream. It was selecta Ras Isachar’s dream to have a guitar as a youth. He was unable to obtain that instrument as kid dreaming of mastering the guitar. But there is a kid like Isachar out there in Kingston or living in the hills.
Getting these instruments to the people is a challenge we shall overcome.
We talked about this two years ago when I first witnessed how much the youth of Port Antonio wanted to learn guitar and how fast they picked it up.
You want to make a difference. We can make a difference. In an upcoming post we’ll discuss how getting more instruments into the hands of young girls on this island will unleash the true potential of Jamaican music and style.
But right now big up to Eric Struthers and Jack Knight. It starts with this bass.
Meet Italee this October in the Great Northwest.
This is a still from a video of Italee Watson thanking Eric Struthers and Jack Knight for donating this beautiful new Michael Kelly bass guitar.
Getting it through customs is another story we’ll discuss later! But thanks to these two gentleman a dream of bringing professional instruments to the next generation of Jamaican musicians has begun.
It’s not just my dream. It’s Italee’s dream. It’s Eric’s dream. It was selecta Ras Isachar’s dream to have a guitar as a youth. He was unable to obtain that instrument as kid dreaming of mastering the guitar. But there is a kid like Isachar out there in Kingston or living in the hills.
Getting these instruments to the people is a challenge we shall overcome.
We talked about this two years ago when I first witnessed how much the youth of Port Antonio wanted to learn guitar and how fast they picked it up.
You want to make a difference. We can make a difference. In an upcoming post we’ll discuss how getting more instruments into the hands of young girls on this island will unleash the true potential of Jamaican music and style.
– Musician and writer Davin Michael Stedman has many ventures, such as the AMAZING blog, 100milesofmusic.com. Davin’s new song has become a global earworm and Caribbean dancehall hit. Listen here on Reggaeville: DAVIN MICHAEL STEDMAN & ANTHONY RED ROSE – FREE YOUR MIND FEAT. SLY & ROBBIE WITH LENKY MARSDEN. The video is now available on Youtube: Tuff Gong Television. His single with British band Sherlock Soul is available here.
