Jon Pareles is Reviewing Everyone I've Seen Recently: Stephen Marley

I just saw Stephen Marley (feat. Damian too) at Jazzfest, so in reading Jon Pareles' review of their recent NYC show in today's NYTimes, I was really surprised to read that Stephen did so many of his father's songs at the Nokia theater show too. (he did the same thing at the N.O. fairgrounds, but I thought that was b/c the audience there would be more likely to come see him based on his last name than his whole name...) I agree that, as much as I love the elder Marley, he really doesn't need to play as much from Legend as he does. His own sound (esp. combined with his songs from his brother's stuff) can more than make for a great show on its own.

BTW, Damian has the longest dreads I've ever seen in my life. They're like down to his knees. Crazy cool.

And at jazzfest, they had an adorable little kid dancing around with a flag onstage (maybe one of Stephen's sons?), and I also loved that the band included some elder Rastafarians. I'm a sucker for seeing multiple generations on stage. That's actually very common to see in New Orleans in general... I wish it were more common more broady.

Stephen Marley - Mind Control

I don't smoke, but I'm all about these joints... "Inna di Red" (ft. Ben Harper), "Hey Baby" (ft. Mos Def), title track "Mind Control", "Let Her Dance", "Traffic Jam" (ft. Damian Marley), "Chase Dem". The bulk of Stephen Marley's debut solo album Mind Control is really good stuff, actually. It's worth buying the whole album -- easily enjoyed straight through from beginning to end & perfect for playing at parties through the warmer months (and it's finally sunny and warm-ish here in NYC!).

I first fell in love with this guy's voice on Erykah Badu's track "In Love with You". Until now, he's never done a solo thing -- he's been working in music for years though -- with his brothers, people like Ms. Badu & Eve, producing, ... so you probably know his music without realizing it.

Sometimes on this new record of his, his vocals eerily channel his father's voice. And yet, this music is most definitely his own -- it's *modern* reggae full of lots of current influences. And oh, yeah, it's not all mellow either -- there are definitely some dance tracks too ("Traffic Jam", "Let Her Dance"). Anyway, check it out.

And check this YouTube for an acoustic version of "Inna di Red":