HAPPENINGS:

** The Berklee College of Music Bob Marley Ensemble directed by Matt Jenson makes regular appearances at clubs and festivals regionally, nationally and internationally!
Please see the PERFORMANCES link for performance dates.
The group has performed at: The Montreal International Reggae Festival, The Vermont Reggae Festival, The Charlemont Reggae Festival, Bill's Bar, The Outerland Club (Martha's Vineyard), The Beachcomber (Cape Cod), The Stone Church (Newmarket, NH), The Berklee Performance Center, Roxbury Community College.

** We have a fantastic promotional DVD, YouTube on the class. Upon request one will be sent to you free of charge.

MARLEY CLASS MYSPACE PAGE!

** Check these two fantastic piece on the Marley class appearing on BOBMARLEY.COM! You must join Bobmarley.com to watch the video's (it's easy!).

**ALSO, Matt will be teaching the class on the island of Kauai, (Hawaii) March 19-22, 2008 at SteelGrass Studio This is gonna be one WICKED party as we'll be linking up with Roger Steffens for the final performance. More information TBA.

**Information on Matt's talk in Ghana, Africa for the Rita Marley Foundation. AND information about the the Rita Marley Foundation joining with Berklee to provide scholarships to Ghanian musicians!

Check out this interview with Matt on NHPR with Shea Zeller

Here is Rebel Music as performed by the Berklee Bob Marley ensemble 2/13/06 at the Berklee Performance Center for the Black History Month celebration. Matt dropped in and sung the lead on this one.Rebel Music

To many, the story of Bob Marley's life is one of a true modern day sage who remained committed to his vision of raising consciousness through music. His music is so powerful and expansive that it transcends the very idiom from which it came because it has the ability to communicate regardless of language, race, religion or nationalistic boundaries. In fact, Marley's album Exodus was selected by Time Magazine as being the best album of the twentieth century! The recordings and performances of Bob Marley and his band represent near perfection in terms of groove music and spirit-ful production. Rhythmic layering, one of the legacies of the African musical diaspora, is presented in such gritty precision that its study is imperative and a great joy to experience.

Aided by the viewing of rare video footage and audio examples, students learn about the evolution of Marley's career, and the socio-political circumstances from which his music and ideas arose. Students also learn the discipline of playing reggae music in a large ensemble where the emphasis is on working together as they layer specific rhythmic and melodic parts. The instructor has written meticulous arrangements taken directly from Marley recordings and include many additional horn parts, some subtle reharmonizations and some new introductions and endings.

Ultimately, students take from this class a deeper understanding of Marley's life, of how to play reggae music, a greater understanding of the inner workings of great pop song writing, and a notion to think seriously, through Marley's example, about what it is they are saying with their own musical talents.