Jedi Dub: Courtney John's Rootstronic
Michael A Edwards
Picture the iconic scene.
Its Star Wars, and young Luke Skywalker has just walked into an intergalactic bar/nightclub; all manner of strange (at least to us back then) and weird denizens of faraway galaxies are milling about, imbibing drinks and making the scene just as they would in a terrestrial club. And then just as on Earth, music plays a big part in setting the scene,
Its the same kind of scene that Courtney John conjures up in "Soul of A Man" on of seveal tracks on his about-to-be-released disc. There are no visual aids, but none are necessary, as the music creates all the ambience one could imagine: multiple percussive patterns cascade over, cross with and meld into one another while all manner of fills, distortions and other sonic treatments snake in and out of the pieces to create a sonic rapture that's hard to categorize and even harder to shake out of memory.
Ironically, the exercise, featuring John, legendary keyboardist/producer Steven "Lenky" Marsden (he of the "Diwali" riddim among others) and drummer/vocalist Wiz, owes it genesis partly to another movie,Oliver Stone's 2012 release "Savages".
"We were asked to contribute some material to the soundtrack," John explains, "and in coming together for that process, we just get a vibe on this kinda sound, and we just followed it and started to experiment.
Some of the results of those "experiments" are already available (see the "Soul of A Man" video link below) and the whole package is about to released as The Courtney John Project, with the sound being branded "Rootstronic". Tour dates, beginning in Europe, will follow on that in short order. Its a forward-looking, global-minded but distinctly Jamaican sonic palette, with shades of the dub giants of the early 70s (King Tubby, Perry & the Upsetters, Pablo Moses) as well as the electro-dance music that's still enthralling audiences worldwide.
Such feats are par for the course for Courtney John who since emerging with a cover of Paul Davis' 1977 smash "I Go Crazy" has made a habit of nurturing his musical idiosyncracies rather than merely shuffling along to the beat of externally imposed "trends". "To me this is part of a natural progression," he says as the music continues to fill the studio confines. "Our approach is to release ourselves from any conventions that the combined industry and community might try to impose - its just about being true to what we hear and coming up with an experience that can reach people and at the same time take us forward."
Indeed, the gratifying thing about hearing these tracks is that they are as much organic as "technic" the beats come hard, but its not an overwhelming kind of noise; rather, the Rootstronic reaches back to foundations of the Jamaican sound and to the future without compromising the listener experience, provided of course, one is open-minded enough to begin with.
John feels many are. "The feedback so far is definitely validating the work," he says. "People are hungry for something new and they're responding, both here and overseas .
Toward the end of our listening session, talk turns to the recent "monster deal" made by George Lucas in selling his legendary Lucasfilm production complex to the Disney Company. While the music is certainly intended (and very much good enough) for wide consumption, it would certainly be a propos to have forthcoming episodes of the Star Wars saga bolstered by the "Jedi Dub" of the Rootstronic sound.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkdhvlOp0o8&feature=plcp
Its Star Wars, and young Luke Skywalker has just walked into an intergalactic bar/nightclub; all manner of strange (at least to us back then) and weird denizens of faraway galaxies are milling about, imbibing drinks and making the scene just as they would in a terrestrial club. And then just as on Earth, music plays a big part in setting the scene,
Its the same kind of scene that Courtney John conjures up in "Soul of A Man" on of seveal tracks on his about-to-be-released disc. There are no visual aids, but none are necessary, as the music creates all the ambience one could imagine: multiple percussive patterns cascade over, cross with and meld into one another while all manner of fills, distortions and other sonic treatments snake in and out of the pieces to create a sonic rapture that's hard to categorize and even harder to shake out of memory.
Ironically, the exercise, featuring John, legendary keyboardist/producer Steven "Lenky" Marsden (he of the "Diwali" riddim among others) and drummer/vocalist Wiz, owes it genesis partly to another movie,Oliver Stone's 2012 release "Savages".
"We were asked to contribute some material to the soundtrack," John explains, "and in coming together for that process, we just get a vibe on this kinda sound, and we just followed it and started to experiment.
Some of the results of those "experiments" are already available (see the "Soul of A Man" video link below) and the whole package is about to released as The Courtney John Project, with the sound being branded "Rootstronic". Tour dates, beginning in Europe, will follow on that in short order. Its a forward-looking, global-minded but distinctly Jamaican sonic palette, with shades of the dub giants of the early 70s (King Tubby, Perry & the Upsetters, Pablo Moses) as well as the electro-dance music that's still enthralling audiences worldwide.
Such feats are par for the course for Courtney John who since emerging with a cover of Paul Davis' 1977 smash "I Go Crazy" has made a habit of nurturing his musical idiosyncracies rather than merely shuffling along to the beat of externally imposed "trends". "To me this is part of a natural progression," he says as the music continues to fill the studio confines. "Our approach is to release ourselves from any conventions that the combined industry and community might try to impose - its just about being true to what we hear and coming up with an experience that can reach people and at the same time take us forward."
Indeed, the gratifying thing about hearing these tracks is that they are as much organic as "technic" the beats come hard, but its not an overwhelming kind of noise; rather, the Rootstronic reaches back to foundations of the Jamaican sound and to the future without compromising the listener experience, provided of course, one is open-minded enough to begin with.
John feels many are. "The feedback so far is definitely validating the work," he says. "People are hungry for something new and they're responding, both here and overseas .
Toward the end of our listening session, talk turns to the recent "monster deal" made by George Lucas in selling his legendary Lucasfilm production complex to the Disney Company. While the music is certainly intended (and very much good enough) for wide consumption, it would certainly be a propos to have forthcoming episodes of the Star Wars saga bolstered by the "Jedi Dub" of the Rootstronic sound.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkdhvlOp0o8&feature=plcp
