Daily Reggae Album Review: Easy Star Presents: JonQuan & Associates

Photo courtesy of Easy Star Records.

Often there is a certain feel in the music made by a musician with years of experience writing, jamming, and most importantly playing on stage in front of audiences. The groove is precise without losing feel, the songs are familiar with just the right amount of innovation, and the vibes are right. Enter JonQuan, a touring musician, DJ, songwriter, and keyboardist who is releasing his first solo project on Easy Star Records. After playing for years as the frontman for Buddha Council and touring with various bands, JonQuan decided to begin making his own music during the downtime of the pandemic. He says, "[I] was inspired over the pandemic to create my own original riddims to cure the boredom and woes of being off stage and locked down...This is my first project where I produced the riddims myself. I wanted to leave the door open for the players of all other instruments for maximum creative input, but within certain parameters. I personally chose who I wanted to play what instrument on what song. I’m most accustomed to live writing with a band while feeling for a groove." Out of this came amazing instrumental tracks, which were then followed by JonQuan finding amazing vocalists and artists to feature on the songs. With this in mind, the project took on the apt name "Easy Star Presents: JonQuan & Associates''. Working closely with two-time Grammy winner Victor Rice of Easy Star All-Stars, the album JonQuan has created is fantastic and is a wonderful sign of his career as a solo artist to come!

Head over to the Daily Reggae Album Reviews page to read Chris Lawrie’s full review!

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