Notes
Jahmark & The Soulshakers new double album CD, "Book Of Redemption" was co-produced by Jahmark (Banana-Boat Records, Inc) and Mike Irwin of Roughsounds. It is this versatile and dynamic band's best work yet...roots rock reggae to the bone! Thanks not only to the soulshakin' Soulshakers but also to the many musicians local and international who contributed their talents to the making of this album. Some of the band members who went above and beyond the call of duty during the recording of this CD include Cedric Bravo on tenor and alto sax, and Rudy Richardson on keyboards. Also contributing their talents on the album is legendary drummer, Style Scott of Roots Radics fame, as well as some impressive percussion work by Norman Grant of the Twinkle Brothers. Other musicians who contributed their superb talents include Mike Irwin on bass and Alberto Fernandez on rhythm guitar (both of Roughsounds), Jativa on saxophone and flute (formerly of the Dave Wakeling Band), Ilocks on keyboards (of Ras Michael's band), and Tony Lee a.k.a. The "love doctor" on lead guitar (of Booschwa Shack). The mixing and mastering of the album was undertaken by Fabian Cooke who grew up around all the classic recording studios of Jamaica such as Channel One, Treasure Isle, Studio One, etc. Fabian currently works as production manager on the road with Ziggy Marley, and the direction of the mix which he chose for this album could be coined as "Channel One meets the digital era" for it was designed to be a definitive collection of original, positive and conscious roots reggae songs which could stand proudly beside any commercial hit on the airwaves today. Now shortly before brother Bob Marley's passing he sang a song by the name of "Redemption Song" in which he asked all his fellow musicians, "won't you help to sing these songs of freedom, redemption song". It was Bob's reaching out in that song which provided the inspiration for the name of the album, "Book Of Redemption", for Rastafari is an ever-living, on-going and positive consciousness which never stops growing. The music on this album is very reminiscent of the Bob Marley & the Wailers of the golden age days of roots reggae music and for good reason. As far as the songs on the album go, the very first song Jahmark ever wrote, "Misconception", was written with Bob's sister, Pearl. According to Jahmark, "We wrote that song together in Miami at a time when Bob was still touring and on top of the world. I remember clearly to this day that we would play it on the piano that sat below Mother B's bedroom (Bob's mom), and we would get such a radiant joy from playing it. From that time I know music was to play an extremely huge part in my life." A couple years later, while Bob was in Germany undergoing treatment, "I was singing the same song on an old beat up acoustic guitar in Pearl's room, and Rita (Marley) was visiting from Jamaica with the youths (Sharon, Cedella, Ziggy and Steve). She was in the next room and I didn't know. She said, "who is that singing"? At that time everyone knew me more as a painter / visual artist and when she saw that it was me she smiled approvingly with an almost knowing smile, gave her props, and encouraged me to keep singing and writing. I never looked back since ... I said that to say this, the vibes of this album coming from that time to this time in the positive, for Jah works in mysterious ways, and nothing happens before the time, and 2012 is the time." There are currently over five hundred unrecorded songs in the Jahmark song catalog since those days and some of the songs on the CDs such as Frying Pan, King Selassie, Marcus, Secret Society, Rootsman Time, etc. Were drawn from this catalog, while others were written brand new specifically for the new album with a timeline theme in mind which reveals African I-Story from that time to this time as opposed to colonialized "his-story". These songs include Khemet 4500 BCE, Humiliation 1700 BCE, Joshua 1200 BCE, Moors 711
