Jan. 31 – “We went to Jamaica to record our album independently, but during the production phase, Stephen Stewart asked to become co-producer and involved the greatest Jamaican reggae musicians in our recording session. We didn’t expect it at all, but the artists involved were so interested in the meaning of our texts: they took our project to heart, demonstrating immense respect.” Say BarmaGrande, a Buddhist reggae band formed in 1996 in Latte, in the province of Imperia, on the border between Italy and France. The founders are Emma Lercari and Marco and Sandro Donda. BarmaGrande sing in Italian, English, French and Ligurian, and they have just returned from the prestigious Harry J. Studio in Kingston, Jamaica, the same studio in which some of the best albums by Bob Marley & The Wailers were recorded, such as “Rastaman Vibration” and “Catch A Fire.” Here important international artists recorded their projects, including The Rolling Stones, The Who and Grace Jones, and now the Ligurian trio with their album “Freedom”. BarmaGrande have four self-produced albums, several nationally distributed compilations, and numerous participations in events and festivals in Italy and France. “Our lyrics – says the band – talk about the interplay between man and nature, between food choices and the environment, the search for inner balance from which there will be peace between nations, the importance of spiritual research, awareness and compassion, the great injustice that oppresses the Tibetan people to which we dedicate the song ‘Freedom’.” Now BarmaGrande prepare to return to radio with “C’est la vie”, the first single from the latest album, “Freedom.” The video for the song, directed by Mizuko, is set in the streets of Nice and Ventimiglia. “The song ‘C’est la vie’ was composed after talking to our friend El-Rachidi Aliani, a young North African immigrant in Europe in search of work that lent his voice for the first few sentences of the song. The text was written in French because it is one of the most spoken languages in North Africa as well as in Senegal and other African countries.”
