By
Bob Ramsak
From
“Tonight” Magazine
All
music can be liberating.But of all
musical genres, it is perhaps the raw, organic pulsating beat of a reggae
riff that adds a spiritual dimension, a redemptive quality to that emancipation
that soothes and satisfies the soul as it feeds and invigorates the brain.And,
at the same time, involuntarily keeps your feet moving, your hips swaying,
and lips smiling.
Think
reggae and you envision the sounds of Jamaica and the Caribbean, those
uplifting styles of riddims that
are as often associated with a West Indian Island cruise as they are with
the oppressive living conditions in the shantytowns of Kingston.Thanks
to the legendary work of Jamaica’s reggae prophet Bob Marley and others
who followed, the style is now international, feeling comfortably at home
as much in Soweto or Accra as it in Tokyo or London.Yes,
even
And
for nearly two-and-a-half decades, first with I-Tal,
then First Light, and now with the PLUS Band,
vocalist and percussionist Carlos Jones has been at the forefront of the
local reggae scene.In many ways,
Jones' name is synonymous with
The
Bob Marley Connection - "A natural mystic blowing through the air."
His
musical evolution began far from the
"Reggae
hit me in the mid seventies," he recalls, after his older brother turned
him on to one of Marley's early albums."It
was one of the most amazing things I ever heard.”As
a percussionist, Jones was exploring a variety of international sounds
and styles, from
But
there was more to the attraction than just the hypnotic drum and bass line."Getting
past the music and into the message, that was something else again.There
was a political message, but something very spiritual as well.And
that sucked me in deeper and deeper."
Jones
was 21 in 1978, and had no real musical ambitions at the time.He
was working as a mechanic with Firestone, harboring dreams of becoming
a racecar driver."But certain things
came about," he remembers vividly, to change
his life's direction."The music,
and different things associated with the music, like the herb, gave me
a heightened vision.And reggae really
clicked into that." That direction changed for good on May 19th of that
year, when Marley'sKaya
tour came to the Music Hall, his second and last
The
atmosphere at the Music Hall, Jones recounts, was nearly indescribable."There
was such a feeling there.Wall-to-wall,
corner-to-corner, everybody was just plugged into that same vibe, that
electricity, that spirituality.Smoke
in the air… everybody's moving… the music is hypnotic.And
there's just this little guy on the stage just totally in control of it
all.Simply awesome."
Jones
has been growing his dreadlocks ever since.
During
his relatively short career and particularly since his death in 1981, Bob
Marley has achieved an international stature nearly unparalleled by any
historical figure.Whether in a small,
isolated village in
"It's
just a testament to his magnetism and mission," says Jones, "because I
really feel like he was put here on a mission.It's
amazing to me how much he did, and the legacy he left.The
music that this guy recorded, 99 per cent of it is just amazing, awesome
music and messages.And it's still
very fresh today.As cruel as it may
sound, his passing boosted that even more."
Putting
it Into Practice - "I Want to Tell You Where Reggae Comes
From."
After
the Marley concert, Jones immediately went in search of a musical outlet,
and found it on a WMMS Coffee Break Concert performance by a relatively
new local reggae act called I-Tal."When
I found out that there was an actual reggae band in
From
a small handful of Cleveland-based reggae bands in the late seventies,
I-Tal, with its true roots-reggae approach and
philosophy, was clearly the most successful.The
band toured extensively throughout the
"There
was the free-flowing joy of the spontaneous groove.That
never-ending hypnotic thing that just took people… I've never felt that
before," Jones recalls.It was the
type of reaction and acceptance that all bands strive for.That
universal vibe."It was that
musical vibe that was so strong, so intense, that you could just feel the
whole room take off.And everybody
was there with you.That's what I've
always lived for.You don't get that
in everyday life."
After
I-Tal's demise, Jones wasted no time in moving
on.On Marley's
birthday (Feb. 6) the following year, Jones wrote the anthemic
Musical Uprising, officially giving birth to First Light, and launching
a 13-year run for what was to become one of the most successful reggae
bands in the
Initially
very roots style-oriented, First Light later evolved to incorporate rock,
jazz and R&B influences to their sound, while still remaining true
to the reggae spirit."We were all
American-born," says Jones, "we all had our own musical influences. Even
though we loved reggae, we weren't Jamaicans playing reggae."First
Light toured regularly throughout the
While
he insists that that "universal vibe" was just as strong an element for
First Light, Jones says that the camaraderie established by the members
of the band will be to him, its greatest legacy."It
was a family that was created.There
was no deeper love -and no more bitter rival at the same time.We
had some nasty fights, but at the same time it heightened our awareness
of our feelings for each other."The
end of the road finally came in June of 1997, when the band called it quits.
