TAJ WEEKES & ADOWA

CSPS debut | Taj Weekes is an enigma … on the one hand deeply serious and intensely passionate about his worldview, and on the other hand a gentle and humble man with a quick and easy smile. Weekes has a chameleon-like talent for blending into his surroundings as he keenly observes the world spinning around him, but the moment he steps on stage, locks flowing, he becomes a different animal, his voice rising from a hoarse whisper to a throaty growl.

A sense of urgency underlies Weekes’ poignant poetry and lyrics as he appeals to both our intellects and hearts to take heed, to wake up before it’s too late. Born and raised on the island of St. Lucia, Weekes grew up the youngest of 10 children in a family where music was always present. By age five, Weekes was singing in church and by the age of nine, he and his brothers had formed a band, playing in local talent shows, the town hall or parish centers around the island.

Weekes would painstakingly write down the lyrics from songs he heard, often tinkering with the words in a song to make them his own creation. "From the time I started writing,” he says, “I did my own thing. I was always attracted to the lyrics in the songs and would listen to people like Lord Kitchener and the Mighty Sparrow. They were like town criers telling the stories of the day. Reggae is what you call the poor man’s cry.”

Weekes soon felt confined by the borders of St. Lucia and left home to fulfill his musical ambitions in North America. There formed the band Taj Weekes and Adowa and the multi-media company Jatta Entertainment. To date the band has released two full-length albums to critical acclaim, Hope & Doubt and Deidem.

Weekes was working on the songs for his second album when both his parents died in the course of one year. “I was wallowing in my grief,” Weekes explains, “and I wrote a song called ‘Clay Dust To Dust,’ which was incredibly depressing. But it was then that I realized that it’s not about me. Sure, I lost two people, but there are millions of people dying every day. So right then I scrapped all the songs I had and wrote 12 new ones. I wrote about the world instead of myself.”

Deidem (meaning “All Of Us”) is a meditation on confronting the fragmentation of the world and the search to give everyone a voice in it. He explains, “Whether it’s Darfur, the Middle East, global warming … there’s something going on in every part of the world and we’re trying to bring it all together on one album. No one is talking to each other; the album is designed to create conversation where people can come together.”

The band now looks forward to the imminent release of A Waterlogged Soul Kitchen, an acoustic album with several songs dedicated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Taj’s commitment to a better world is backed up by his non-profit organization, They Often Cry Outreach, dedicated to improving the lives of disadvantaged children around the world via music, soccer programs and more. In conjunction with LIFEbeat, TOCO is helping raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in Caribbean communities.

Even today Taj Weekes' music defies category: an amalgam of roots style reggae with a hint of Afro-folk, rock and jazz. Essentially he's a poet who sings to the rhythm of all that has come before and all that stretches out before him, from his own unique and complex perspective.

Thu Mar 18 | 8 pm
CSPS | 1103 Third St SE | Cedar Rapids
$11 + fee in advance | $15 door

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