WORLD MUSIC CENTRAL - www.worldmusiccentral.org

Published: August 19, 2008

Taj Weekes and Adowa - Deidem (Jatta Records, 2008)

Back for a second go-around following his 2005 debut disc Hope & Doubt is St. Lucia-born Taj Weekes and his band Adowa. Deidem sports the same strengths as Weekes’ initial offering: Great songs, crisp reggae arrangements and the melancholy-tinged sweetness of Weekes’ high, reedy, almost feminine-sounding voice.

The title of his latest translates as “All Of Us,” and he’s clearly singing with a universal heart on such tracks as the violence-deploring “Since Cain,” the love lament of “Hollow Display” and plaintive commentaries on Darfur and Hurricane Katrina via “Orphans Cry” and “Louisiana” respectively. An impassioned communicator who uses no-nonsense reggae music as his means, Weekes is precisely what the world needs more of in these troubled times.

THE VOICE - UK

Published: 6 July 2008; Issue: 1328

Interview by: Davina Morris 

FOCUSED: Taj Weekes

SOME people make music for entertainment.

Taj Weekes is more about inspiring people to think about the world around them. The St. Lucia-born reggae singer, along with his band Adowa, has made it his mission to give a voice to the oppressed, and he’s earned much praise for it from many in the reggae fraternity.

CLICHÉ
The idea of making ‘sufferers music’ might sound a tad cliché. After all, Weekes isn’t the first reggae artist to be a messenger for the poor and downtrodden. But there’s something special about the talented singer that has meant his music has resonated with music fans and reggae professionals alike. His new album DEIDEM– meaning ‘all of us’– has been celebrated for it’s heartfelt look at the fragmentation of the world and the search to give everyone a voice in it.

Weekes’ selflessness is, perhaps, all the more poignant when one considers his own personal losses. A few years back, Weekes’ mother died of a heart attack. Within less than a year, his father also passed away. Weekes began to compile an album with songs that reflected his pain – but then he scrapped every single tune. “I was wallowing in my grief,” Weekes recalls. “And it did take time to overcome that grief. But eventually, I looked at it like: people are dying every day. Yes, I lost two people. But there are children dying every day. Those thoughts enabled me to put things into perspective. So I scrapped all of those songs and began writing songs about the world and not just myself.” He continues: “Whether it’s Darfur, the Middle East, global warming; there’s something going on in every part of the world and we’re trying to bring it all together on one album. No one is talking to each other. The album is designed to create conversation where people can come together.”

Weekes grew up the youngest of 10 children in a family where music was everpresent. By age five, he was singing in church and by 11 he was composing his own calypso music. His older brother’s immersion in Rastafari provided him with a spiritual awakening and a context for his burgeoning worldview. He then ran with that musical baton and went on to pen songs on issues facing modern-day society. The album track Orphans Cry, with its classic reggae feel, depicts the suffering and isolation of lost children, making it vivid and real, and more than an abstraction on the TV or in a newspaper. And the song, Since Cain, with its Biblical reference to the first act of violence, laments the endless cycle of brutality while asking what it will take for it to end. But Weekes is far more than a hippy-styled, ‘peace and love’ musical messenger. When he’s not making music, he’s equally committed to his vision of making the world a better place, through his non-profit organisation, The Orphan’s Cry Outreach. The charity is dedicated to improving the lives of disadvantaged children around the world, via music, football programmes and more.

With his dedication to such worthy issues, one wonders what he makes of reggae’s more carefree elements; party tunes, ‘gal’ tunes and the like. “I think there’s a place for everything,” he says. “Sometimes people want to dance and have a good time. But I think music should also uplift and educate people and draw their attention to some of the issues going on in the world around them.”

“With the more violent elements of the music… I don’t know what would possess a man to write a song about killing somebody else. But you know, that’s his vibration. That’s just not the type of music I choose to make.” With much to say musically, it’s a good thing Weekes was never made to feel that not being Jamaican would somehow make him not credible in the world of reggae. After all, there are some closed-minded folks who feel that music can only be authentic when it’s spawned from its birthplace.