In
an effort to return to his preferred roots-style approach, Jones began
working more closely with the Peace, Love & Unity Syndicate (PLUS),
formed in 1993 as a Bob Marley tribute band."We
went full circle --forward around to the roots again. That's what I've
wanted to recapture --that pure, raw joy, that feeling I felt right from
the beginning.I wanted to take the
business out of it, and focus on the music."
With
PLUS, Jones returned to the drum as the foundation for the group.The
focus, says Jones, is on Nayabinghi,
an often neglected aspect of Jamaican music that is the percussive framework
and the ritualistic ceremonial drumming behind
"We
went back to songs that convey spirituality," says Jones. "I wouldn't say
that we're so much political, but, in the songs that we do, we try to perpetuate
truth.So, if that's in conflict
with political beliefs or standards, then so be it.We
try to promote people seeing things for what they are.I
think that's what Marley did.He
illuminated a lot of those dark corners.Or
a lot of those misconceptions that people were led to adhere to."
PLUS
is heading to the studio for its first recording session December 1st.
"It's going to go a long way to define our sound and sharpen us a working
unit.And I'm really looking forward
to that, because everything up until now has been very spontaneous, very
freeform."
The
Philosophy - "Everyone's got to search and find their own path to the truth."
"Technically,
I can't really say I'm a Rastafarian," Jones explains, referring to the
oftentimes misunderstood Jamaican religious group that is as synonymous
with reggae as ganja and dreadlocks."Because
to say that means you really have to adhere to a really strict set of rules
in daily life.It's a cultural thing.I'd
have to say that I align myself with a lot of Rastafarian beliefs.But
true Rastas, who live it, breathe it, that's
something that comes from Jamaican life and culture.All
you can really do is try to investigate and find your own truth and reality
inside of it.And you can't be closed
minded.Everyone's got to search
and find their own path to the truth."
While
Jones can't entirely relate to that cultural connection, the spiritual
link is there. "Where I come from, in myself, it's more of an organic nature,
which is why I get into the more rootsy
kind of feel of reggae music.A lot
of the songs that I write may not even be reggae.They
may be coming from a more American folk or gospel or r&b
kind of place.That's my background.I
just try to be as honest as I can about what I'm feeling inside and how
I express myself."
"I
have a passion for music," he continues."Music
in general, but for some reason, reggae really resonated with me.And
I see a lot of ties between it and the music I grew up hearing, especially
in the church, that very raw Baptist revival gospel music that we hear
down south.It had that same kind
of resonance.Even some of the rhythms
are a lot a like.It's definitely
a universal vibe."
A
month after the break up of First Light, Jones entered another union.He
and his wife Dori were married in July of
1997, and fittingly, decided to tie the knot on their first trip to
"It
was a mind-expanding pilgrimage, to kind of touch base, to touch the heart
of that place I've been feeling for so long, and to get a first hand look
at where it comes from and what it's about."
On
their wedding day, they drove to Nine Mile, Marley's
birthplace."I sat in the yard where
he would sit with Bunny (Wailer) and Peter (Tosh)
and compose songs. I took my one little drum up there and played a little
bit.Some of the local guys came
and sang with me.'This is it,' I
thought.'How much closer can I get?'The
sound of my drum was echoing across the same hills as the music did back
then."
All
artists have a gospel to preach, and Jones' is perhaps best conveyed through
his recent song, Torchbearer, a homage
to Marley.
"Each
of us, that were touched by (Marley) in our lifetimes, we carry a part
of that too.Each
of us in our own way —whether we're musicians or not— we can carry that
little bit of light, or truth, forward.Whatever
it was that it made us feel, and try to pass it on.Marley
was a torchbearer.When he passed
on, he passed the torch.But not
just to one person --to everyone within earshot.To
carry a little candle flame and help illuminate the darkness."
Carlos
Jones and PLUS will appear
at
the Blind Pig,
at
the Beachland Ballroom,