by Gregory 'Bassie' Jackson
Ok All… here are some pics…
The first pick is of Mikey Ramsey with Erykah Badu… She came to Rocket Studios to meet the band and to chill out with us… We had just finished running a few lines… and Mikey asked me if I had my camera… which I always do… I had all my gear with me… my suitcase and a couple of basses… a few moments later I was going over to the hotel in midtown to rest up…
The second shot Mikey took for me, of me and Erykah… we were all chilling out eating fish and sipping juice and things… roots vibes… every rehearsal we do before a tour… we get some nice escovitch fish… and festival… Spear carries it from Queens…
The shot of Mr and Mrs. Rodney with Ms. Badu is a nice one… don't you think…??
Erykah had voiced a version of Jah no Dead for us to hear… which we loved… and we tried it with the band… but the Boss figured it would be nice to have her do it solo… with a little of Stephen Stewart supporting her with the keys…
She was very laid back… cool vibes…
The pic of me in the Bob Marley shirt was taken in Montreal… we arrived a day before the gig… and so Cecil Ordonez and I walked down to the waterfront area… which reminds me a lot of South Street Seaport in New York… but maybe more hip…
Cecil and I watched the action… the jugglers and the hustlers… and the vendors… and ate some French food too… the next pic is of the scene… I got dark… and there was a fireworks festival going on… which is an annual thing down there we learned… we watched the fireworks… I recall it was from Germany that night…
The pic of Cecil on the bike is from Cape Cod… we played two shows out there… and stayed at Mike's place… a nice hotel… he lent us the bikes… and so Cecil and I took off down a trail… we went pretty far… and found that little bay… we rode around… and walked through the paths and trails and got our shoes muddy…
That day I recall Gene was out swimming and things… and Virgo the sound engineer rode his borrowed bike to sound check… the funny thing about that is that the sound check went kinda long…
It got dark… and was cool… the air… cold and breezy… He had to return the bike… so as the band whizzed by… with Spear… and all of us… We passed Virgo chugging and chugging down the road with his bike… kicking up nuff dirt and things… with his ites, green, and gold cap twisted to the side… raggamuffin style…
He waved and hailed us up as we passed him on the little dirt lane… classic… reminded me of yard vibes…
The next pic is of the famous Tedo… yes y'all its Tedo… chilling out at another Massachusetts spot… the Race Brook lodge deep in the hills…
We were there a few days too… and had a lot of fun… no t.v… no phones… just vibes…
Tedo is caught doing what he is classic at… which is holding the vibes… and chilling out… smile… laughs… That pic was taken a few moments after we arrived… and the tour bus was at the gate… later we moved it cause we were blocking the driveway…
Nice shows out there I recall… the Helsinki club… an intimate place…
The Spear goes all out… Its a honor to be in the company of Mr. Rodney… and these wicked musicians…
One love…
The bassie… checking out…
