Making King Django... It was 1981, somewhere along 14 year old Jeff Baker’s hour and a half route to school in Manhattan. Jeff is in a record store full of young Jamaicans who are asking why this Jewish kid from white east Brooklyn wants their "Granny’s music". Jeff recalls, "It was like a record screeched to a stop in the movies. I’d shyly ask for Prince Buster or Derrick Morgan. They called people from the back, "tell ‘im what you told me", Jamaican youths were laughing and saying, "dat our granny music, why you wan dat?" Baker was asking for the legends in Jamaican Soul, Ska and Rocksteady, popular as far back as 20-30 years before. These originators were far removed from the electronic sounds and dancehall taking over the 80’s.
As his record collection and knowledge of Jamaican music grew, a royal theme started to emerge; Prince Buster, Prince Far I, Prince Jazzbo, Prince Jammy/King Jammy, King Stitt, King Tubby... The ‘King’ moniker was primarily reserved for musical ‘bosses’, those who ‘run tings’- play, record, mix and produce. He was the Prince who became a King by gathering the bricks and equipment for his studio kingdom.
"First it was Ska; Toots and the Maytals, Desmond Dekker, Alton Ellis, Laurel Aitken, Theo Beckford, Jackie Edwards, Stranger Cole, Baba Brooks, Skatalites, Justin Hinds, Delroy Wilson and so many more. Then- rocksteady, early reggae (called "skinhead reggae" in England) and later, roots reggae. I eventually caught up to contemporary stuff which was early dancehall. Yellowman was huge right after Marley died. For several years going to big stage shows in Manhattan to see Yellowman and Toots was like a hobby." Another perfect match for roots reggae and new technology was the pioneering Upsetters who released Sergio Leone inspired songs "Django Shoots First" and the album/song Return of Django.
The independent spirit and great musicianship of the originals, like Don Drummond of the Skatalites, influenced Baker to pick up the trombone. The swinging rhythms and social forwardness of Ska along with his drive to master engineering, instrumentation, and nuanced rhythm styles morphed Jeff Baker into King Django. When Django built Version City Studio his crown was solidified.
Researching and playing original Ska sounds in the 80’s prepared Django for coming performances. He would lead the legendary NYC ska band The Boilers, singing and playing trombone with them while he was still a teen. He expanded the ska sound, adding more jazz and punk, in the schizophrenically fantastic Skinnerbox. Prior to Version City Rockers, Django founded and led the Stubborn All-Stars, a ‘best of’ NY ska players.
"The whole creative experience is medicine. If I don’t play, practice, have gigs, I start getting crazy. Reggae and ska influenced the social consciousness and brought people together. Brooklyn showed me racism, music taught it was wrong. A lot of people say ska is dance party music, but any form can capture the full range of human emotion, it’s not all beer drinking happy music; there’s room for that but emotion is key as with jazz. Mingus is all emotions and one of my favorites. Reggae can be soothing... growing up in NY and living there most of my life you need soothing- it’s a crazy place."
King Django hosts "Version City Monthly" at the top NY club, The Knitting Factory. Django brings in local and international acts to fill the night with selectors, DJs and bands. "Three Floors of Ska" are needed to hold the crowd to see acts as big as the original Skatalites along side other favorites. You also might see Django’s own King Django Band or his Jewish reggae band, Roots and Culture. For rhythm’s sake- Long live the King.
Roots and Culture... is Django’s Jew-maican band and album series of the same name. Released well before Matisyahu drew attention to the similarities between Yiddish/Klezmer and Ska/Reggae, Roots and Culture has just been remixed and remastered for its ninth anniversary. It features the Klezmer clarinet and mandolin master Andy Statman and, in a double bonus, violinist Alicia Svigals of The Klezmatics plus members of Stubborn All-Stars, Skinnerbox, The Toasters, The Slackers and The New York Ska Jazz Ensemble. "Stubborn All-Stars were with Profile records and Fred Feldman. Fred said one day, ‘why don’t you make a Stubborn All-Stars Christmas album?’ ‘That would be cool, except I’m Jewish...’ A couple weeks later Fred walks up and goes, ‘I got it’, ‘What, got what?’, ‘Ska-Mitzvah’, ‘What? Well, ya.’ So I went to Tower and pulled some Klezmer and Sephardic synagogue music, went home and listened. Of course, growing up Jewish you hear singing in synagogue and my Grandparents also liked Yiddish pop music. My mom’s side still had Yiddish as their first language. As a baby one of the first things I remember is my grandmother singing to me in Yiddish. Anyway, Fred called it Ska-Mitzvah so I wrote a tune called that, thought that name was a little silly so we got more serious. Statman was old friend of the owner of Profile records and that was key." Look out for Roots and Culture 2 with more special guests including none other than Frank London of the Grammy-winning Klezmatics.
