J-Live from his second LP, in 2002
J grew up Spanish Harlem and majored in English at SUNY-Albany
His classic 12″ Longevity was featured in The Source’s “Unsigned Hype” column in 1995
The b-side, Braggin Writes, is what ultimately got him noticed, signed, and underground cult status
Braggin Writes showcased not only his writing skills but production and cuts – he recorded it rhyming as he spliced the original beat on two turntables
He did this live at shows – cutting the record on the decks while rocking the mic at the same time
It was quite the sensation
But label drama held him back, and the much-awaited album sat for years without seeing the light of day
So, instead of a dedicated rap career, he taught English at two Brooklyn middle schools for four years while still doing shows and hitting the lab on weekends!
(Teachers, don’t leave them kids alone)
Finally in 2001, after years of bootlegs floating around, the album–tiled The Best Part–got a proper release on Triple Threat Productions
Kind of his own deal
(triple threat = mc, dj, producer)
Tho album also had beats by Preemo, Pete Rock, 88 Keys, Grap Luva and other heavy hitters
But of course the Twin Towers came down in September, the Patriot Act rushed through less than 2 months later, as the resurgent neocons geared up for more imperialist necro-adventures at home and abroad
J had ample source material for a new album, entitled “All of the Above”
The name alludes to his multi-talented ways and broad experience
As you can see, the album cover is a clear reference to Coltrane’s “Blue Train” from 58
“Satisfied” is J-Live’s response to the hypocrisy and false consciousness of the period:
The poor get worked / the rich get richer
The world gets worse / do you get the picture?
The poor gets dead / the rich get depressed
The ugly get mad / the pretty get stressed
The ugly get violent / the pretty get gone (?)
The old get stiffed / the young get stepped on
Whoever told you that it was all good lied /
So throw your fist up if you’re not satisfied
Particularly apropos:
If it’s war time or jail time / time for promises
Or time to figure out who the enemy is
The same devils that you used to love to hate
They got you so gassed and shook now / you scared to debate
The same ones that traded books for guns / smuggled drugs for funds
And had fun letting off 41
Now it’s all about NYPD caps and Pentagon bumper stickers
But yo, you still a “n!gger”
It ain’t right them cops and them firemen died
The shit was real tragic / but it damn sure ain’t magic
It won’t make the brutality disappear /
It won’t pull equality from behind your ear
Now, that unusual-sounding reed instrument?
That’s a melodica
J handled most of the album’s production by himself, but the beat here was cooked up by DJ Spinna, Brooklyn dj/producer featured on a previous dose
He aptly matches the song’s lyrics and message with a sample from Augustus Pablo’s East of the River Nile from 1971 (riddim allegedly courtesy of Lee Scratch Perry)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlTDujoVnAQ
Shit Lili is up
More on Pablo in a second
Okay, hopefully asleep for good now
So, Augustus Pablo was responsible for introducing the melodica into reggae
It’s a kind of cross between a harmonica and keyboard
Like the harmonica (and recorder), it’s often used to teach music to the youngsters
Here’s a tremendous pic of Augustus with his instrument
Augustus Pablo is, clearly, not his Christian name
He was born Horace Swaby to a middle class family in Kingston (his dad was an accountant)
Went to private school
Was always really into music, and at the private high school, learned melodica
Like any kid at the time, he was obsessed with Coxsone Dodd and Studio One
I think (could be mistaken) he actually did release a record with him
But it didn’t last, and he hung around trying to find a crowd/label
The story goes that he went to a record shop owned by Herman Chin Loy’s cousin
With his melodica in tow
And Herman heard him playing a bunch of vaguely “eastern” minor melodies on it, and perhaps due to his own Chinese heritage, recognized the potential of a fusion sino-jamaican sound
He got him in the studio and one of their first productions was the appropriately-named “East of the River Nile”
Organ and melodica with a strong rhythm (Spinna would augment the drums some for Satisfied, perhaps with an MPC?)
Why “Augustus Pabo”?
Well, Herman liked to use a bunch of different pseudonyms, esp for session musicians
He had seen the name Augustus Pablo in some old mexican magazine, and thought it sounded pretty dope
It was actually originally used for Glen Adams, the organist featured on East of the River Nile
But Adams left Jamaica for NY, so Swaby inherited the moniker
And it stuck as he gained fame
As Augustus (with Herman-Chin Loy), he was one of the foremost responsible for the east asian reggae subgenre
And a legendary dub career (with King Tubby, he was behind the Rockers Uptown record – also mentioned in an earlier dose on Jacob Miller)
Pablo was behind the boards for a lot of Miller’s best work
Oh, and he wasn’t a one-trick wonder; he also played keyboard quite well
His spiritual commitments maintained precedence over commercial success
It was said that he’d escape into the mountains for cleansing retreats for long stretches between recordings
Anyway
“a fat wallet still never made a man free”