FOUNDATION
“That has never been an issue for me. And I always find it interesting when people make that an issue because nobody tends to say that hip-hop artists can’t be authentic if they’re not from America.” “Of course, Jamaica is the foundation for reggae. But I see the music like a tree: its roots are in Jamaica, but its branches have outgrown the yard and the fruit has landed in other territories.” “It’s the same with soca: people used to think that if you weren’t from Trinidad, you couldn’t make authentic soca music.” “But then artists like Alison Hinds and Rupee and Kevin Lyttle came along to prove otherwise.”

“I write from the heart and I speak about issues I’m passionate about. I believe that’s what really matters.”

DEIDEM is out now on Jatta Records.

BILLBOARD MAGAZINE

Published June 21, 2008 

Written by: Patricia Meschino

"Billboard proclaims six albums that herald the roots-reggae resurgence." Quoted from Jamaica Gleaner

Tarrus Riley, "Parables" (VP Records)
Tarrus Riley's exquisite tenor and well-constructed lyrics; the superb musical accompaniment by Kingston, Jamaica's finest; and Dean Fraser's inspiring production deliver the roots rock revival's quintessential CD. "Parables" includes crossover hit "She's Royal," but the stirring Rastafarian tribute "Lion Paw" and the breathtaking "Africa Awaits" demonstrate the expanse of Riley's talents.

Rootz Underground, "Movement" (Riverstone/Mystic Urchin Records)
Lead singer Stephen Newland's compelling vocals offer smart, searing commentaries supported by intricately crafted, infinitely durable one-drop rhythms with subtle rock undercurrents. They could all prove invaluable in attracting a much-deserved broad-based following.

Etana, "The Strong One" (VP Records)
Etana's dynamic vocal resonance (think Miriam Makeba meets India.Arie), displayed on her hits "Wrong Address" and "Roots," present uncompromising, self-empowering messages and a welcome challenge to the perception of reggae's female vocalists who rarely get to transcend the role of background singer.

Taj Weekes & Adowa, "Diedem" (Jatta Music)

St. Lucia-born singer/songwriter/guitarist Taj Weekes' enigmatic vocals are underscored by somber reggae beats and lyrics emphasizing an array of global calamities on this poignant release.

Duane Stephenson, "From August Town" (VP Records)
Duane Stephenson's solid introductory effort offers beautifully nuanced vocals and heartfelt lyrics that convey romantic longing and the anguish of ghetto realities with equal conviction.

Morgan Heritage, "Mission in Progress" (VP Records)
Highlighting its urban edge was a wise move for this Brooklyn-born sibling aggregation's 10th album and its first to top Billboard's reggae chart. The reason? "We listened to our children and updated our sound," keyboardist Una Morgan says. -PM

THE PARK RECORD

Park City, Utah

Interview by: Greg Marshall 

TAJ WEEKES IS TRYING TO TEACH THE WORLD TO SING 

Move over, Bono.

Taj Weekes does relief work on St. Lucia, where he was born, to reduce poverty and promote awareness of children's issues. In November, he was named a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador to the Caribbean. He recently helped bring an optometrist and a general practitioner to St. Lucia to provide medical care for the poor.

And, oh yes, he sings. Weekes combines classic roots reggae and grassroots politics in his second album, DEIDEM, which was released in May to favorable reviews. He performs tonight, Wednesday, 9 p.m. at the Star Bar.

Songs on the album discuss global and humanitarian issues such as global warming, the effects of Hurricane Katrina, and the crisis in Darfur. The topics are insightful and serious, fans say, but the grooves, melodies and rhythms are familiar to reggae.

Weekes wrote DEIDEM, which Weekes says means "all of us," after the death of both of his parents in 2006. "The record didn't start off how it is now," he explained in a telephone interview. "I went through a period of mourning."

Weekes decided to scratch the songs he had written about his own grief, songs with titles such as "From Clay To Dust," and work on 12 new tracks that drew from global politics for inspiration.

