I was inspired to write today while watching a video of Jah Wobble’s Invaders of the Heart perform live on KEXP. Jah Wobble was known for his work with John Lydon of the Sex Pistols in the band PiL. I was not so aware of him at that time. My first encounter with Jah Wobble was probably on the album Radioaxiom: A Dub Transmission around 2001. This album was a recording with one of my all time favorite bass players and producers Bill Laswell and I have been hooked ever since.
This live performance is a great mix of influences in dub, reggae, fusion, jazz, punk and world music. Jah Wobble’s Invaders Of The Heart has a great lineup of musicians that really lay down an amazing performance. A highlight of the show is Jah breaking down a live dub rhythm.
I picked up on a few influences Jah Wobble mentioned during the set. One was Lonnie Liston Smith who created the group Lonnie Liston Smith and the Cosmic Echoes. I can’t resist listening to a band with a name like that. It sound just up my cosmic alley. Lonnie Liston played with jazz artists like Pharoah Sanders and Miles Davis.
Jah mentioned he worked with the band Can, which got into a lot of experimental sounds and Musique concrète. Another thing for me to check out. Way back in the early 2000’s I sent off a bunch of CD’s (if anyone know what those are still) to reviewers for my band Zentropia. A few mentioned how experimental we were and thought we were influenced by some modern classical composers, tape loops and Musique concrète. I was not even sure what it was at the time but later realized how similar the style was to the sounds I was making with my tape delay emulator and 4 track cassette recorder.
Another influence Jah mentioned was Harry J. He ran Harry J Studio and recorded Bob Marley and the Wailers, Burning Spear and my favorite, Augustus Pablo. I’m definitely going to check out some of the recording from Harry J.
It was super cool to hear how young Jah Wobble got into reggae rhythms and a big thanks to him for all these great influences to be inspired by.
Enjoy the show!
Mark Bray
Cosmic Archeologist
Crystaleyezed Fine Arts
http://kexp.org
http://jahwobble.com