Paradise
imagined isn’t necessarily paradise realized. From a distance, the oceanic
embrace of a small plot of volcanic inspired land awakens the senses and
instructs the mind to contemplate the beginnings; first people, the history,
their culture and what can be gained from the experience.
It was
1989, and my first invitation as a photo-journalist to travel farther south to
the island of Aruba to cover the Aruba Jazz Festival; featuring Wynton Marsalis
and Dianne Reeves, amongst a roster of star- drenched talent.
James A.
Michener’s historical novel Caribbean had just surfaced in airport kiosks. Somehow,
this seemed a fitting read for a first-time traveller to the region. Caribbean is a fictionalized account of
the pre-Columbian period of the native Arawak tribes and island life through
the centuries up until 1990. Each country comes with a richly-textured story
depicting a period of it’s history in conflict; colonization, the slave trade,
religion, ceremony - even the trials of Columbus for genocide. To this day, I’m
grateful I read this before landing on my first tropical island. It has served
me well decades thereafter.
Isle of Saints is an aural composite of all my travels
throughout the region as heard inside my head and felt in the heart. From Aruba
to Barbados, St. Kitts, St. Vincent, Dominica, St. Lucia, Barbados, Grenada,
Guadeloupe, Virgin Islands, Tortola, Grand Cayman, Antiqua, San Blas, Panama, Jamaica,
Santa Domingo, - Cuba. In fact, the cover art was purchased in 1998 in Santa
Domingo from a street vendor and proudly hangs from one of my music room walls.
It’s credited to Haitian artist; Laurent Casimir, who passed in 1990.
I rode the
scribes bus for a quarter century photographing and writing - rarely mixing
professional worlds between musician and journalist. I was there to listen, to
feel, sense and absorb – then relay those experiences in thoughts and words. It’s
the number of unforgettable people I encountered and the shared experiences, I
will forever savor.
The Uprising is a name I chose to address this project.
It’s about our times – a world in crisis, yet it’s us, the world’s people, who
can derail the rampaging “greed” train. We can do this thorough our music – the
marriage of cultures, ideas, and relationships.
I’ve been
fortunate to have a twenty-five-year relationship with Cuba and its people. The
three musicians who grace Isle of Saints
come from Havana and Santiago de Cuba. They all entered my life at various time
periods. Bassist Roberto Riveron and I played in Jane Bunnett’s, Afro/Cuban Blues
Project some years back. Percussionist/vocalist Magdelys Savigne and
violinist/vocalist Elizabeth Rodriguez are currently members of Maqueque,
Bunnett’s award-winning back-up band.
This
project evolved from producing Mags and Elizabeth’s project, OKAN. I played them
a new original composition and expressed a concept I had in mind and they threw
themselves wholeheartedly into the project. Through the generosity of Slaight
Music; funding arrived as quick as the project was approved. This happens when
Gary and Ali Slaight and Derrick Ross hear something and green light.
Everton
Paul has been a music soulmate of mine for a good forty-five years and his home
studio Side Door Records is the most inviting living room for making music
anywhere. Along with two great engineers; Shane ‘Shakey J’ Forrest, who
presided over the recording and my long-time recording engineer friend, Michael
Haas from Inception Sound, - did the mixes.
When things
feel right –they are usually right. I’ll be forever indebted to all who contributed
to this – the many pauses to perfect lines, the joy of laughter between
Elizabeth and Mags – the serious intentions that rumbled through the main room
and the final out come. The ingenious contributions of bassist Roberto Riveron and
my desire not to recreate or impersonate indigenous music, but to bring artists
together and encourage them express themselves in their own musical vocabulary,
and breathe life into the notes I scripted on manuscript paper. We are the best
of friends on this musical journey – the long conversation. Welcome to our
journey to the – Isle of Saints!
Bill King –
Producer/arranger/composer/keyboards
Elizabeth
Rodriguez vocals/violin
Magdelys
Savigne – drums/vocals/percussion
Roberto
Riveron – bass
Engineer –
Shane “Shakey J” Forrest
Mixing
Engineer – Michael Haas
Recorded at
Side Door Records, Toronto – 2017
Slaight
Music
1. Havana Odyssey
2. Isle of Saints
3. Carmen’s Veranda
4. Ivory Town
5. Clear Mountain Moon
6. That’s the Way of The World
647
883-2919
