Very first Liquid View post

Welcome to the Liquid View, the official blog of the Liquid Revolution band.

It's Winter, 2013 and I'm writing from my apartment in Boston, MA. It's cold, really cold, not reggae weather for sure, but nonetheless I've warmed up the apartment listening to a Jango internet radio station I dialed in as "Linton Kwesi Johnson" and I LOVE what's coming up. Two killer Gregory Issacs tracks, "Material Man" and "Hot Stepper"...that ROOTS RADICS band, wow, always finding the nicest, NICEST likkle tastie counter harmony lines, and a groove second to none. Also a crazy Big Youth track called "Weeping in the Night" completely done to the classic Al Green song "Love and Happiness," a tune I played 1000's of times back in the days when I was heavily embroiled in the Boston blues and R&B scenes....and a tune I use every semester in my Hammond Organ class at Berklee College of Music.

This is the first blog I've attempeted to launch. I've always shied away from doing it, because I know it takes work. If you're gonna do one, then you gotta keep up with it and gotta drop INTERESTING topics, ideas, vibrations.

I have to admit that I'm tremendously inspired by David Hinds' blog on the Steel Pulse site and you may see the obvious connection: "Dread View" ...."Liquid View" I hope it's taken as a compliment.

I had the tremendous opportunity to meet and hang with the Steel Pulse band back in 2004 (or was it 2005) in Accra, Ghana. I had been invited by Rita Marley to speak at the Africa Unite event that was taking place that year and Pulse, along with a host of other Reggae acts, were appearing at amazing shows that took place in Accra and Kumasi. I was part of the touring company and my hotel room was right next to Amlak Tafari's (Pulse bassie) room and across the hall from Selwyn Brown's room. We had a blast reasoning and jamming with our melodicas. Since then my love of and respect for Steel Pulse has grown and it's been an honor to keep up a connection with the band. Particularly what makes me light up at the Steel Pulse mission is just that, THEIR MISSION, as they say "Love and Justice through music." Many bands that have been around that long either die away or become stale, uninspired, just plain tired, but David and Selwyn always keep it fresh because, I have to assume, they do indeed have a mission....the music is about much more than the music. It's what I feel when I hear them play. And just check out the associations they make....like working with Paul Farmer's amazing organization "Partners in Health". I mean, for real, one has to be in touch with the reasons WHY one does anything, right? And in the end, if it's only about yourself, the pursuit of money and fame, well....it's bound to take a course lacking in real meaning...and then fall apart, either via a slow decline into some stagnant nostalgia act, or via some type of spectacular super nova explosion.

ANYWAY, here's to a meaningful BLOG. Come back from time to time, share it if you like.