Version City Studio... In the early 90’s Django began building his castle by gathering studio equipment and a space; Version City solidified the crown. "Many of the same characters, I had been spending time with; Vic Ruggiero, Rocker T, Vic Rice, The Scofflaws" made records with Django as producer and engineer. Version City Studios has moved from its original creative but dank space to New Brunswick, NJ where Django spends a lot of time producing, recording and hosting dubplate sessions with JA’s best singers and DJ’s. The studio’s musical roots are Island-centric as evidenced in releases like Version City Rockers’ Darker Roots (Antifaz Records, Puerto Rico) which features veteran Jamaican artists such as Sugar Minott, Yabby You and the Prophets, Sister Nancy, Ranking Joe and Cedric Brooks. However, Django records and produces all genres in his new space.
King Django Band... is Django’s touring band. The King Django Band is the line-up supporting the album Roots Tonic and Django’s diverse repertoire. The core of the band includes; Drums: Gregg Mervine, a fixture in NY/NJ/Philly Klezmer and alternative scenes, Bass: Ira Heaps, owner of Jammyland records (reggae store and label), reggae expert, leader of Jammyland All-Stars who also lived in JA for 5 years, Guitar: Justin Rothberg, versatile pro NYC guitarist and guitar teacher, member of Jammyland All-Stars, Eastern Standard Time, King Django Band and Django’s Roots & Culture band, Keyboards: Jess DeBellis, young whippersnapper snatched from Long Island band Harold’s Trousers, spotted by Django at a Version City party with said band.
The King Django Band is often joined onstage by Vic Rice, Rocker T, Dr. Ring Ding, Vic Ruggiero (Slackers) with drums from Eddie Ocampo, Dave Sharma, Gabriel Moses (Israel Vibration) and more, guitars by Agent Jay (Skinnerbox/Slackers), Dave Hahn (Dub Is A Weapon) along with bassists, sax, trumpet and percussion- even from reggae greats Sugar Minott and Glen Brown (first producer to credit King Tubby).
These tour guests are also collectively known as Version City Rockers--studio musicians along the lines of The Skatalites in Studio One--the force behind the new album Roots Tonic (Jump Up). Django adds vocals, keyboards, percussion, melodica, harmonica, ukulele and trombone. "Roots Tonic harkens back to the positive, political reggae of the late 70’s / early 80’s spearheaded by legendary imprints Island, Frontline, Trojan, Heartbeat, On-U Sound and Greensleeves. That was a time when songwriting was key, conscious lyrics reigned supreme and reggae music was live and full of soul. "Dancehall" was in its infancy and still resembled reggae, unlike its mostly American hip-hop and R&B influences today."
Stubborn Records... Django’s label and web store, StubbornRecords.com, has over 600 products including CD’s and apparel. StubbornRecords.com is also the exclusive online distributor for The Slackers merchandise. Along with Stubborn artists, there are other worldwide artists, classic ska/reggae titles, Jamaican vinyl and 45’s (often one of a kind), and many of his Version City alumni.
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As his record collection and knowledge of Jamaican music grew, a royal theme started to emerge; Prince Buster, Prince Far I, Prince Jazzbo, Prince Jammy/King Jammy, King Stitt, King Tubby... The ‘King’ moniker was primarily reserved for musical ‘bosses’, those who ‘run tings’- play, record, mix and produce. He was the Prince who became a King by gathering the bricks and equipment for his studio kingdom.
"First it was Ska; Toots and the Maytals, Desmond Dekker, Alton Ellis, Laurel Aitken, Theo Beckford, Jackie Edwards, Stranger Cole, Baba Brooks, Skatalites, Justin Hinds, Delroy Wilson and so many more. Then- rocksteady, early reggae (called "skinhead reggae" in England) and later, roots reggae. I eventually caught up to contemporary stuff which was early dancehall. Yellowman was huge right after Marley died. For several years going to big stage shows in Manhattan to see Yellowman and Toots was like a hobby." Another perfect match for roots reggae and new technology was the pioneering Upsetters who released Sergio Leone inspired songs "Django Shoots First" and the album/song Return of Django.
The independent spirit and great musicianship of the originals, like Don Drummond of the Skatalites, influenced Baker to pick up the trombone. The swinging rhythms and social forwardness of Ska along with his drive to master engineering, instrumentation, and nuanced rhythm styles morphed Jeff Baker into King Django. When Django built Version City Studio his crown was solidified.
Researching and playing original Ska sounds in the 80’s prepared Django for coming performances. He would lead the legendary NYC ska band The Boilers, singing and playing trombone with them while he was still a teen. He expanded the ska sound, adding more jazz and punk, in the schizophrenically fantastic Skinnerbox. Prior to Version City Rockers, Django founded and led the Stubborn All-Stars, a ‘best of’ NY ska players.
"The whole creative experience is medicine. If I don’t play, practice, have gigs, I start getting crazy. Reggae and ska influenced the social consciousness and brought people together. Brooklyn showed me racism, music taught it was wrong. A lot of people say ska is dance party music, but any form can capture the full range of human emotion, it’s not all beer drinking happy music; there’s room for that but emotion is key as with jazz. Mingus is all emotions and one of my favorites. Reggae can be soothing... growing up in NY and living there most of my life you need soothing- it’s a crazy place."