"It was always about giving something back," Weekes said. "Even though two people died for me, people are dying every day." The singer said that one of the goals of his music is to help society "take a holistic approach and not an individualistic approach to the world."

Weekes is the youngest of 10 children. He remembers lining up with his brothers and sisters to sing for his parents, and his dad singing back to them as if they were the Von Trapps in "The Sound of Music." Weekes started his song-writing career at the age of 10 writing down the lyrics from songs he heard on LPs. Sometimes he would tinker with the words in a song and make them his own creation. "From the time I started writing," he said, "I did my own thing."

Before leaving the Caribbean to pursue music, Weekes started a band with a few of his brothers and toured the Caribbean islands. That's when he met some of the musical influences that compelled him to sing political reggae. "These people I consider town criers," he said. 'Reggae is what you call the poor man's cry. It's music you can sit and listen to. It's listening music."

Weekes performs with two backup singers and six other musicians. The band is on a six-week tour across the country spreading the word about their music.

"There's such a void in the market for the kind of music Taj sings," Weekes' manager, Shirley Menard, offered. "Taj sticks to what's real and what's true."

Weekes released the album on his own independent label, Jatta Records.

"You have to do it on your own terms in your own way," Menard said. "He couldn't make this kind of music any other way."

Danny Hill, the manager of Star Bar, said he has been playing Weekes' albums all week in his car. "We're kind of becoming known for bringing this kind of music to town," he said. "I'm excited."

UNITED REGGAE - Online Reggae Magazine, FRANCE

 
Album review by: Angus Taylor 

A new roots release straight from St. Lucia with DEIDEM, second album from soulful singer Taj Weekes and his band Adowa.

The picture postcard view of reggae from the mainstream is of a sunny, relentlessly upbeat genre, full of promises that everything will be “irie”. And like most clichés it contains more than an element of truth. But you’ll get no such assurance from the second full-length set by St. Lucian singer Taj Weekes and his group Adowa, who clearly inhabit a very different world.

There aren’t any laid-back island vibes to be found on DEIDEM, for it is no party album. From opener Angry Language (a chillingly honest account of the descent from high minded principle into rage) to Hurricane Katrina-inspired piano ballad Louisiana, this is melancholy soul-searching music, but the eerie detachment of Weekes' voice averts wounded sentimentality or depressing dirge. He has an ageless, genderless falsetto that could give depth to even the most trite lyrics, but this is matched by an originality and a poetic simplicity with words, an avoidance of stock terms and phrases and a tendency to deal in opposites, exemplified by his warning of impending apocalypse during For Today, where he tells us that, “The latter days have come, The ending has begun, Beginning’s on the way, Hold on for today”. Weekes is also a guitarist, and both clean melodic lead and percussive Tosh-style wah wah rhythm work (shared between him, Shelton Garner and Adoni Xavier) are at the forefront of many of the tracks, but never to the point of ill judged “rock reggae” fusion. Using his own band for the arrangements really pays off - yielding a unity that only the elite session players can attain.

Such is the sense of foreboding across most of this record - even the one lively ska type rhythm bears the chorus “since Cain slew Abel, misery and pain” - that the two major key compositions offer welcome relief. With its descending melody, clavinet and sweet vocal, first single Hollow Display sounds uncannily like The Royals’ ‘My Sweat Turns To Blood’, but Weekes’ stoical poignant description of relationship breakup deems it a worthy successor rather than a pale imitation, while Dark Clouds uses the changing seasons to give a critique of environmental destruction made palatable by its subtlety and artful turn of phrase.

In the interests of balance, it is worth mentioning that DEIDEM’s bleak mood and the primacy of the guitars in the mix may be too much for some people’s tastes. But, as a reggae artist, Taj Weekes has the full package – a strange haunting voice, deep and interesting lyrics, the ability to write songs (not just sing over rhythms) and an uncompromising view of what the music should entail. If you like old school roots the way it used to be but don’t like it to sound self consciously “retro”– this is your man. One of 2008’s best releases from outside Jamaica so far.