Exclusive interview with JAYLARNO - No 1 Reggae selector

When it comes to Roots and Reggae music JAYLARNO is definitely my number 1 choice. He has a remarkable record collection and plays old school 60's, 70's and 80's  Roots and Reggae tunes twice a week on ROOTS LAB INTERNATIONAL, the coolest Roots and Reggae webradio on the internet, with live dj's 7 days a week.
I just had the pleasure to interview him in exclusive for my blog. Enjoy!

JAYLARNO, YOUR MUSICAL TEACHER



Jaylarno Elandoworth, Roots and Reggae Selector

1)  Tell us something about your background, how you got into Reggae music and how you started your career as a selector.

My parents came from Jamaica in the early 60's and met in London. I have an older brother in the UK plus older half brothers & sisters scattered in America and the Caribbean.

I grew up with music always playing in the household during the 70's via my Dad's record collection, eg Rhythm & Blues, Ska, Rocksteady & Reggae, Calypso & Rock & Roll. My Dad did the accounts for the Tavistock Youth Club in Harlesden where all the soundsystems played during the weekends. In 1978 my parents took us to the Notting Hill Carnival where we heard soundsystems on the streets plus watching clips of Bob Marley concerts on TV and listening to David Rodigan & Tony Williams on the radio every weekend from 1979 onwards helped shape my idea of how Reggae music should sound and feel like.

At age 10 a soundsystem played at my local Church hall where my dad watched me skanking in my good suit. I also went to Tavistock and other local youth clubs listening to other soundsystems and local park events where soundsystems played. By the age of 13, I was going to The Colosseum Club on Sundays & the Roxy Theatre in Harlesden listening to different sounds and by that time, I was educated in the various soundsystems and Dub Plates plus I was a good dancer.
Also at that time I had a nice record collection and I stated getting hold of Dub Plates (Black Uhuru).Fast forward to age 18 in 1988, I started my own sound system Love Attraction, then it became Lovers Attraction which went on until 1992. We had a lot of Dub Plates from King Jammy's studio. I've already had a collection of Dub Plates mixed at King Tubby's, Joe Gibbs & Channel One studio's. We played in many Halls, Blues dances, House Parties & Christenings and we had a large female following.


2)  What was it like growing up in London as a person of Jamaican descent? What were the biggest challenges?

Funnily enough, there were no challenges per-se because the vast majority of people from my area and pupils from my nursery school, primary and secondary schools had the same Jamaican and West Indian parentage. My area was predominantly Black and Irish and we got along.

 

 

3)   What differences  do you  see between the Roots/ Reggae scene  in the 80’s and now? What’s the scene like in London these days?

The Roots Reggae scene in the UK during the 80s was mainly Shaka really. You had a few other sounds like Channel One, Jah Tubby's, Jah Revelation Music & others but Shaka had the bigger impact due to the type of Roots tunes & Dubs he played plus the way he presented it. All the rest of the big soundsystems from the 1981 - 82 had switched over to the dancehall style that was running Jamaica.
So Shaka dances back in the early 80's before computer rhythms started to run the scene in 1986 onwards were totally different to what you see in nowadays 'Roots' scene.
Those sessions back then had 99% Black(dreadlocks Rasta & 'baldhead') revellers skanking (70's Reggae dancing style) to good authentic Dub. The sound systems had valve amps and the musicians that made the music and engineers  that recorded and mixed the records and Dub Plates were very good at their profession. Plus each studio that made the tunes had their own sound and feel. Also the soundsystems selectors and MCs were also very good at their craft and each soundsystem had their own individual style. Eg. Coxsone, Shaka, Fatman, Unity, Saxon, Java, Young Lion, Volcano, Sovereign & V Rocket etc, had their own style of playing and presentation.




Jaylarno with dub veterans Original Dubman and Tony Benjamin

Now going back the the early 80's Shaka dances. When he played a hard Dub Plate that was mixed at King Tubby's, the effect, ambience and feel took you to another place. The intro of the Dubs will grab your attention and you knew the tune was going to be good. The tunes themselves had melody, definition, direction, personality, feel and 'told a story' which induced you to skank and even determined the skank you did.
Sometimes a particular instrument of the tune 'grabbed you' and you based your skank off that eg the bass line, rhythm guitar, snare drum, hi hat or bongo drums etc.
Plus the dancing was very creative with all types of fancy footwork, Kung Fu style acrobatics or you based your skank of something identifiable to the ravers plus the dancing itself told a story. That whole package is what created that magical feel. I myself went to a few of those sessions and danced plus when I left to go home, certain tunes would stick in my head, sometime lingering there for a couple of weeks.

ORIGINAL EARLY 80'S FOOTAGE FROM A JAH SHAKA DANCE

 

 

This is so unlike today in the new UK roots scene where anyone with absolutely no musical discipline can purchase or download a music program and claim that they're making Dub. The standard has dropped severely in Roots music production so bad that it no longer sounds like Roots. The majority of what these guys are passing off as 'roots music' today sounds cold, rigid and monotonous and very thin. There's not much melody, direction, personality, feel or storyline in the rhythms. Plus none of these guys are mixing like the old time style or the 70s or 80s. Most of the 'one drop' rhythms they're trying to make sounds a bit dull. On the other hand, the majority of the fast style or (warrior style) tunes they making are sounding more & more like Techno or Speed Garage which has absolutely nothing to do with Rastafari message whatsoever. I can hardly dance to these new tunes and if I do, its limited to a few moves of my feet coz those tunes doesn't have the vibe to make me want to 'shock out'. This is because the lead instrument in a lot of these new UK Roots productions since year 2000 is the footdrum tempo:- 'boom', 'boom', 'boom,' 'boom', 'boom. That is what the new young 70% White & multi racial crowd, especially university students are dancing off from, that footdrum tempo. This is because that's the main instrument in those productions that gets the people dancing. Unlike the golden years of the 70s & 80s when the crowd would dance to the 'STORY' of the rhythm track.

