I received a small Faculty Development Grant this year from Berklee! The actual title of the grant is:
An Experiential Research Trip to Study Bob Marley, Reggae and Jamaican Artistic Culture
...and brief description:
This is a three-week trip to the Island of Jamaica to conduct both academic and anthropological research on the
life of Bob Marley, reggae music and Jamaican artistic culture. The trip serves two purposes: 1) to help
bolster my musical goal which is to make a meaningful contribution to the reggae idiom, and to increase my
visibility, legitimacy and connections in this particular field 2) to aid in deepening my research and
understanding of Bob Marley and reggae music so as to enhance the class that I currently offer at Berklee
entitled, "The Music and Life of Bob Marley." While on the island I will be doing scholarly research at
the University of West Indies with various Marley and reggae scholars and meeting with my professional
contacts who were directly involved with Marley during his life time. Also, I will be meeting, interviewing
and playing with various musicians, producers and "folk" persons, as well as attending performances, which
will constitute the anthropological research aspect of the trip.
What an incredible trip! I took interviews with Judy Mowatt, Neville Garrick, Neville Willoughby,
Sharon Marley, Skill Cole, Dr. Michael Witter, Dr. Matthew Smith, Roy Sweetland, Dwight Pinckew, David Madden,
Elise Kelly, Carolyn Cooper, Anthony B, Sparrow Martin and met many more.
Also made a nice connection with Chinna Smith....jamming into the night time hours with him! I returned from the trip
feeling so much more connected to Marley, to Jamaica, to the understanding of the music.
I will be posting some of the nearly 400 picures I took, a sound byte or two of my interviews and evolving thoughts about the trip.
In the mean time, check these links:
This is an article that appeared about my trip in the JA Observer
Berklee Faculty Newsletter Article My official thoughts on the trip to the Berklee community.
