Dateline: 05/07/02 Venue: Brixton Recreational Centre

The lioness was ill, Blood was flying off to do a gig with Max Romeo. I had to be somewhere for 2 am and Samari was uncontactable; so the stall was not run at this session.
But it was nice to see Rowena's brother Julian running the Isis arts and crafts stall in full effect.

Aba and Sweet T had set up the sound by themselves and were in the final phase of stringing up when I arrived.
Jah Youth was bringing his set in when I asked Aba about King Earthquake, like where was he as the time was 21:30 and the doors were at 22:00.
Aba explain that he was having transport problems but he would be here.
Anyway about 15 minutes after that Errol and his set arrived.

All sets were ready to test by 22:20 which is good going for the late comers.

Aba tested first and then handed over to Jah Youth.I watched in disbelief as some of the wires into Jah Youth's pre-amp started to smoke and then catch fire. I looked over to my left to Jah Youth's boxes by the entrance and saw the mids glow red and then emit smoke. Serious electrical fault of the short circuit kind. But Jah Youth's crew dealt with the problem with the minium of fuss and handed over to King Earthquake while they remedied the fault.

I have heard King Earthquake once before at Club Cabana in Bedford and they had a few technical problems,but they played alright. But tonight they sounded like they had fixed the problems and they came with a pulsating bass tone.

Jah Youth once his problems were sorted, came as always with a well rounded nicely defined, mellow sound. His sound always reminds me of back in the day (way back in the day),when Neville The Musical Enchanter was playing, and that definition of tone was his trademark. What you don't know who Neville The Musical Enchanter was? Well you have not been associated with sound systems as long as you would like to think.

The night's musical selection by all sounds was tip top and I enjoyed it right up until I left at 02:30, making me an hour and a half late for my appointment. But the vibes was so nice I just had to stay a bit longer then I had planned to enjoy it.

Raspects going out to: Jah Youth / King Earthquake / Rootical & The Iration Cru / William / Sister Aisha / Jonah Dan / Russ Disciples / Dj Stryder / June / Jackie / Jagu / Julian / Digi / Punk / Darren / Hezron / Napthali / Sister Millie & Cru / Marshall / Charles / Barry / Andrew, and all who came and made the vibe; One Love.

Just to see if anybody actually reads what I write, here is a little competition.The prize will be a promo copy of Blood's new album on cd. Well here is the competition:

Neville The Musical Enchanter / Duke Reid / Sir Coxsone / Duke Lee / Sir Biggs / Sir Fanso / Count Suckle / Count Shelly / The Mighty Trojans / The Musical Doctor / King Alpha / Jah Shaka / Freddies Musical Cloudburst / King David / Jah Revelation Music / Mafia Tone / Quakercity / Duke Alloy / Jungleman / Sir Christopher / Morpheus / Count Alan / Duke Vin / Count Sam / Chicken The Thunderstorm / Java Hifi / V Rocket / Sir Yank / Suffer HiFi / Soferno B / D'unes / Sir Tropical / Frontline / Small Axe / Redman / Jah Tubby's / Fatman / King Arthur / Saint Michael / Jah Observer / Juggernaut / U Gedit Dread / The Boss Sound / Sir Dees............

Were all UK based sound systems back in the day or were they??
Which ones are not real names of sound systems?
Just email me with the ones you think are bogus made up names and the person that gets the most correct answers will get the cd; simple or is it?

Humblelion@falasha-recordings.co.uk

RULES:Only One entry per person. Multiple emails will result in the offender's entry being binned.

Aba, Blood & Samari would like to thank all those connected with the recent tour of Italy and to all the people that came to the dances and rock the place. Keep strong Nadine & King David Warriors, Alessandro & Cru and to all in Italy. Photos soon.

What a wicked vibe was generated by the Brighton & travelling masses.It was a pleasure to witness the joy that was in the place.

I have said it before, but I will state it again. Aba seems to able to tap into the female of the species as they just lock into the vibe from the very first beat,.Where as the males are more reserved and take a bit longer to 'Free Up Themselves'.

But yet again at the Concorde II, the females were dropping moves that a Masai warrior would have been proud to call his own. So much so that I just held my little space by the stall and observed.

We had sited the stall just inside the entrance to the hall; and I watched as the men came in and went straight to the bar as the women rushed straight into the middle of the throng and started dancing.

