The Marley boys and dancehall DJ Spragga Benz, a recent Rasta convert came to Club Cross Roads on Saturday April 22, they edutained, if there such a word, and conquered. Using a formula the Marley’s have perfected in their live shows dating back to Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, weaving an amalgam of the new and the old to create a tapestry of sounds, Kymani Marley and Steven Marley dished out a dose of heavy inspirational Bob Marley songs interspersed with their own original compositions driven by street savvy dancehall beats and polished rub-a-dub one drop rhythms. It worked. The sold-out Cross Roads crowd, made up of an inter-generational and multicultural West Indians and African- Americans, a sprinkling whites, while the message was clothe in roots rock reggae rhythms, the dance hall massive represented and all were treated to spectacular performances. From Stephen they got a 50 minute set, professional and electrifying as it was eerily reminiscent of his father. As MC Tony Carr noted, “Listening backstage, I closed my eyes and I thought I was listening to Bob.”  Kymani’s rude bwoy afro-mantic romantic love tunes kept it light like a feather while and his roots songs reminded us he is Rasta Marley. Spragga with the black, red & green UNIA flag weaving throughout his set, he was hard dance hall DJ with Rastafarian Black Nationalist message.

The evening kicked of with the dubs-co sound system, South London’s Ariwa Sound featuring the Mad Professor’s.  The professor recreated the 70’s dance hall ambience from they days when dub plates and version galore reigned supreme, when dub-wise rhythms were istick as they spaced out your head while the essence of ishens perfumed the air.  Ariwa sounds threw down the best in North East London style lover rock, dubs selections with reverb, echo chamber in modulation. As I walked the room, I sense the restlessness of the dancehall massive that seemed unused to this, but the roots rock dub heads of all stripes reminisced appreciatively as they rocked.

Kymani open the live set with Bob Marley’s (We’ll be) Forever Loving Jah’, then he segued into his original (Babylon Wanna Know) ‘Who We Are. ’He had the crowd rocking from the outset. In decided contrast to Stephen’s set, Kymani, sex appeal is a big part of his Marley mystique, unlike Stephen’s whose is much understated. He knows how to woo, cajole and excite females with lyrics, in banter and body language. Kymani, the East African word meaning ‘adventurous traveler’ took them on a journey. His set was dancehall rhythm intertwined with R&B slow jam, with a jazzy flavor at different interludes to create an afro-mantic mood. The mood was set and the vibe right he launched in ‘Turn Your Lights down Low’, the females obediently played chorus to Kymani’s love song melody sing along. He ended the song with a nice touch, handing out roses to the excited ladies, some of who were almost on top of each other to grab a rose. When the ‘Crazy Ball Head’ bass line began to slowly build the entire audience erupted, it was back to reality. Kymani belted the lyrics of the most poignant personal song by a Marley child about the untimely loss of their father. Issues of separation and loss rang through as he cried ‘dear god, I have a letter here from me to dad, and know it might be little sad,… dear Dad I didn’t get to know you, sometimes I sit and wonder and it makes me blue, there’s one memory that stays in the back of mind and think about you all the time, …I swear we miss you so, I wish you were here to see your boys grow… When I am down and out, lonely or just feeling blue, all I do dad is think of you, the thoughts alone erase my fears and dries my tears so I am writing you this letter and placing it in the bible and pray to Jah to deliver it….daddy I love you, I really, really love you, I miss you… and I know my brothers and sisters do too.  He ended what seemed like an abbreviated set with “I Shot the Sheriff” much to the disappointment of the enthralled crowd. There was no encore. And as result his popular tunes like ‘Warriors’ ‘Many Roads to Cross’ and ‘Sensimilla Haffi Bun’, Rude boys, and ‘Party in Session’ was missing this made his performance too short to satisfy the enthusiastic crowd.

In another piece I referred to Stephen Marley as the producer who sings, (see Damian Marley, Youngest Veteran Jahworks.org Jan 06) without having the pleasure of seeing him carry a whole show by himself. I stand corrected. It seems Marley magic is not only infectious, it is also contagious. For years Ziggy, the elder was the lead singer of Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, while Stephen did spot vocals and played guitar and congas. In my Unfold magazine piece in 2000, I commended Stephen’s maturity and skills as the musical coordinator/producer of the live Bob Marley Special for TNT at James Bond Beach. Being able to navigate and massage the egos of musical giants like Lauryn Hill, Busta Rhymes, Chrissie Hyde, Jimmy Cliff, Toots, Erykah Badu, Tracy Chapman, Eve and Darius Rucker of Hootie and the Blowfish was no mean feat.  The respect he garnered for his production of gold album “Chant down Babylon” spoke to his musical diversity as a producer. His sterling songwriting/musicianship credentials is evident on Jr. Gong’s two Grammy winning albums, ‘1/2 Way Tree’ and “Welcome to Jam-Roc” and, also his production work with Z.M.M & M.M. This time was different however, could producer/musician Stephen Marley hold an audience for an entire show as a solo performer? Would he be able to successfully make a smooth transition for recording artist to performing headline solo act? As Bob Marley’s son, a lot is expected. Stephen met the task with a professional ease and confidence that when he the audience “I am not so good at talking” it didn’t matter, he answered with his performance and aplomb; one would never have known this was debut as full time lead vocalist.

The band was as tight, as the Wailers in their hay days and, according Chris Meredith, the bass man, Stephen took the band through three weeks rehearsal before the six week tour. It showed. Stephen was masterful; his command of the stage, his songs selection and brilliance as musician/band leader was never far. As Stephen approached the mike and launched into “Mind Control”( corruption of your thought, destruction of your soul) then segued to  “Hey Baby” (don’t you worry, I’ll be coming soon) selections from his long overdue debut solo CD “Got Music” it was evident we were in for a professionally tight set of one-drop, with rock and jazzy riffs flavor. As he moved into the familiar segment of Bob’s classics ‘Curfew’ ‘Natty’ ‘Dread, to the up-tempo version of ‘Soul Shakedown Party’ then ‘Road Block.’  His rendition of ‘Rock My Boat’ featured a memorable solo on congas by Bongo Herman and solo rock guitar riffs. When he got to “High tide and low Tide” I was convinced. Through out all of this the set was flavored with melodious harmonies that created a slow bluesy feel. As the enthusiastic crowd responded to Bob’s songs I couldn’t help but wonder, will audiences be as receptive to him when he does his new material.

DJ Spragga Benz was a strange choice as closer for this show even though his Rasta Black Nationalist message augmented by the waving of black, red and green U.N.I. A’s flag, were perfectly attuned to the setting and the acoustics. His lyrics was delivered in classic red square dance hall fashion, however his set was too brief and rushed to be effective.

All three closed the show with “Buffalo Soldier.  And, just like magic they were gone.