Bob Marley Reggae Friends

It has been close to a decade since GRAMMY award-nominated Julian Marley delivered his critically acclaimed ''AWAKE'' album, and while fans and music lovers have been clamoring for another musical offering, the reggae star as announced the February 8th release date of his fourth full length-album ''As I Am''. Trodding on the footsteps of his iconic father Bob Marley's message to voice the grievances of the downtrodden through the vibrations of music, Julian is inspired by life and spirituality, and while remaining true to his reggae roots, the crooner transcends musical genres. The latter self-evident in ''As I Am''.

A quick internet search brings up some extraordinary footage of Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry producing a session at the Black Ark. Taken from the film ‘Roots, Rock, Reggae’, directed by Jeremy Marre, the sequence shows Junior Murvin collaborating with members of the Congos and the Heptones on a song improvised on the spot for the film crew. Before the vocals are recorded, the Upsetters lay down the backing track. The musical director of the session is the afro-haired bass player, Boris Gardiner; unusually, it is he who counts in the band to start each take. After a long conversation with Boris a few years back, I asked Lee about his contribution to the Black Ark sound.