New Documentary Film & Book On H.R. Of Bad Brains – Event at Saint Vitus Bar on January 24, 2017

One of the Bad Brains CDs in my collection has a sticker on it with two well chosen quotes about the band:

“If you want to hear real excitement, real energy, real soul…listen to the Bad Brains” – Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers

“The Bad Brains influenced me more than any other band in the world.” – Adam Yauch, Beastie Boys

It was brilliant to be able to get a chat with Bad Brains’ frontman H.R. in Brooklyn last week along with James Lathos and Howie Abrams who have devoted years to exploring his music, personality, and spirituality.  Lathos, who directed the documentary, told me straight up he is not a filmmaker. He builds houses in Florida for a living.  However, he is a maniacal H.R. and Bad Brains fan who used to write for a skate mag and had become friendly with his future documentary subject in their common hometown of Washington D.C.  Abrams has roots in New York City and, while researching a book he had a notion about doing, heard that interviews for a film had been going on.  He reached out to Lathos and the two decided to team up with the best bits captured on video going into the flick while the oral history allowed for transcripts of the most compelling conversations.  Lathos emphasized that the movie is not just blowing smoke (about how genius H.R. is) but looks at the struggles that he has had to endure.  

Pick up the book that’s out now and keep your eye on this website for the latest screenings about Finding Joseph I and future release info.

So, can we hope for another Bad Brains record with H.R. at the helm?  The answer is YES!  Enjoy these bonus bits from the powwow in which H.R. points to studio sessions planned for the fall as well as gives a nod to The Ramones and CBGB…

Bunny Wailer at BB Kings 5-1-16, Pearl Jam 5-2-16

I was almost resigned to missing the most important living reggae artist coming to NYC for the first time in a decade because I was holding Pearl Jam tickets. However, after being reminded by my pal Dr. Dub (yes, I do know a dude named Dr. Dub who I owe for turning me on to scads of amazing Jamaican music) how feeble it would be to miss the show, I managed to swap the PJ paper to Monday. This was a double horseshoe move as it not only connected me with the realest of the real reggae music but it meant I would see Sting as well as half of Cheap Trick guest on stage with Vedder and pals in an equally epic MSG show.

The interview was arranged last minute and I never thought I’d speak to Wailer, who turned 69 years old last month, but I got a tap on the shoulder shortly before his set ended and I was whisked backstage and then down the hallway for a quick powwow. The conversation yielded an account of his conversion, if you like, to Rastafarianism. The show, that the video gives a taste of, was nothing less than glorious with a dream setlist and tremendous energy coming off the stage and bouncing back off the crowd. Mayor Bill de Blasio was in the house too and burned a fatty (just kidding I have no idea of the circumstances of their meeting) with Wailer prior to showtime.

The same power ping-ponging between performers and audience was palpable the following night at Madison Square Garden. Eddie Vedder, Mike McCready, Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, and Matt Cameron kept upping the ante as they blazed through a set that was heavy on their older material. This is a rare tour in that the fellas don’t have a new record – 2013’s Lightning Bolt being the most recent – and PJ opted to delight the graybeards like myself in the house with the tossing off of tracks like Garden and Porch from Ten. Rick Nielsen and Tom Petersson of Cheap Trick, who were recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, turned up at one point as if from the 70s and demolished a version of Surrender. I was lucky enough to see Cheap Trick, by the way, at Melrose Ballroom on April 10th in Long Island City as they were filmed for an episode of the concert series Front and Center and it was also, naturally, killer.

Finally, it climaxed with Sting joining for a tough Driven To Tears. Vedder set it up by doing a rap about feeling overwhelmed by media messages (including a few indirect but obvious swipes at Donald Trump) before saying there is no better song about that than this one…

Note: Wailer reportedly was unable to perform last night and was hospitalized. Good energy towards Bunny…

The young dancehall/reggae artist Kranium went from Montego Bay, Jamaica to Florida to Queens, New York, and from Queens to worldwide fame behind his smash Nobody Has to Know…

Shaggy gave a peek into prolific reggae producers extraordinaire Sly & Robbie‘s kitchen, uh – recording studio, when the popular Jamaican reggae artist dropped by NY1 recently to discuss his newest album Out Of Many, One Music.

2014 holiday season gift ideas include plenty of memoirs & biographies to read and documentaries & performances to watch…

No Jamaican performer, hell really no performer whatsoever, has been so embraced by NYC’s Hip-Hop community as Mavado.

He’s an easy fit as you can see –  in recent videos with LL Cool J and Nicki Minaj, and hear – in his remarks.  Here he talks where he is from and where he is at.  Catch the Gully God this Friday 12/19/2014 at Amazura in Jamaica, not the island where he is from but the one in the borough of Queens…

It was a good take at The Apollo on Saturday with not only The Wailers and Lauryn Hill but Maxi Priest and Third World as well on hand for a star-studded Bob Marley tribute show.  I spoke with Dwayne Anglin about his unlikely journey from Jamaica to New Jersey to Iraq and Afghanistan before being invited to front the world’s reggae ambassadors.

The Wailers’ Dwayne Anglin spoke eloquently before a show at The Apollo Theater about reggae’s message and its meaning when faced with the Ferguson reality; mentioning Marcus Garvey and Dr. Martin Luther King in context of protests on 125th Street in Harlem.

QQ rocks the mic a little, talks about the serious burning of the candle at both ends he did while establishing himself as Jamaica’s youngest dancehall reggae star, and reveals how he came up with Stukie and One Drop.

Talented reggae artist Lady Saw gives a taste of what’s on her forthcoming album Alter Ego…