Tunes that stuck out for me that night and moved the crowd a way....Jah Watching Over Me, One In A Billion, Without H.I.M, and some serious dubplate pressure from tunes that just had a number scratched on them. No title!

What a vibe was generated by the assembled.
Raspects going out to people in the place..Jon & John (Roots Garden), Sister Millie & June, Prince Malachi, Dave Shashamani & The Dubwise Cru, Bredrins Mark, Darren & Hazron, Sister Carol & Cru, University Of Dub Cru, Stepoff & Cru, Simone (What back again?), Diamond and to all the patrons.....One Love.

The start of the May bank holiday brought people out in their droves, and Brixton Rec was jumping.

We have taken to setting the stall up at the front of the hall because when it was at the back and you had a call of nature, it was a long struggle to get through the crowd. It also means the people see us as they enter the hall.

The dance and vibe was nice.

Iration played a nice selection. Tribulation ran some serious Sister Aisha dubplates and Aba cut through with a varied selection.
The crowd appreciated the music and danced liked it was the end of times. The vibe just grew and grew.
Brixton Rec as got a serious vibe running and every time we play 'The Rec' we see more new faces in the place.
Raspects going out to: Mark, Rootical & The Iration Cru / Ras Natural / William / Sister Aisha / Jonah Dan / Paul Fox / Dj Stryder / June / Jackie / Jagu / King Earthquake / Julian / Digi / Punk / Darren / Ezra / Naphtali / Sister Millie & Cru / Marshall / Charles / Oliver (From France) / and all who came and made the vibe; One Love.

PS: See you all at the next Brixton Rec 5th July 2002 Featuring Aba, Jah Youth and from Handsworth, King EarthQuake. If you didn't get in, come earlier next time.

Yes people Blood Shanti and myself made the journey to Bedford to check out King Earthquake (on the left hand side). I had never heard of the sound before and I used to rave in Birmingham a lot. The major sound in Birmingham / The Midlands as far as I knew was after the demise of Quaker-City was Mafia-Tone,
(acknowledgement due to: Sir Christopher, Redman International, Luv Injection, Studio Classic, Kebra Negus, V Rocket, King Alpha, King David, Sir Arthur, Jungleman, Duke Alloy.)

So it was a surprise to see in the bottom right hand corner of King Earthquake's banner : 'Est 1978'

Anyway that aside, King Earthquake is a good sound. He played some positive tunes and dropped a weighty B-line. None more so than the tribute dub plate to all the other roots sounds that have been soldiering on, keeping the vibe alive.

Mark Iration / Rootical and the Steppas posse, Julian Fairshare Unity, DJ Stryder, Marcus The Conquerer, Massigon, Robert Tribulation, DJ Crucial Vibes, Conscious Statement, plus many other sound man were in the place checking out King Earthquake and they all cheered when that tune dropped.

Raspect is due to King Earthquake for that tune.Wicked lick.

The dance was nice and the vibe was crisp. King Earthquake did himself justice and apart from the slight hum problem, is going to cause certain sound systems problems when they meet up with him.

Forward on King Earthquake. I for one hope that in coming from Handsworth in Birmingham you can rekindle the roots fire not only in Birmingham but in the whole of the Midlands and inspire more people to take up the roots message and dash wey the wickedness.

Another messenger has declared his intentions.

One Love, The Humble Lion

The Lioness and I arrived about 2105 and all the sets were in the hall finishing off stringing up. Iration & Channel One were the strung up before us, but as with all best laid plans we had a slight technical hitch. One of 'King Of The Amp Builders' Charle's new amps just hummed very loudly when plugged in; and as fate would have it he had used an odd size of Allen bolt to secure the casing and neither ourselves, Iration or Channel One had a key that would fit them. So the removal of them required more brute force than finesse. So while Iration and Channel One ran test tunes, Charles had his hand deep into his latest creation trying to find out what the problem was.

He had it sussed in a very short time. I am not about to relay what the problem was, suffice to say it was remedied and we were able to test our set.

The gate open on time and people just flooded in. It was like a swarm of locusts.
We heard from bredrins that were queuing up outside for over an hour to get in that the queue was long, very long and that when they got in they realised that the place was already jammed.

