Harmonies for the Ages:

Meditations @ Wild Hare 11/22/02

By Steve Serpiente

CHICAGO - With deejays like Sizzla, Capleton and Anthony B and singers such as Luciano, Bushman and Warrior King dominating the scene in the late 90's and early 00's, it seems the harmony trio groups which ruled reggae's "golden age" in the 70's have all but disappeared.

The genre's greatest trio of all time - the Wailers - split up after the 1974 Burnin' LP due to a clash of egos. Toots Hibbert, the charismatic front man of Toots & the Maytals, is still going strong but without the harmonies of the Maytals. Leroy Sibbles appears here and there as a solo artist or session player, but the Heptones have long since disbanded. Albert Griffiths has put forth some quality albums under the Gladiators name in the late 80's and 90's, but without Clinton Fearon, the bassie who was also an integral part of the group's vocal arrangements in the 70's and early 80's. The Wailing Souls and Israel Vibration, both of whom started out as quartets but recorded and toured extensively as trios, are now pared down to duos. The Congos reunited and released a live album in 2000, but without the services of tenor Roydel Johnson.  Black Uhuru, in all its various incarnations, operated as a trio until its 2000 release Dynasty, which features only Andrew Bees and founding member Duckie Simpson on vocals. Even Burning Spear began as a harmony trio before Winston Rodney took the name and deservedly garnered many accolades as a solo artist.

Along with the Mighty Diamonds, the Abyssinians (whose lineups over the past few years sometimes feature all three original members) and Culture (who usually perform as a trio, albeit rarely with both original backup singers), the Meditations are one of the last surviving harmony trios.

Having recorded together since the early/mid 1970's, the Meditations - Ansel "Meditation" Cridland, Winston Watson and Danny Clarke - have gone their separate ways more than once. But, thankfully, the power of their harmony has always overcome periodic disagreements, as well as geographical separations. (For a time in the 80's Ansel remained in Jamaica while Winston and Danny had emigrated to the U.S. Geography can still present a barrier as Ansel resides in New York, Winston in Seattle and Danny in Arizona.)

When asked about the key to the longevity of the Meditations, Winston responded, "We try to cope with each other, cause in every family you got ups and downs. Like wife and husband - we quarrel and we fight. We break up to make up. We try to compromise with each other's situation and views and come to understanding. It's faith in the Most High."

Brought to the Windy City by Pradigal Promotions, the trio's sweet harmonies united the roots patrons and generated irie vibrations throughout the Wild Hare, heating up the North Side club on this chilly November night.

Taking the stage at 11:30 pm sharp, the Meditations' two hour plus set sampled selections from their cultural catalog spanning three decades. Among the tracks on the set list from the 70's were the classics "Woman Is Like a Shadow" and "Babylon Trap Them," (both from the group's essential debut LP Message from the Meditations - a collection of singles originally issued on the Double-D label in 1976), as well as "Miracles," "Jungle Feelings" and a lovers tune by Winston called "Señorita."  

The rocking "Rootsman Party" from the For the Good of Man release (Heartbeat Records, 1988) was the highlighted  80's cut. (The Meditations were not together as a trio for much of the 80's and, therefore, it was not their most prolific decade.)

From the 1992 Return of the Meditations album (Heartbeat), the group performed "Jailhouse" and "Choice of Color," a Curtis Mayfield cover. (Backstage before the show, Winston cited Mayfield & the Impressions and Patti Page, among others, as crucial early musical influences.) The band worked out five tracks from their brilliant 1999 release Ghetto Knowledge (Easy Star Records): "African Connection," "Educated Fools," "Living on the Edge," "Enemies Away" and, for the show's encore, their cover of Bob Marley's "Blackman Redemption." (The band also cooked up a percolating version of Marley's "Nice Time," and they made use of the Stir It Up and Jammin' riddims to delightful effect.)

Although Marley covers are typical fare for many a reggae act as both a tribute to the Honerable Robert Nesta and to gratify mainstream fans, the Meditations have a much more personal connection to Bob. After his female backup singers - the I-Threes (Rita Marley, Judy Mowatt and Marcia Griffiths), Bob favored the Meditations for background harmonies in the late 70's. They sang background vocals for Marley on the studio versions of "Blackman Redemption," "Rastaman Live Up," "Punky Reggae Party" and the original version of "Natural Mystic," which Bob later re-recorded and released sans the Meditations. Their song "Miracles" was also released as a single on Marley's Tuff Gong label in the late 70's.

