2013-08-24 Chiemsee Reggae Summer - Groundation 4440

Groundation is an American

roots reggae Roots reggae is a subgenre of reggae that deals with the everyday lives and aspirations of Africans and those in the African Diaspora, including the spiritual side of Rastafari, black liberation, revolution and the honoring of God, called Jah ...

band with

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and dub influences, from

Sonoma County Sonoma County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 488,863. Its county seat and largest city is Santa Rosa. It is to the north of Marin County and the south of Mendocino ...

in Northern California. It is named for Rastafarian ceremony of Grounation.

History

Formed in the fall of 1998 by Harrison Stafford, Marcus Urani, and Ryan Newman, Groundation began on the campus of

Sonoma State University Sonoma State University (SSU, Sonoma State, or Sonoma) is a public university in Rohnert Park in Sonoma County, California, US. It is one of the smallest members of the California State University (CSU) system. Sonoma State offers 92 Bachelor's ...

's Jazz Program. Between 1999 and 2001, Harrison Stafford taught the first course on the History of Reggae Music at the University. In 1999, Stafford teamed up with Kris Dilbeck to found Young Tree Records and release Groundation's debut album ''Young Tree''. "Groundation" comes from the Rasta term "Grounation".

Grounation Day Grounation Day (April 21) is an important Rastafari holy day, second only to Coronation Day (November 2). It is celebrated in honour of Haile Selassie's 1966 visit to Jamaica. Visit of Selassie to Jamaica Haile Selassie had already met with se ...

is an important Rastafarian holy day celebrated April 21, which commemorates Haile Selassie’s first visit to

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

in 1966. Grounation Day is second in importance to Coronation Day, which is celebrated November 2, in honor Haile Selassie’s Coronation in 1930. In 2000 they added to the line up David Chachere, a

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

-based jazz trumpeter, and Kelsey Howard, a North Bay trombone player. Saxophonist Jason Robinson was a member of the band for a time, and has since gone on to become the head of the

program at

UC San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...

. Drummer Paul Spina (

Les Claypool Leslie Edward Claypool (born September 29, 1963) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and author. He is best known as the founder, lead singer, bassist, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the ro ...

Will Bernard Will Bernard is a guitarist and band leader. He has led the Will Bernard Band, Will Bernard Trio, Will Bernard 4-tet, and Motherbug. Career In the 1980s Bernard was a member of the Hieroglyphics Ensemble led by Peter Apfelbaum. In the 1990s he fo ...

's Mother Bug) has been with the group since taking over for James Stafford in December 2001; he left the group in summer 2008. Kim Pommell and Kerry Ann Morgan (both graduates of Kingston's Ashe performing arts school) joined in 2006, and are featured lead vocalists on Groundation's 2009 release ''Here I Am''. In 2012, vocalist Jhamiela Smith joined the group, daughter of legendary reggae guitarist

Earl "Chinna" Smith Earl "Chinna" Smith (born 6 August 1955), a.k.a. Earl Flute and Melchezidek the High Priest,Johnson, Richard (2013)The Melchizedek way, '' Jamaica Observer'', 6 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013 is a Jamaican guitarist active since the late ...

, to sing chorus along with Kim Pommell. They are current chorus vocalists for Groundation. The nine-piece band creates an altogether new reggae sound, featuring swirling, jazz/funk inspired horns, stout Latin and African based poly-rhythmics, and soulful harmony vocals. Their concerts utilize live improvisation, in classic jazz fashion, and are renowned for their high energy, communion-type atmosphere. Having gained international notoriety for their progressive fusion style, Groundation regularly plays at major international festivals like

Summerjam Summerjam is a European reggae festival. It takes places annually in July at the ''Fühlinger See'', which is a lake located in Cologne, Germany. The event usually attracts an audience of between 25,000 and 30,000 people. Two stages and two tents ...

. The band uses analog instruments and recording equipment rather than digital, with Stafford explaining "No digital, we don't work with synthesisers. Just like in the 1970s we stick to that format."Campbell-Livingston, Cecelia (2012)
Groundation Sticks to Basics
", '' Jamaica Observer'', 5 June 2012, retrieved 2012-06-05 On the 2018 March 11 on thei
Facebook page
Groundation announce his returns after a 3 year hiatus, introducing new members and "The Next Generation".

Lineup

Members

* Harrison Stafford –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

* Isaiah Palmer - Bass player * Zach Morillo - Drummer * Brady Shammar - Harmony vocalist * Alreca Smith - Harmony vocalist * Eduardo Gross - Guitarist * Roger Cox- Saxophone * Matt Jenson - Keyboardist

Former members

* Marcus Urani – b3,

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

* Ryan Newman – bass * David Chachere –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

* Te Kenawa Haereiti aka. Rufus – drums * Kim Pommell –

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

* Sherida Sharpe – chorus * Nicholas Daniel Wlodarczyk –

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

* Jason Robinson – sax, flute * Paul Spina – drums (from December 2001 to July 2008; credited as a guest on some more recent albums). * James Stafford – drums (on the first two albums) * Shawna Anderson – chorus (from 1999 to 2004) * Adaria Armstrong – chorus (2004) * Jeannine Guillory – chorus (2005) * Ekua Impraim – chorus (2005) * Ikesha Johnson – chorus (2006) * Benjamin Krames – congas, timbales, percussion (in 2007, during Mingo's break) * Kelsey Howard – trombone (from 2000–2012) * Kerry-Ann Morgan – chorus (from 2006–2012) * Mingo Lewis Jr. – congas, timbales, percussion (2003–2013)

Discography

Studio albums

*1999: ''Young Tree'' (Remastered in 2002) *2001: ''Each One Teach One'' *2002: ''Hebron Gate'' *2004: ''We Free Again'' *2005: ''Dub Wars'' *2006: ''Upon the Bridge'' *2008: ''Rockamovya'' (Groundation's three founding members' project featuring

and

Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace (born 22 August 1950) is a Jamaican drummer who worked for several years at Studio One, and has worked with numerous reggae artists including The Gladiators, Inner Circle,Hebdige, Dick (1987) ''Cut 'n' Mix: Culture, ...

), *2009: ''Here I Am'' *2011: ''Gathering of the Elders'' *2011: ''We Dub Again'' ( Dub Remixes of ''We Free Again'') *2012: ''Building an Ark'' *2014: ''A Miracle'' *2016: ''Each One Dub One'' *2018: ''The Next Generation'' *2020: ''The Next Generation Live'' *2022: One Rock