Channel played some nice music with a good tone. Iration ran some good melodies with an even better tone. But bwoy let me tell you, Aba dropped some bass in de place that was unbelievable.
Even the teeth in my head were rattling such was the power of the sound wave; and I was not even in the centre of the dance, having set up the stall at the back of the hall. Total sonic shock!!!

If the 'Thought Police' ever require a 'Sonic Sound Wave Crowd Control Weapon' they need look no further.Trust me.

The night's session was dedicated to Sister Rowena and all sounds played their part in remembrance of Sister Rowena.

Raspects go out to all the people in the place including: Steflion & Marie, King Charles, Andy, Neil / Billy and the King Shiloh Cru from Holland, Iration / Rootical / Natural and the Steppas Cru. Mikey / Simba / Terry and the Channel One Cru, Tim & Heidi (Longtime Bredrins), University of Dub Cru, Gideon, Trevor, and all the international travelling Cru's. See you all at the next Brixton Rec 1st March 2002 Featuring Aba, Tubb's and from Holland, King Shiloh. If you didn't get in, come earlier next time.

The church was not big enough to hold the assembled; such was the respect and esteem that Sister Row commanded.

The actual laying to rest at the cemetery was a moving sight and I saw many a big man shed a tear as the Nyah Bingi drums laid down the groundation and the assembled sang.

As the coffin was lowered into the grave, the sun broke through the clouds and illuminated the area.

Sister Row's eldest daughter said to me that her mum would have been honoured to see such a beautiful ceremony conducted in her name and to see the love that people had for her mum made her feel so proud.

After the burial we all went back to the 'York Way Community Centre' for refreshments and the continuation of the day.

Aba had brought his sound and had set it up upstairs.Both Jah Youth and Mikey from Channal One were going to play tunes on Aba's set.

The floor was open for people to step up to the mic and to say a few words. People came and read poetry they had written especially for Sister Row. They came and gave accounts of how they had come to know and love Sister Row. Time after time the same sentiments were expressed.

People who had been tutored by Sister Row 20 years ago and who still soughted out Sister Row's advise and guidance right up until the day that she unexpectedly passed away, came forward and expressed their heartfelt feelings.

For me Jah Youth summed it up when he said:

"The good are taken early by the Father so that they can assist in preparing the way for the not so good."

Aba & Jah Youth plan to hold an annual event in honour of Sister Row. More details as they become available.

Just a few words from myself on Sister Row.

6 years ago when we at Falasha first ran our stall it was at 'The African Centre' Ashwin St. Dalston. at a dance between Aba and Jah Youth.

We only had a very small amount of titles ie Teardown, Zulu Warrior,Children Of The Most High as single releases and Wrath Of Jah and Pure Spirit as album releases.
But I had printed out images of our logo and we used these and empty album sleeves as a backdrop.
Samari went over to Sister Row's stall and she let us have a selection of flags (which we still use today) to help dress the table.
When we had finished setting up, Sister Row came over and nodded her head and smiled and said:

"For people who haven't got a lot of items to sell your stall looks full. Yeah man it looks wicked."

For me that was an expression of herself, she always wanted to see her fellow man succeed and to make the best of what they had.

6 years later at Brixton Rec 19/10/01 we had a table for our released material and one especially for the live session cds. Sister Row came over from her stall took one look at all the cd's laid out, smiled and walked back to her stall nodding her head in appreciation.

People with that goodness in their heart will never be forgotten.

The Humble Lion

'Rest in the arms of Jah, Sister Row; and may your radiant smile be added to his light to forever shine down on his creations.'

One Love From
The Humble Lion, Aba Shanti-I, Blood Shanti, Samari, The Lioness & Lion cubs and all at Falasha.

We were so early turning up at the venue that the promoter Skelly had to be call at home to let him know that we had arrived and were setting up. Boy was he surprised!

We were set up and playing well ahead of the agreed time and soon the patrons were coming in. A trickle at first, then a flood.

The Lioness was manning (womaning) the record stall as I wandered around the dance hall checking the overall sound. The 'University Of Dub Crew'; Darren, Ezra and Naphtali had taken up their usual positions in front of the crowd and were vibing out.

The dance progressed quite nicely as I circled around and greeted long time bredrins in the place.