"It was Bob who wanted us to do 'Rastaman Vibration' and 'Blackman Redemption,'" explained Winston. "He say, 'So you are the Meditations, huh? Well, I got this little song here called 'Blackman Redemption.' I waan yuh to listen to it and see what we can do with it."

Winston recalled the power and respect which Marley commanded. "Once we were rehearsing for the One Love concert, and Bob say, 'So you're not on the show?'" The Meditations confirmed that they were not scheduled to perform in the 1978 peace concert, and an irritated Bob approached the concert's promoter, Tommy Cowan. "Bob say, 'Tommy, put the Meditations pon the show.' So Tommy was blundering, 'Well, you wanna see the list? The list is full.' So Bob say, 'Put Meditations pon the list!' And Tommy was like, 'Yes, Bob. Yes, Bob.' And I say, 'Oh shit, these guys afraid of the Gong.' He was like a lion, like a god."

As if they needed to add to their resume, the Meditations have also sung back up for other huge stars such as Gregory Isaacs (on "Mr. Cop") and Jimmy Cliff, to name a couple.

They frequented numerous sessions at Lee "Scratch" Perry's Black Ark studio in its heyday in the mid/late 70's, singing background vocals for artists such as the Congos, as well as recording their own songs like "Running From Jamaica," which is included on the Message from the Meditations release.

"It was (producer) Dobby Dobson who introduced us to Lee Scratch Perry. Meeting Scratch, you know, it was an experience. This guy was like a mad scientist. He was crazy about us when he meet us. He wanted us to do background for Junior Murvin. Then he started to ask us to record. Well, we was like in doubt - make the wrong move and somebody rip you off. But he had a magic about him. Scratch say, 'Think of somthing, man. What do you guys want? You want a house? You want a car? I'll give it to you. Just do something. Give me some hope.' And then he started to ask us to come to all the studios with him like Joe Gibbs and the Aquarius. One night he take us up there to Joe Gibbs and start to run this 24 track tape, and it was a Bob Marley song - 'Punky Reggae Party.' And he says, 'Do you have any ideas? Do you have any harmony ideas for this song?' And we start to come up this idea (sings harmony part of the song) and all of the little trimmings around it" with assistance and direction from Perry.

The group had grand plans to continue working with Marley and Perry. But after Bob passed on, "for some reason Scratch was going into his little world. You know what I'm talking about? And that's when everything kinda slow down. But it was a great experience."

While other harmony trios such as the aforementioned Mighty Diamonds and Culture feature an individual who sings lead on all songs, each member of the Meditations is a first rate lead singer in his own right. Ansel is the primary lead singer, but he unselfishly steps back to allow Winston and Danny sing lead on several tunes. Besides singing lead and harmonizing, Danny and Winston also showcased their deejaying abilities during extended jams at the Hare. Whereas Ansel and Danny each take on the demeanor of a laid back, pensive Rastaman, Winston is the unofficial public relations ambassador of the group, outgoing and bubbling full of energy. On stage, Winston joyfully jumps and engages the crowd in call and response singing. Off stage, he enthusiastically greets and befriends backstage visitors.

This tour is blessed by the services of an extraordinarily solid backing band consisting of Virginia native Kevin Brown on drums; Leroy Guy on bass; and Georges Kouakou of the Ivory Coast on keyboards. Kouakou has performed with African reggae king Alpha Blondy, and he appeared in Chicago in Oct. 2001 as keyboardist with Culture's band. Veteran studio engineer Donovan Phillips flawlessly worked the soundboard.

While the Meditations' work over the past nearly 30 years solidifies the group's stature as one of the cornerstones in the foundation of roots reggae, the band continues forward constructing conscious roots music into the 00's. They are as active now as ever now both on tour and in the studio. Among the recent releases (2002) by the group include 7" singles over the Ba Ba Boom and Money Money riddims, featuring the chanting of  deejay Ranking Joe on the latter cut. Ansel also voiced "Eclipse" for Easy Star Records' upcoming release (Feb. 2003), Dub Side of the Moon, a reggae version of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. The band is also working on a new album, which may be ready for release in August or September of 2003 on a label to be determined.

Dansika, a Chicago based ensemble whose core hails from Ghana, provided an energetic soca flavored opening set. Complete with a full horn section, the band crammed onto the small Wild Hare stage with 12 musicians and singers.