June
9- San Francisco, CA—Pleasanton, CA native Harrison
Stafford and
the Professor
Crew proudly
announce their summer European tour in support of their third roots
reggae and dub masterpiece “One
Dance.” Stafford,
perhaps best known as the lead singer/songwriter for the roots reggae
band Groundation,
took a short break from the group to travel to Jamaica in September,
2015 to record “One
Dance”
with some like- minded souls—reggae greats Leroy
“Horsemouth Wallace (drums),
Errol “Flabba Holt” Carter (bass),
Lloyd “Obeah” Denton (keyboards)
and Big Ship Productions’ Dalton
Browne
(rhythm and lead guitar). Stafford’s longtime collaborator Roger
Landon Hall is
also featured on lead guitar. Stafford
previously worked with this legendary group of Jamaican musicians,
aka the Professor
Crew, on two
previous releases: “Madness” (CD, 2011) and “Throw Down Your
Arms” (CD/DVD 2012).
Harrison
and the Professor Crew
kick off their “One Dance” tour in France on June 24 and will
travel to Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and
Italy.
“Recording
"One Dance" was an awesome experience, very magical,”
said Stafford,
who has been recording in Jamaica’s studios such as Harry J’s in
Kingston, for more than 15 years. “I knew what to expect and how to
run the sessions smoothly. These are masters; they have been
recording this reggae music for more than five decades so they know
how to get the job done right the first time. I knew if I did my
homework and got the songs ready, we could record all the basic
tracks in one day. So that is what we did, we recorded ‘One
Dance’ in
one day.”
Stafford,
who also has a home base in St. Ann’s Parish, JA, experienced many
touching and spiritual moments during the “One
Dance”
sessions.
“Every
time I play music, it is touching and spiritual and with this crew of
musicians; we are all instantly together as one energy,” said
Stafford.
About
the Tracks:
“One
Dance,”
the title track and lead single, is a rare and upbeat ska-infused
dance tune.
Stafford
selected none other than Alpha Boys School alumni and Studio One
drummer Horsemouth
Wallace.
"One
Dance"
is a song that Wallace
and Stafford
first jammed
on in Jamaica a few years ago. Harrison wrote this song as a nice
easy chorus of "One Dance Baby!" while the verses spoke
very deeply about political power struggles and the subjugation of
the poor. The groove is heavy between Wallace
and bassist Flabba
Holt-- two
legends of Jamaican popular music. According to Stafford, the ska
influence comes from Wallace’s
teacher
Lloyd Knibbs,
famed Skatalites
drummer.
“Giddeon"
is a
dancehall track; up-tempo and groovy, said Harrison. The mood is very
serious and the message is about confronting one’s faults in a
moment of judgment and payback for the wrongs one has done in life.
It is also talking about world leaders bringing about division, chaos
and devastation and how they will reap what they sow on this road of
life.
“Jah
Shine” is
both an up-beat disco rocker and a Nyabinghi chant. For Stafford,
it’s all about the bridge: "Jah shine like the rainbow!"
Lyrically the song addresses the corruption and hypocrisy within
world religion and organized religions as a whole.
“Morality”
is delivered against a rockers
back-beat. The song has a simple yet strong message, that good
teachings, love and blessings will come back to rule the hearts of
humanity if we adhere to a moral code.
“Young Dread” is ‘a roots reggae track “livicated” to activist Mario Savio. “He was one of the main reasons I wanted to attend Sonoma State University, as he was on the faculty there,” said Stafford. “However, sadly, Mario died suddenly of a heart attack the first semester of my freshmen year at SSU. I was able to say hello to him on a couple of occasions and that was a blessing for me. Mario Savio was one of the first leaders of the free speech movement in California and had a great following and several moving public speeches at UC Berkeley, just 40 minutes away from where I grew up. I have been a fan of his for many years and I had been moved by his ‘Operation of the Machine’ speech on the steps of Sroul Hall on Dec 2, 1964. The intro to ‘Young Dread.” a song about the future of the next generation and how we need our voices to 'roar like a lion,' was the perfect opportunity to use this quote from Mario Savio.”
“Young Dread” is ‘a roots reggae track “livicated” to activist Mario Savio. “He was one of the main reasons I wanted to attend Sonoma State University, as he was on the faculty there,” said Stafford. “However, sadly, Mario died suddenly of a heart attack the first semester of my freshmen year at SSU. I was able to say hello to him on a couple of occasions and that was a blessing for me. Mario Savio was one of the first leaders of the free speech movement in California and had a great following and several moving public speeches at UC Berkeley, just 40 minutes away from where I grew up. I have been a fan of his for many years and I had been moved by his ‘Operation of the Machine’ speech on the steps of Sroul Hall on Dec 2, 1964. The intro to ‘Young Dread.” a song about the future of the next generation and how we need our voices to 'roar like a lion,' was the perfect opportunity to use this quote from Mario Savio.”
“California,”
according to Stafford,
is a ska-country tune. “I was hearing that Grateful Dead sound in
this track, a real Californian sound,” said the raspy-voiced
musician. “I love California; it's my home and my birthplace. There
are lots of great works and music still to come out of this beautiful
state.”
“Balance” is a reggae song pure and true; In Studio One style, said Harrison. This song is about good over evil and putting out that message of unity and love for all people.
“Balance” is a reggae song pure and true; In Studio One style, said Harrison. This song is about good over evil and putting out that message of unity and love for all people.
“One
Dance” Track Listings:
- Jah Shine 2. Hush 3. Morality 4. One Dance 5.The Music 6.Young Dread 7. California 8. Giddeon 9. Balance 10. Dub Shine 11. One Dub 12. Dubbeon
About
Harrison “Professor” Stafford
Harrison
Stafford, perhaps best known as Groundation’s
lyricist and front-man, is taking reggae music back to its roots.
With 10 studio albums and countless world tours, Harrison is
a veteran of the concert scene, having shared the stage with
artists such as Ziggy Marley, Sting, Snoop Dogg, The Roots and
Burning Spear on world stages such as Outside Lands Music Festival
and the California Roots Music Festival. Harrison was dubbed
"Professor" as many elder Jamaicans came to know him from
his “History of Reggae Music” course he developed and taught at
Sonoma State University (1999-2001). Harrison's first solo release
under the name "Professor" began in 2011 with the release
of the album "Madness" after his pilgrimage to Israel
and Palestine. The album stands as a testament to the power of reggae
music in the struggle for equal rights and justice. Harrison is
currently touring to bring the history and the culture to the
masses by way of his solo work under Harrison Stafford & the
Professor Crew. From 2000-2012 Harrison produced a documentary film
on the history of the Rastafarian movement and Reggae music; entitled
“Holding on to Jah”. The film features exclusive interviews with
the who’s who of Reggae legends including The Congos, The
Abyssinians, Ras Michael, Rocky Bailey, Brother Samuel Clayton, Pablo
Moses, Israel Vibration, I Jahman Levi, Countryman, and Winston
McAnuff among many others. “Holding on to Jah” was a
collaboration with his long time childhood friend, director Roger
Hall, and the film was recently released on DVD and online streaming
November 10, 2015.
Visit Harrison Professor
Stafford on his website: www.harrisonstafford.com
On Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Harrison-Stafford-45787388731/
On Twitter:
https://twitter.com/HarrisonReggae
On Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/harrisonstaffordmusic/
On YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/reggaeprofessor
MEDIA
CONTACTS: Susan Underwood- ads@island-stage.com
Shelah
Moody- Ranishelahmoody@gmail.com
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