"JAD-D"
From then till now......Jah-D.
Tuesday, September 16, 2003.
I was christened Roger Anthony Guthrie,
born April 25 1961,London, England...
I always like to tell people that
I was born in the Royal borough
of Kensington.. I have a birth mark
on my arm that kind of resembles
a map of Africa.. So I say how
fitting for me to be born in a place
with that name, so I must be Royalty
(Smile.) My Parents are Jamaican,
St. Thomas (Parish.)I have two brothers
and two sisters, of which I am the
last, my father was glad about that..
The poor thing, I think I drove
that man nuts (smile).... My second
to last sibling, Leon jnr. He was
named after dad, he was almost like
a father to me, he watched over
me like a hawk... I don't think
that I could do anything wrong by
him.... So needless to say I have
a special fondness for him...I love
my entire family, but he will always
be really special,he would give
me the shirt off of his own back,
what a guy......My third eldest
sibling, my sister, Marylyn, well,
let's just say that we didn't really
get along when I was a kid... But
I was still very protective of her.....
But now, well, I never would have
thought it then, we are such good
friends, and I love her very much...
She now has become the matriarch
of the family, She has a university
degree and is doing very well for
herself with her day care business...My
other two sibs were raised by family
members, I didn't see much of them
at all.... .http://www.jahd.com
"In The Reggae Spotlight"
is pleased to profile saxaphonist
extraordinaire JAH-D
My first tour was to Germany, West
Germany at the time,
with a band called, "The Royal
Rasses." I was only playing
sax
about 3 weeks, I was hooked from
that moment, I knew that
muzik was going to be my life. That
band with Prince Lincoln
Thompson at the helm was one of
my favourite bands, and they had
encouraging words for this green
youngster getting his feet wet in
the
business.. I just practiced everyday
almost all day if I could,
the neighbors never complained,
thank God.. I almost joined
a traditional big band, playing
songs like, "A train, Salt'n'Peanuts."
But the band leader made a move
on my girl, that wasn't cute, so
I
never went back to practice with
them, therefor never becoming
officially part of their big band,
they were good, I was the youngster
so there was a lot that I could
have learnt from them, oh well....
It
Just wasn't meant to be..........
I eventually ended up being the
lead Vocalist for Israelites, and
KingSounds (voc) would at times
take myself (Sax/voc)
Martin (Guit/voc) and Bigga (Keys/voc)
with him to Jamaica
To help out on his albums... We
use to do Reggae Sunsplash as
well.... As a band we were also
connected to Aswad, So eventually
Martin & Bigga ended up playing
for them a lot, and then
eventually I started playing for
them to.... I think round about
that time I also played with an
up and coming English Jazz
saxophonist, his name is Courtney
Pine, I am grateful for meeting
him, he showed a thing or two. He
has turned out to be one of
England's greats..... I became friends
of Steel Pulse, but never did
any work with them, that's another
story, UB40, the same thing,
another story.. But we remain friends,
schedules just wouldn't allow
for us to do things, but JAH is
in control and it was just not his
will....... I went on to play for
a lot of well known Reggae artist
like, Dennis Brown, Freddie McGregor,
Buju Banton,
Shaba Ranks, Gregory Issacs, Judy
Mowat, Carlene Davis,
Jammed with Harry Bellafonte in
Zimbabwe.. Jammed with a non
reggae act Bruce Hornsby, another
non reggae act Loose Ends
(Our American road manager was also
the up and coming Boys to
men manager, I really liked him,
but he was killed a few years ago),
Beres Hammond, Maxie Priest and
so much more It is hard for me
to even remember them all..
I came to USA 1987 to live perminately
and I was sort of fed up
with the muzik business I started
to go back to school, I went to
a
college in Long Island, was thinking
about getting my electronic
engineering degree. A man from the
A-Team band (Nas-T) heard I
was in town he gave me a call, it
was a tour for Maxie Priest,
well let's just say he got me going
again and the bug bit hard, so
there I go again, I dropped out
of college for the second time to
pursue a dream... Through Maxie
we met Roberta Flack and from
what I can remember, she was very
nice. I eventually moved to
Florida and I left the business
again, I played local gigs only
I hooked up with a man who has become
more like another big
brother (Patrick Smith aka I B,
it was him that eventually gave
me the Jah in my aka Jah-D), he
has looked out for me,
gave me work etc... I eventually
joined his band and over the years
played for him on and off.. When
I came to Florida I had left
Maxie Priest maybe 6 months after
being here... I started to pack
trucks for a company called Premier
Beverage, I got tendoninitis in
my elbows, so I had to give that
up, then I started to install
security systems for a company called
Emergency Networks, then
Westinghouse and a few others even
becoming manager for a brief
moment. I still played my muzik
when I could, mostly now gospel
muzik.. I was a regular church go'er...
So by now my life was going
in a complete different direction
than I could have ever imagined.
I
had locks in the late 70's which
I cut off in the late 80's, I had
kids, gotten married, a house, cars
no dog, but all the trappings of
how we are told life should be.
I wasn't happy deep down, I had
to play my muzik again, JAH
gave me a voice and I wasn't using
it, I started to feel bad, so one
day I just said to hell with it,
after one car crash after another
I
realized that I'm going to kill
myself before I serve my real purpose,
I was working myself into the ground,
getting little to no sleep, my
appetite was out of whack also,
so I just took a leap of faith.
I'm back on track doing what I know
JAH wants me to do,
I started out as just a singer,
now I'm a saxophonist as well,
the journey thus far has been filled
with highs and lows, but JAH's
gift of muzik to me has seen me
through, I hope to play and sing
until I expire, I hope to stimulate
minds, put smiles where there are
frowns, instill hope when there
is a sense of hopelessness. I know
now
what I have to do with my life,
that is to sing and play and if
I
can touch just one soul I know JAH
will be pleased with me, he
values every soul, to him one soul
is just as important as a thousand
plus. I am presently working on
my CD, I hope and pray it will
soothe many troubled hearts and
be a gentle breeze to stormy lives,
I
hope I can fan the flame of striving
for peace and help to keep hope
alive.
SPOTLIGHT
"In The Reggae Spotlight"
is a new forum from roadsidereggae.com
We will feature talented Reggae
musicians who have not received support
or publicity from the establishment.
We will write a feature article outlining
background, experience, or information
pertaining to the person, group or
band which will give the Internet
audience an insight into the featured
artist/artists.You may also send your
bio and we will edit it if necessary.
Please remember to keep it brief!
The goal of "In The Reggae Spotlight"
is to give a voice to those who now
speak in whispers, together we will
roar! Rastafari. |
Please
Join The Mailing List
Techno
Dread's New "DVDBehind The Scenes"
|
