Lover's Rock and Conscious Reggae, with a sprinkling of Jazz, Rock, Blues and Country.

14 MP3 Songs
WORLD: Reggae, JAZZ: Smooth Jazz



Details:
Sweet Destiny is an affirmation of my belief that, each of us is here for a purpose. Our own purpose.
Few of us know exactly what that purpose is. But if you close your eyes and look far enough back in time (in your self), you will feel it; not in the way you feel the sun against your skin, or the icy cold stream between your toes; you know by the pull of that calling in your soul.
In the early-to mid nineteen sixties, Bob Marley and the Wailers were simply, âThe Wailersâ. Jimmy Cliff was a young boy roaring like a lion and Rock Steady was the music of the day in Jamaica. Many pre-teenage boys wanted to become singers, like their heroes. I and three of my cousins decided that we too would form a singing group. The idea lasted about a week.
During the mid nineteen Eighties, then in my early twenties, my girlfriend and I were at the Palm Trees night club in Edmonton, London, England where I was living. The patrons at the Palm Trees were invited to participate in a singing contest. Strongly encouraged by my girlfriend (some would say forced) to enter the competition, I reluctantly entered with an original composition (Repatriation). The song described my own desires to repatriate to Jamaica. I projected those feelings on the powerlessness of the people of Jamaica, whose lives were determined by others, centuries ago.
Although I placed third or fourth, I was invited back to the club to enter the finals. I finished no where near first place; that position was given to a fine Dennis Brown sound-alike. However, the experience brought me to the realization that I had a deep Mission ahead of me. My soul called out!
Shortly after emigrating to the United States, a few years after the competition, I came to the awful realization that my days of sanity were numbered. I would not fully enjoy practicing Engineering which I had enjoyed studying in college. The music had a stranglehold on me and I reached out in different ways to satisfy the soulful feelings. Amongst the many people I met, Paul Crawford expressed the most profound interest in my music. He introduced me to Errol Moore, guitarist extraordinaire and one of the original âA-Teamâ band members in New York, city. Errol and I worked on a number of songs during that first session, at the E&F studio in the Bronx. The first single release was, âSecret Loverâ, a commentary on race relations in the States. This was at a time when crosses were still burning on the lawns of interracial couples in Philadelphia and Long Island. My hero and shero had their experience in a college somewhere in the Northern U.S.
I released the single both in the U.S. and London, where it sold a few hundred copies. Two years later the album âMissionary manâ was released.
Missionary man created the possibilities for me to perform in new and surprising places and enabled me to assemble the Mission band. The original band did little more than rehearse. However, it provided another stepping stone to higher things, for me. In my search for a more accomplished guitarist, I met Jeff Pattison, my co-producer and business partner.
Jeff was waiting for me, in his little studio, though neither of us knew it. Recording Sweet Destiny, took too long, but it could not have been finished a minute sooner.
The Mission Band expanded to include a collection of strong musicians, all of whom are working and residing in the Washing DC area. We are all confident that you will enjoy this album, because you have read this far. It is our Sweet Destiny!!! Welcomeâ¦
On this album you will hear: a lovely gumbo of Loverâs Rock, Conscious Reggae with a touch of Blues, Jazz, Rock & Roll and Country in these compositions.