Groundation
is an American roots reggae band with jazz and dub influences from Sonoma County in Northern California.
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GROUNDATION TICKETS
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History
The band was formed in the fall of 1998 by Harrison Stafford, Marcus Urani, and Ryan Newman. In 1999, Stafford teamed up with Kris Dilbeck to found Young Tree Records and release Groundation's debut album of the same name. In 2000 they added to the line up David Chachere, a San Francisco based jazz trumpeter, and Kelsey Howard, a North Bay trombone player. Saxophonist Jason Robinson was a member of the band for a time, and has since gone on to become the head of the
jazz program at
UC San Diego. Drummer Paul Spina (
Les Claypool,
Will Bernard’s Mother Bug) has been with the group since taking over for James Stafford in December 2001 ; he left the group in summer 2008.
Between 1999 and 2001, Harrison Stafford taught the first course on the History of Reggae Music at
Sonoma State University.
Lineup
Members
- Harrison Stafford – vocals, guitar
- Marcus Urani – keyboards
- 'Iron' Ryan Newman – bass
- David "Diesel" Chachere – trumpet
- Kelsey Howard – trombone
- Te Kanawa Haereiti aka Rufus – drums (since summer 2008)
- Mingo Lewis Jr – congas, timbales, percussion (he took a break in 2007)
- Kim Pommell – chorus (since 2007)
- Stephanie Wallace – chorus (since late 2008)
Former members
- Paul Spina - drums (from December 2001 to July 2008)
- Jason Robinson - saxophone (on all albums but he's only occasionally on stage with the band during U.S. tours)
- James Stafford - drums (on the first two albums)
- Shawna Anderson - chorus (from 1999 to 2004)
- Adaria Armstrong - chorus (in 2004)
- Jeannine Guillory - chorus (in 2005)
- Ekua Impraim - chorus (in 2005)
- Kerry-Ann Morgan - chorus (from 2006 to august 2008.)
- Ikesha Johnson - chorus (in 2006)
- Benjamin Krames - congas, timbales, percussion (in 2007, during Mingo's break)
Discography
Studio albums
- 1999: Young Tree
(Remastered in 2002)
- 2001: Each One Teach One
- 2002: Hebron Gate
- 2004: We Free Again
- 2005: Dub Wars
- 2006: Upon the Bridge
- 2008: Rockamovya
(Groundation's three founding members project featuring Will Bernard and Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace)
- 2009: Here I Am
Rockamovya - A Groundation side project
The three founding members of Groundation (Harrison Stafford, Marcus Urani and Ryan Newman) join forces with the legendary
Jamaican drummer
Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace and the grammy nominated Jazz guitarist
Will Bernard to form
Rockamovya. The name comes from Leroy Horsemouth Wallace, Jamaican
patios style and is meant to show the unity and power of the music.
The sound is fresh and very different from the Groundation works, but
it remains deeply rooted in Reggae and Jamaican popular music. The
release has been scheduled for June 17, 2008.
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