King Django hosts "Version City Monthly" at the top NY club, The Knitting Factory. Django brings in local and international acts to fill the night with selectors, DJs and bands. "Three Floors of Ska" are needed to hold the crowd to see acts as big as the original Skatalites along side other favorites. You also might see Django’s own King Django Band or his Jewish reggae band, Roots and Culture. For rhythm’s sake- Long live the King.
Roots and Culture... is Django’s Jew-maican band and album series of the same name. Released well before Matisyahu drew attention to the similarities between Yiddish/Klezmer and Ska/Reggae, Roots and Culture has just been remixed and remastered for its ninth anniversary. It features the Klezmer clarinet and mandolin master Andy Statman and, in a double bonus, violinist Alicia Svigals of The Klezmatics plus members of Stubborn All-Stars, Skinnerbox, The Toasters, The Slackers and The New York Ska Jazz Ensemble. "Stubborn All-Stars were with Profile records and Fred Feldman. Fred said one day, ‘why don’t you make a Stubborn All-Stars Christmas album?’ ‘That would be cool, except I’m Jewish...’ A couple weeks later Fred walks up and goes, ‘I got it’, ‘What, got what?’, ‘Ska-Mitzvah’, ‘What? Well, ya.’ So I went to Tower and pulled some Klezmer and Sephardic synagogue music, went home and listened. Of course, growing up Jewish you hear singing in synagogue and my Grandparents also liked Yiddish pop music. My mom’s side still had Yiddish as their first language. As a baby one of the first things I remember is my grandmother singing to me in Yiddish. Anyway, Fred called it Ska-Mitzvah so I wrote a tune called that, thought that name was a little silly so we got more serious. Statman was old friend of the owner of Profile records and that was key." Look out for Roots and Culture 2 with more special guests including none other than Frank London of the Grammy-winning Klezmatics.
Version City Studio... In the early 90’s Django began building his castle by gathering studio equipment and a space; Version City solidified the crown. "Many of the same characters, I had been spending time with; Vic Ruggiero, Rocker T, Vic Rice, The Scofflaws" made records with Django as producer and engineer. Version City Studios has moved from its original creative but dank space to New Brunswick, NJ where Django spends a lot of time producing, recording and hosting dubplate sessions with JA’s best singers and DJ’s. The studio’s musical roots are Island-centric as evidenced in releases like Version City Rockers’ Darker Roots (Antifaz Records, Puerto Rico) which features veteran Jamaican artists such as Sugar Minott, Yabby You and the Prophets, Sister Nancy, Ranking Joe and Cedric Brooks. However, Django records and produces all genres in his new space.
King Django Band... is Django’s touring band. The King Django Band is the line-up supporting the album Roots Tonic and Django’s diverse repertoire. The core of the band includes; Drums: Gregg Mervine, a fixture in NY/NJ/Philly Klezmer and alternative scenes, Bass: Ira Heaps, owner of Jammyland records (reggae store and label), reggae expert, leader of Jammyland All-Stars who also lived in JA for 5 years, Guitar: Justin Rothberg, versatile pro NYC guitarist and guitar teacher, member of Jammyland All-Stars, Eastern Standard Time, King Django Band and Django’s Roots & Culture band, Keyboards: Jess DeBellis, young whippersnapper snatched from Long Island band Harold’s Trousers, spotted by Django at a Version City party with said band.
The King Django Band is often joined onstage by Vic Rice, Rocker T, Dr. Ring Ding, Vic Ruggiero (Slackers) with drums from Eddie Ocampo, Dave Sharma, Gabriel Moses (Israel Vibration) and more, guitars by Agent Jay (Skinnerbox/Slackers), Dave Hahn (Dub Is A Weapon) along with bassists, sax, trumpet and percussion- even from reggae greats Sugar Minott and Glen Brown (first producer to credit King Tubby).
These tour guests are also collectively known as Version City Rockers--studio musicians along the lines of The Skatalites in Studio One--the force behind the new album Roots Tonic (Jump Up). Django adds vocals, keyboards, percussion, melodica, harmonica, ukulele and trombone. "Roots Tonic harkens back to the positive, political reggae of the late 70’s / early 80’s spearheaded by legendary imprints Island, Frontline, Trojan, Heartbeat, On-U Sound and Greensleeves. That was a time when songwriting was key, conscious lyrics reigned supreme and reggae music was live and full of soul. "Dancehall" was in its infancy and still resembled reggae, unlike its mostly American hip-hop and R&B influences today."
Stubborn Records... Django’s label and web store, StubbornRecords.com, has over 600 products including CD’s and apparel. StubbornRecords.com is also the exclusive online distributor for The Slackers merchandise. Along with Stubborn artists, there are other worldwide artists, classic ska/reggae titles, Jamaican vinyl and 45’s (often one of a kind), and many of his Version City alumni.
"If you've spent more than a minute on the ska scene, you'll know that Django’s the original New York rudy...who kept the flame burning even when it was just a candle in the window." - Alternative Press
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