Easy Star All-Stars

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The Easy Star All-Stars are a collective family of some of the finest reggae musicians in the New York area. The band features a rotating cast drawn from a talented pool of players, meaning that every show has its own nuances and its own life. The masterminds behind the All-Stars are Easy Star musical director Michael Goldwasser (a.k.a. Michael G), his production partner Victor Axelrod (a.k.a. Ticklah), and his two Easy Star label partners Eric Smith and Lem Oppenheimer. These four were the team behind the album Dub Side of the Moon (2003), which was a complete reggae re-vision of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. That record has been locked on the Billboard charts for over 3 years.

Three years later—while the album continues to register on the Billboard Reggae Catalog Chart—Easy Star is set to release their concert DVD, Dub Side of the Moon Live, on June 27, 2006. While over thirty musicians contributed to the Dub Side CD, the DVD finds a tight and crystallized live touring band. Following this release was Radiodread on Augst 22, 2006. The long awaited reggae version of Radiohead’s OK Computer.

The Easy Star All-Stars began as a studio ensemble when Michael G and Ticklah were producing and recording the music for Easy Star Records’ debut CD, Easy Star Volume One. With each successive recording, the two principal All-Stars worked with an ever-widening group of musicians to help flesh out their visions. After the release of Dub Side of the Moon, there was intense demand to have the group tour, thanks to the record’s instant success. Ticklah was already committed to touring with one of his other projects (the critically acclaimed Afrobeat revivalists Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra), so Michael G called on many of the musicians they had been working with to make up the touring version of the Easy Star All-Stars. For the first outings, this included saxophonist/ flautist Jenny Hill, vocalist Kirsty Rock, drummer Ivan Katz, keyboardist Jeremy Mage, bassist/vocalist Ras Iray, and trombonist Buford O’Sullivan. Completing the group was dub engineer Dave Hahn (also the leader of up-and-coming reggae act Dub Is A Weapon). This line-up debuted in July 2003 and earned rave reviews during a three-week tour of the East Coast that fall.

In 2004, the Easy Star All-Stars family continued to grow and evolve, even while the band achieved more and more success playing major festivals and touring California and beyond. DJ Dollarman, who chatted on “Money” from the record, as well as on Easy Star Volume Two: Dancehall Culture, joined in Fall 2003 and toured with the group through early 2005. Reggae veteran Junior Jazz was added on vocals and guitar (at times playing with Michael G in a two-guitar line-up). When Kirsty Rock took time off to focus on her own band, Trumystic, the All-Stars happily called on singer Tamar-Kali to fill her spot. Tamar-Kali had also sung on the Dub Side of the Moon album, as well as on Ticklah’s first solo record, Polydemic (1998). DJ Menny More joined up for the band’s Midwest tour in June 2005 and has stayed on board for many of the shows since then. Other members of the musical collective, such as Victor Rice (Victor Rice Octet, Version City All-Stars and bassist on Dub Side of the Moon), Ruff Scott, Groove Collective’s Jay Rodriguez, and Ticklah himself, join the All-Stars on specific gigs, adding their abilities to the already talented ensemble.

The Easy Star All-Stars—in any combination of members—have been a resounding success. The band has played at major festivals such as Northern California’s Reggae On The River, Ragga Muffin Reggae Festival (in Long Beach and San Francisco), Colorado’s Reggae On The Rocks, and the U.K.’s Big Chill and Glade Festival. They’ve headlined their own shows during two different tours in California (including playing to an estimated 10,000 people at the Twilight Dance Series in Santa Monica), sold out shows in England, and played special one-off appearances in the Midwest, New England and the entire Atlantic seaboard. The band has toured Europe, playing to large crowds in France, Italy and Zagreb, Croatia, as well as Brazil and Argentina.

As individuals, the band’s vocalists and instrumentalists have toured and recorded with Gil-Scott-Heron, Burning Spear, Toots and the Maytals, The Toasters, The Meditations, Bernie Worrell, DJ Logic, MC Solaar, King Django, Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, The Scofflaws, Diana King, Dennis Brown, Monty Alexander, Sister Carol, and many others. Each of these musicians gets a chance to shine in the typical Easy Star set, whether it is through soloing, composing, or singing, or simply through playing an essential part in this tight-knit collective. Each line-up may result in slightly different sounds for this unique reggae band, but regardless of who plays, the one thing that never changes is that the Easy Star All-Stars deliver a fun, exciting, and different show every time out.

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Michael Goldwasser was born in West Virginia, but moved to Queens, New York, at a young age. His family exposed Michael to a wide range of music, including jazz, soul, R&B, rock ‘n’ roll, African music, and, of course, reggae. Michael began playing guitar at the age of 14. During his teenage years, he formed the Feds with three good friends and the precocious group gigged at clubs such as Nightingales, Downtown Beirut, and CBGB’s, playing alongside such well-known acts as the Spin Doctors and Blues Traveler. The Feds broke up once Michael and his friends graduated high school, but he continued his musical career while attending Columbia University. During that time, he formed the R&B band Special Request, and cultivated a loyal following sharing the bills with the Average White Band, Cibo Matto, Digable Planets, HR (of the Bad Brains), and others. After five years of hard work, the members of Special Request parted ways to pursue other musical opportunities.