Nowadays when I leave a 'roots session' where the soundsystems are playing new tunes, I may nod my head and and move my feet on the dancefloor but by the time I walked out of the club, I would have forgotten every tune I've heard. None of those new tunes lingers in my head. These new roots productions sound very similar to each other.

 

4) Is there any particular artist or sound system that influenced you?

I’ve heard all the big sounds during the 80's but the soundsystems that influenced me are Sir Coxsone, Shaka, Java and a Jamaican soundsystem called Black Star.
My favourite 80's artist and who I think represented Jamaican Reggae very well during that 80's era was Frankie Paul. He sang in every style and could sing on every riddim. Roots, Lovers & Dancehall, he was good in all.



5) If you could pick 5 albums to represent Jamaican Reggae in the world, what would they be?

The albums I've chosen have the vast majority of tracks very good and playable in a dance or radio as opposed to picking albums with just one or two good tracks.
So my picks are:

 

1. Smile Like An Angel – Dennis Brown

 

 

 

 

2. Sings For You And I – Horace Andy

 

 3. Big Big Man - Trinity

 

 

 

 4. Stormy Night - Wailing Souls

 

 

 

5. Lets Go Dancing – Gregory Isaacs
 

 

 

 

 

6) Do you consider yourself a Rasta?
 

Yes

 

7) How did you get to work on Roots Lab? Tell us something about your show

 

It was in July 2012, I was a DJ on Genesis Radio and on my way home from that radio station after a short meeting. As I was walking towards another train station, I bumped into my friend Ras Terry Gad. He was with Ras Benji, Luca Bat & Bunnington Judah who was already a DJ on Rootslab and who told me the radio station was looking new Roots DJs. I got the phone number and joined them 2 days later. My first show on Rootslab was on Friday 27^th July 2012.

 

 

 My JAYLARNO Reggae Show on Roots Lab is known for specializing in strictly late 60's – 70's & 80's Reggae music. Plus I'm known for my vast collection of Dub Plates which are raw 'stripped down' mixed from the studio multitrack tape and unreleased tunes of that era (Pre release promotional cuts for the soundsystems).
My show is broadcasted from my home every Tuesday 4-7pm (UK time) where I start off playing the toughest 80's Dancehall for the the first 2hrs between 4-6pm. Then the last hour of my show from 6-7pm I play Revival, Rocksteady, Lovers Rock.The last 15mins of that show I play Dub Plates of that genre.
I'm also on Friday 3-6pm (UK time) playing strictly 70's & 80's roots music & Dub Plates in the last 15 mins of that show also.


As a person who was there in the Dancehalls and witnessed ALL the Top UK soundsystems during the 80s, plus knew all the tunes that were around at the time, when you listen to my shows, I give you a taste of how the dances were & felt like back in those good old days. Plus you can find my reggae show recordings which are regularly updated on this link:

http://www.talawa.fr/search/jaylarno

 

8) You are vegan.  Why this choice? What benefits do you see in this life style? Where do you shop your vegan products? Do you have any favourite dishes?

In late 2009, I bumped into my nutritionist friend Patrick Montegue on the train and he explained a lot to me about the toxic ingredients and additives that are loaded in commercial foods, confectioneries & soft drinks also explained why he was a raw vegan. At the time, the only meat and animal product that I was eating was fish and eggs, plus I didn't eat confectionery sweets or biscuits, so it was quite easy for me to change over to vegan. My girlfriend at the time was living in Kentish Town and she lived near three nutritional and organic fruits and veg stores so it was easy to get what we wanted. So over a period of one year, I slowly changed over to vegan but she stayed eating meat but buys organic fed meats and organic ice creams etc.
The benefits that I get being a vegan is that I can stay up for longer hours without getting tired. I don't get sick, ill or anything like that. My tummy doesn't hurt after a big meal, unlike meat based dinners. I can eat just one or two meals a day without having to run to the shop to get a snack. Plus vegan foods fills me up with energy.
I get my vegan productions from Wholefoods, Bumblebee, Neal's Yard.
I wouldn't say I have any particular favourite dishes but quinoa with mixed veg is quite nice.

 

9) Describe JAYLARNO in three words

Charismatic, Teacher & Perfectionist


10) What can we expect from Jaylarno in the near future?

Fantastic and brilliant mind-blowing productions of all Reggae genres especially Roots Reggae & Dub that sound and are mixed in the traditional and correct manner with melody, definition, direction, personality, feel and tells a story.




Berris Bassa, Errol Bellot, Jaylarno, Mister Bassie and Wolfman

Jaylarno with Man Fi Bill of Moa Ambassa

 

You could also catch myself JAYLARNO live alongside MOA AMBASSA at the Heritage Inn:- 301 Cricklewood Broadway, Cricklewoodm London NW2 6PG. Wed 13th March & EVERY WEDNESDAY thereafter From 7pm – 1am.

Strictly 70's & 80's Roots & Revival Reggae. FREE ENTRY

(Click the link below and click JOIN)

https://www.facebook.com/events/591865050830397/

 

I'll also be playing at the One Love festival on the 16-18th August 2013 from the Roots section as one of the DJs in the line up.

 

Click on the photo to get your ticket!

 

 

You can also join JAYLARNO on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/jaylarno