Chezidek Walk With Jah

“Chezidek Judgement Time ” Album 2010

Rastaman and roots singer Chezidek (born Desbert Johnson, St Ann’s Bay, Jamaica, 1973) is a remarkable artist, not only because of his incomparable vocal delivery but also because he, unlike most of his Jamaican peers who seemingly record for every producer they meet and greet, carefully selects the people with whom he wants to work. His musical career so far has learned that he’s not the kind of artist who does one here and another one there and then puts them together to create an album. Since he started to create a buzz in the international reggae scene in 2002, he did full length albums for Xterminator producer Phillip ‘Fatis’ Burrell (“Harvest Time” and “Rising Sun”), Anthony Senior of Al.Ta.Fa.An (“Mash Dem Down”), Kemar ‘Flava’ McGregor (“Firm Up Yourself”), Massive B’s Bobby Konders (“Inna Di Road”) and more recently Sly & Robbie/Guillaume Bougard (“I Grade”).

Some seven months after we were treated to the well done and very satisfying “I Grade” set, there’s already a next Chezidek album hitting the streets. A quite unexpected release and also one we certainly didn’t expect to come out of the Netherlands. Produced by Kenneth Linger aka Benaïssa for the JahSolidRock label, which released Benaïssa’s Grammy-nominated album “Table’s Turn” towards the end of 2008, this “Judgement Time” album turns out to be a very, very pleasant surprise! After having spun this cd several times we can only draw one conclusion… this is one of Chezidek’s best albums yet.

Chezidek has an unusual albeit melodic vocal style, which simply doesn’t fit any kind of riddim. However, when he gets the proper riddims he’s able to make them his own and that’s exactly what he has done with the selected riddims for this collection. All the riddims laid by Feueralarm Band, Sharp Axe Band, and Not Easy At All Productions, are fresh originals and prove to be great as well as suitable backdrops for Chezidek’s vocal and lyrical delivery. Chezidek’s ground breaking single “Leave The Trees” is one of the finest herb tunes ever recorded. The album opener “Ganja Tree” turns out to be another great herb tune with lyrics that go beyond those that are often used in the avarage ganja piece.

Up next is the very strong “Live And Learn”, an outstanding effort which is underpinned by the wicked “One Blood” riddim from the Not Easy At All crew with on top the beautiful saxophone play of Hans van Schragen. More great saxophone play can be heard on “On The Move”, but in this case it’s the renown Dean Fraser who adds a magic flavor to the riddim. “On The Move” is a solid tune with lyrics that keep you involved till the very end. Next drops the impressive single “Walk With Jah” across the slow-paced bass driven “Collie Weed”, actually another worthwhile riddim from the Not Easy At All crew. And the deadly goods just keep on coming! “Chant Dem” is another strong piece with superb lyrics to listen to.The only song on this album that deals with matters of the heart, “In My Heart”, is underpinned by the same riddim that was utilized for Naptali & Luciano’s tune “Seven Miles”, featured on Naptali’s debut album “Long Journey”. So far Chezidek’s love songs haven’t been real good efforts, but this time he manages to come up with a wonderful tune.

“Jahsolidrock” sees producer Benaïssa, who is also a singer, joining Chezidek. It’s obvious that this song has to do with the label’s name and its slogan ‘Music From The Highest Region’, but when you listen to the lyrics it goes beyond that because the title has more meanings. A solid track which makes way for a strong last part of this set, starting off with the excellent “Burning Fire” which comes across a strong full sounding riddim. The mid-tempo “Uplift Yourself” is a matching piece. It’s followed by the dark sounding “Wartankers”, a great tune with strong lyrics driven by an excellent slow-paced riddim. The solid “Jah Love” rounds off an album that brings the listener eleven vocal tracks, six great “Versions” which simply extend the vocal tracks as you never notice where the vocal part ends and the version starts, and an artist with great potential. Strongly recommended!!

Tracks

Title
Artist
Label
Format
Date
Judgement Time
Chezidek
JahSolidRock / Heartbeat Europe
CD
April 13, 2010

Track list