In my wanderings I saw a couple on the floor in front of the rear stack just waiting for the B-Line to drop, and when it did screaming out as the vibration bounced them along the dance floor.

That is one way of getting the overall body vibe!!!!!!!

I saw the woman who had brought the last 'Geneva' t-shirt the night before at Brighton, in front of the left hand stack proudly wearing the t-shirt and vibing out. She looked over to me and smiled and I nodded back. Another happy customer.

In all the vibe was crucial and everybody had a good time.

Raspects to the bredrins: Skelly, DJ Stryder, Kama, Addis, Uncle Festa & Gayle, Digi Step, Sister Millie and Cru, Chris, Colin, Jess, Alan, Chicken George (a very long time), Angel, Dan, and to all present.........One Love.

We arrived later than intended and the promoters were in a state of, how can put this, oh yes; stress.

Humble apologies to Jon who had waited for us delaying his evening out with his girlfriend for her birthday. To them both and to all the patrons and staff of the Concorde II...............sorry.

We loaded in the set and strung up in double quick time and were playing 45 minutes later than advertised.

The session swung along and as I observed I noticed a similar pattern that happens at all Aba sessions. The female of the species were down long before the males.

One female in particular was quietly rocking away to the music while her boy friend (space left intentionally as I don't know if they were an item) seem to lose interest.They left the middle of throng and came and stood opposite our record stall. He motioned to her that he was leaving and they both walked out of the door separating the bar from the hall. About a minute later she can back by herself went straight to the front of the crowd, directly in line with Aba and started skanking like a veteran. Dropping steps that any warrior would have been proud to call their own.Tribal moves in full effect. She stayed until the very end of the session, chopping like her life depended on it. Raspect in the fullness Daughter of Zion, whoever you are. I love to see dem vibes.
If you are wondering if she was darker than blue, what difference that makes I don't know; the answer just for the inquisitive is NO!
She heard the music and felt the vibe. If she is reading this then she will know it is about her (Photo Soon)

The Lioness made one patron ecstatic when she agreed to sell the last 'Geneva' t-shirt to her. She as been trying for the last year to acquire one. I know because at every Brixton session she has asked if we had any left and the answer was "we only have one left and it is not for sale. It is for display only". Her face lit up when Val said that she could buy it. We like to bring joy into people's lives if we can.

This session had a different set of patrons from the last two session, a lot of unfamilar faces.So a whole set of new people have experienced the 'Vibe'.

Raspects going out to Ollie & Erica (Omniculture, using music as to bring people together), Jon & Jon ( Roots Garden), Sister Millie and crew, Simone, Omar, Gary, Bubblebrain (surprised that I knew his musical collaborator, Shankti), Bobs, Kevin, Satta, and to all present..........The Humble Lion

We arrived at Brixton at 1900. We were a little behind schedule due to the fact that Aba was stuck in traffic over Deptford way.
When we arrived 'Iration Steppas' were already set up and testing tune. I went and greeted the 'Iration' crew
Aba, The Japanese Warrior and myself loaded in the sound and started to string up we were nearly finished when Blood arrived, after having had a torrid time after being stopped and searched by the police as he was driving to Brixton.

There was I thinking that the 'Suss Law' had been scrapped ?

Anyway the set was strung up and we were ready to 'test' it. The Lioness and I then proceeded to set up the record stall.
We were halfway through this when Tubb's and crew arrived and started wheeling in their set.

It was still an hour before doors so for the first time everyone was early.

The session got underway at the time advertised and soon as always with 'University Of Dub', the place was rocking.

Iration sounded nice and so did Tubb's. Wicked B-Lines tearing down the place. Certain people had to leave the stall to go and take in the vibe, it was that crucial.

My thanks again to Andrew for watching the stall as I did so.

In all if was another wicked session. If you were not here then you missed a vibe.

Bredrin Andy from Manchester came down to Brixton to pick up his order of live session cd's.
Uncle Festa came and chatted and so did Prince Malachi. Otis, drummer for the 'Ras-Ites' came over etc, etc ,etc. Nuff bredrins inna de place passed through to chat and to catch up on the runnings.

Raspect to them and to all the patrons, that as usual made the vibe.

One Love

P.S. The next Brixton session is on 1st Feb 2002 and features Aba, Iration and Channel One.

Aba played a one an a half hour set as part of 'Hustlin', a club night held at Madame Jo Jo's every wednesday.

