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Jah Shaka In Session
(NYC June 23, 2002)
by Judy S. Hecker
Author's note: On September 23, 2002, three months to the
day after Jah Shaka appearedin NYC, he was seriously injured in a fire in his home. He will recover--he's a warrior-but it will take some time. We send prayers and more strength.
Messages for JAH SHAKA can be sent to him at
info@culturepromotions.com.
When legendary UK soundman Jah Shaka came to NY for two Sunday sessions in late June, Friday’s NY Times highlighted the Central Park Summerstage afternoon session, mentioning the two International bands performing, and adding, as almost an afterthought, “with Jah Shaka, a reggae DJ.” Calling Shaka a reggae DJ is like calling the Beatles a British pop group.
Though celebrated in the UK, Europe and beyond, Shaka’s still not widely known in the US. But if his name isn’t familiar, his musical influence is, especially if you check for dub or drum ‘n bass. Even if you believe Lee Perry invented reggae and Mad Professor dub, and their joint albums rule, check out Shaka (he’s done an album with Professor too).
Jah Shaka––Rastaman, Selector, Producer, Musician––has inspired legions: transplanted West Indians, Rastas seeking spiritual food, disaffected white kids, and dub’s leading creators. They rammed Shaka sessions because he played the deepest roots music imaginable, including his famous dubplates. Unless Shaka was introducing a tune or D. Brown intoned “Shaka the Warrior,” people didn’t know who or what, but went crazy trying to find out anyway.
Shaka came to England from JA as a youth. He aka’d himself after mighty warrior king Shaka Zulu, and by the late 70’s had become one of the UK’s top sounds. And had begun producing albums: Horace Andy, Max Romeo and Prince Allah, UK artists like the Twinkle Brothers and Junior Brown, and a brilliant series of dubwise albums, beginning with “The Commandments of Dub.” When the digital age dawned, Shaka’s crowds dwindled: people deserted roots, but he remained true to his. Eventually, white kids (including Punks), started drifting in and discovering his music too.
DJs are culture heroes. Shaka’s an icon and Elder who moves in a humble way. From the early 90’s, he’s trod to Africa; buying land, books, hospital supplies and setting up his Jah Shaka Foundation. Before his evening session, what Shaka most wanted to talk about is music’s power––especially reggae’s––to communicate, educate, and liberate.”I believe it to be the weapon of the future. If you’re going to fight, it would be music you fight with to really bring across a message. That’s why I always see it as the overall picture.”
Before coming East, Shaka played a return engagement at the Sierra Nevada Festival on June 21st. The Summerstage session was brief; the evening session––at the Public Theater’s Joe’s Pub––was the real Shaka session. Sound’s meant to be heard, but words are the tama drum spreading the news. Shaka’s dance was the musical Ites, mesmerizing and unforgettable.
After a short early warm, Shaka came onstage. He didn’t bring his own sound system or Garrard turntable, just his boxes of tunes and several precious images of Haile Selassie I which he carefully unrolled and hung round the set before starting. Then he twisted a little knob here and there, and transformed the venue’s warm sound into a shimmering wall of sound; thundering bass, stirring vocals and trebs. At first, he jolted the slick-mixing crews, because he plays original JA style (& UK style): one turntable, chanting and singing on mic between records (he’s released his own albums too). But in the end, you don’t notice the different, because Shaka’s expressive voice and meaningful rhymes disguise breaks between tunes and uplift the vibes.
He opened with a fitting UK steppers, “Roots Gone International,” a Leroy Smart dub, Sandeeno’s “Warning,” and a string on the Invincible riddim. He’s come under fire lately for playing “that digital junk” (as one message board-er ranted), instead of his classics and specials (indeed, one selector/Shaka fan called out for “the dubplates!” later). But when he dropped Abijah’s “Press On,” the first on the Invincible, youths sprung up to dance. He makes people dance and he communicates. And as the vibes rise, Shaka moves, dances, and in a sense, performs. But not really, it’s just that the music carries him to a higher place and he becomes the music. Notes crescendo, and his hands flutter to the air, bass booms, and he’s the woofer.
Early on, I sat alongside another selector. Shaka dropped a deep dub, then a next dubwise––totally different––with a swing to it. We looked at each other, shook our heads and just laughed. Too beautiful! Dubwise cascaded from ceiling to floor like a waterfall, hard steppers grabbed your heart and pushed you to the dance floor. No rules to selecting, except this: it’s all about the vibes, the message, and . . . the people. Shaka rode the vibes, and mixed styles with ease; Sizzla’s “Give Jah Praise” and Frighty’s “Call on Jah Name” early, Beres’ “Hail Rastafari,” Earl Sixteen’s “Rastaman,” and Errol Bellot & Dixie Peach’s “Rastafari is the Only Way” late.
It was almost 4:00am. Curfew. He’d played nearly 4 hours. One of the organizers called out, “One more tune, Shaka, only one more tune” several times. House lights came on, but Shaka kept going, records and sleeves strewn at his feet. Finally, he stopped, and he and the people returned to earth. He looked mortal again, and he looked his age, but he never looked tired. They can hype the newer sound systems as the “lastest and greatest,” but Shaka’s stood the test of time. He’s still the Warrior Sound, King of the Zulu Tribe, and he rules forever.
by Judy S. Hecker
For more information or to contribute to the Jah Shaka Foundation, contact
Culture Promotions @culturearts@wobblyweb.com
or PO Box 20, London N8 9LS, UK, Tel: (020) 8340 9012, Fax: (020) 8292 1034
for more info on on Jah Shaka, check out these websites:
http://www.culturepromotions.com/
ttp://www.geocities.com/jahshaka2000/
http://www.jahshakasoundsystem.com/
Disciples Boom-Shacka-Lacka Reggae and Dub site
@ http://freespace.virgin.net/russell.bell-brown/bslpnews1d.htm
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