the hum / By Bob Doran

Universal

Reggae from Germany with Gentleman, and more reggae, and still more

(Feb. 21, 2008)  His name is Tilmann Otto, but he’s best known as Gentleman , the No. 1 reggae performer in Germany. He was born and raised in Cologne, the cultural center of the Rhineland — not exactly a place that comes to mind in connection with reggae.

“There’s a big scene there,” says Gentleman, who is in California for a series of reggae festivals. “There’s a lot of things happening there, a lot of big festivals. Summer Jam, for example, is one of the biggest festivals in Europe. That is in Cologne. We have 40,000 or 50,000 people going there every year. We have a lot of sound systems, a lot of radio stations playing reggae music. The music is really established. It’s not as huge as R&B; it still takes place in the underground.”

Gentleman. Submitted photo.

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So, Gentleman grew up listening to reggae — “especially roots reggae music,” he said. “I found so much truth in the lyrical content, so much wisdom. It’s a universal message, a message people from all over the globe can identify with. And there’s so much energy with the combination of drum and bass — you know, the one-drop — which is so powerful. Artists like Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, Garnett Silk, Bob Marley — they inspired me over the years.

“The music taught me a lot. It’s beyond entertainment. Of course, the music has to move you, you need a melody, but beyond the melody and the rhythm there’s a deep message. It’s a message of being aware, aware of what the system gave us, what our parents taught us, what the priests taught us. You question it and filter it and see if it’s really yours.

The cover of his new album, Another Intensity, shows him all in white. Is the fact that he’s a white European singing music from a black culture ever a problem? “Not for me,” he says. “I don’t think in those terms. I never did. That has nothing to do with my inner soul. A lot of people in Jamaica know my songs … they sing along with my songs on the radio. They don’t know who’s singing, and it doesn’t matter. The music don’t have no color, it don’t have no borderlines, it don’t have no limits. It’s a universal thing. That’s my aim, to be universal.”

Gentleman and the Far East Band (from East Germany, not Asia) are working their way up the West Coast this week playing festivals associated with the anniversary of the birth of Bob Marley. Originally Sunday’s February Reggae Fest in Arcata was supposed to feature African reggae star Alpha Blondy, also a headliner at the Raggamuffins festivals in San Francisco and Long Beach. However, Alpha Blondy came down with pneumonia before making it to California and has left the country canceling all pending appearances. In Arcata he’ll be replaced by smooth singing Jamaican veteran Gregory Isaacs (of “Night Nurse” fame) with the Livewire Band , a killer combo that includes most of the Roots Radics band: bassistErrol “Flabba” Holt and drummer Style Scott (both also in Dub Syndicate), Dwight Pickney on lead guitar and “Steelie” Johnson on keys. These are the guys who backed Isaacs on his seminal Night Nurse album in 1982. Filling out the bill at the mini-fest at the Arcata Community Center is a Reggae on the River/Rising fave, Anthony B, a Bobo Dread in the conscious vein. Note that this is an all ages, all day thing with doors opening at 2 p.m. for DJ music, Jamaican food, vendors and so on. The show will serve as respite for the People Productions crew who are throwing the party, since they’ll be in court all week with that Reggae Trial you may have heard about.

The Mateel (the other party in court) has its own reggae show coming up on Wednesday, Feb. 27, this one featuring St. Croix rootsman Midnite plus the smiling Jamaican singer Prezident Brownand The Solid Foundation Band . I just opened up Prez’ MySpace and his one-drop cover of the old soul hit, “Be Thankful for What You’ve Got” is playing as I type — very cool, and a theme that seems apropos.

Prezident Brown also plays Tuesday, Feb. 26, at the Red Fox. As with most of his Cali tour this show lists San Francisco-based reggae vocalist Andrew Diamond in support position. Diamond is the drummer for The Solid Foundation Band, so he’ll be at the Mateel too.

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