We arrived at 2100 to do a little sound check. The club doesn't kick off until 2200.

As we were about to enter the club who should I see walking towards us but a long time bredrin, Bobby. I haven't seen Bobby Marshall in a good few years. We chatted for a while and exchanged numbers. We then went into the club as Bobby made his way home.I hope he remembered to say hello to Lisa for me.

As Aba and the sound tech set up the equipment we had brought to use, Paris (The Promoter), Mark, Marissa and I engage in conversation.

The club opened its doors on time and the patrons started to come in.

Soon the club had a little vibe running, as the dee jays started to do their sets.
At 2345 Paris came to me and said would Aba go on in 10 minutes. Up until now the mood of the club had been on a mellow chill out vibe; but all that was about to change!

Aba started his set by inviting everyone in the club to come down onto the dance floor and free up themselves. After tentively waiting, just nodding their heads for about 2 minutes into the first track, by ones and twos they got up from the tables and ventured onto the dance floor and then proceeded to 'Free themselves up'. As always it was the females of the species that led the way.

Soon the place jumping, even the promoter's father (Steve) was on the dance floor. (photo soon)

The people were happy. The promoter's happy, The promoter's father, happy. We were happy and the place is rocking. As one patron (who was also a promoter) said to me, "He is good"!

Raspects to the promoter, Paris (it was her birthday) and her father Steve. Markus, Marisa (interesting conversation) and to all the patrons, wicked vibe.

Just an observation:
When people heard we were playing 'Madam Jo Jo's' we starting being asked if we knew not only where the club was located, but also of it's regular clientele; and this was from supposively liberal, peace and love, respect for all living things, people.
Not only from the Diasopia, but from across the board.
To those people (NO DISRESPECT INTENDED) but I know that they read this page:
....."In my father's house there are many mansions".
....."There are those amongst my creations that are not like you"....Jah Bible from creation.

You either believe in 'Tolerance, Peace, Love & Understanding for All' or you don't.

"Aba Shanti -I, Tearing down the walls of oppression through musical expression".....Humble Lion '01

Nuff Said!

The Humble Lion.

The session at 'University of Dub' featured Aba Shanti in session by himself.

We were set up and playing by doors open and people started filtering in.The weather outside was appalling and I must admit,what with the weather and Shaka playing at the 'Rocket' I was not expecting a large turnout.But I was wrong.

I was watching the clock and at midnight I turned to blood and voiced my concerns. Blood was sitting right in the corner of the hall not far from the stall. He looked at me,smirked and nodded in the direction of the dancefloor. I turned to see what he was indicating and if by divine intervention there were groups of 8-10 people all entering the hall and in a very little time the place was packing out.

Soon the place was (as always) rocking. People justing freeing up themselves and feeling no way.

The vibe was being generated rather nicely, and to see this continuity being appreciated by the assembled was very gratifying.

Certain tunes made the crowd rock as one;Prince Malachi tune, Blood Shanti's tunes, I & I Oneness tunes. "It's good to see people getting in to dem tunes deh".

Bredrins Mark Iration / Rootical / Ras Natural ( I&I Oneness) dropped by the stall to say "Hi"; others throughtout the night also passed through.

This was the first dance we have sold live session cds of Aba Shanti-I.
At the last Brixton Rec I tested public reaction with a limited run.
This time I came with 14 sessions from around the world on red, gold and green cd's; all with their own full colour artwork. I could see that people were impressed. They sold very well.

Four different people at various times made their selection then left the dance to go to the cash point and returned to purchase their selection. Nuff people thought they were new albums!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway time for me to hail up all those who came to this session and have supported Aba Shanti-I and 'University Of Dub' over the years. Raspect to one and all. You know who you are.

Special Thanks go out to Andrew for assisting on the stall when he could see that the Lioness was under pressure.

See you all on the 23rd November 2001 for the next Brixton session.

The cost is £7 per cd or £18 for the full set plus P&P

As I master the sessions expect: Live in Japan 2000 / Live in Japan 2001 / Live in France (Various)

Live In Italy / Live In Holland / Live @ Carnival 2001 / Live in Israel 2001 Plus so much more.

Email me for further details: Humblelion@falasha-recordings.co.uk

One Love The Humble Lion

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