It was around this time that Michael co-founded Easy Star Records with three childhood friends. Trading in R&B for reggae, Michael made sure to keep one thing constant: soul. Applying all that he had learned from writing songs for ten years, Michael G began producing, arranging, and writing music for Easy Star’s original productions. Right from the start, he recruited longtime friend and musical associate Victor Axelrod to supply his keyboard talents and production knowledge.

Victor Axelrod grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where he was raised on a diet of British Two Tone, ska, reggae, dub, and other diverse styles. Between the ages of 17 and 21, Ticklah studied jazz with Mike Longo, but the influence of artists such as Augustus Pablo, King Tubby, and Dennis Bovell never abandoned his style. In high school, Ticklah played keys for the Boilers and other New York ska and reggae bands, crossing paths on many occasions with Michael G. After completing college at SUNY Purchase, Victor returned to New York and quickly joined up with a number of musical outfits, including the acid-jazz band Cooly’s Hot Box. In 1994, he accepted Michael G’s invitation to fill a keyboard vacancy in Special Request, whom he played with for the next two years.

Ticklah could never be accused of being lazy. He has worked continually with Cooly’s Hot Box (releasing an album with them in 2002), played with Desco Records’ retro funk/soul outfit the Soul Providers, the Dap Kings, and the Victor Rice Octet. In 1999, he joined Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, and has since recorded two records and continues to tour and record with them. In 1998, Ticklah released his first record, Polydemic, for Razorfish Records. On Polydemic, Ticklah wore his soul jazz influences—artists such as Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder, and Idris Muhammed—on his sleeve, while establishing himself as one of the most talented multi-instrumentalists on the scene. On many of the record’s songs, Ticklah played all of the instruments himself. Victor has also recorded Ronny Jordan, remixed songs by George Michael and Mary J. Blige, played with and produced Dr. Israel, and (with DJ Spinna) had sizable dance floor hits with remixes of “Days Like This” by Shaun Escoffery and “Makeda” by Les Nubians. In 2000, Victor spearheaded and produced the New York reggae collective Roots Combination’s acclaimed release on Guidance Recordings. Michael G contributed to that effort, co-producing and co-writing the track “Nah Bow Down,” which featured vocals by Sluggy Ranks.

Meanwhile, as the Easy Star All-Stars, Michael G and Ticklah began establishing themselves as important figures in New York’s reggae scene. The first Easy Star single, Rob Symeonn’s “Anything For Jah,” was released in 1997, featuring wicked playing from the duo and production by Michael. For the following few years, Michael and Victor recruited friends and acquaintances to fill out the group for recordings and live shows. The All-Stars, working closely with local sound system Twin Sound, organized three highly acclaimed tribute concerts to the late dub master Augustus Pablo over the course of 1999 and 2000. The group also backed reggae legends such as Sugar Minott, Ranking Joe, Johnny Osbourne, The Meditations, and Sister Carol, both in the studio and on stage. Concurrently, the duo joined up with guitarist Matt Urbania, bassist Noah Schachtman, and Special Request drummer Frantz Hilaire to form the dub reggae band No Shadow Kick. No Shadow Kick played numerous gigs around New York from 1998-1999 as a logical extension of the Easy Star All-Stars (considering that both Hilaire and Schachtman have served as members of the Easy Star All-Stars at one time or another).

The Easy Star All-Stars provided all of the music for Easy Star’s first full-length release, 1998’s Easy Star Volume One. With music produced, written and arranged by Michael G, and anchored by Michael’s guitar work and Victor’s keyboard skills, the record established Easy Star as “perhaps one of the most important reggae labels in America today.” (Full Watts Magazine) This record was followed in 2002 by Easy Star Volume Two, which featured three dancehall riddims penned and produced by Michael and played by Michael and Victor. That record spawned two major New York radio hits, including “God Love,” which bounced around WLIB’s Top Ten Request charts for weeks. The Easy Star All-Stars also contributed the song “Asylum Dub” to Positive Sound Massive’s Mi Selecta compilation in 2000.

For two creative musicians such as Michael G and Ticklah, the Easy Star All-Stars is one part of two rich musical careers. Both continue to explore and pursue other musical endeavors, but both recognize that together they have the capacity to create magical recordings, pushing the envelope of reggae ever further. For the moment, the duo can rest easy knowing they have delivered a ground breaking recording in Dub Side Of The Moon; but with these two, there are always new musical paths to walk down, both separately and united as the Easy Star All-Stars.