| Dezarie ‘Sets The
Flame’ to Northern California
By Daniel Frankston
Photography by Diane 'Livonn' Adam © 2004
Dezarie made her Northern California debut
last month with seven consecutive nights of music. From McKinleyville to Santa Cruz, from
San Francisco to Angels Camp, the people in attendance were thoroughly moved by the strong
presence of this sensational vocalist.
I was able to catch up with Dezarie
beginning with the Health & Harmony Festival in Santa Rosa on June 13th.
This festival was a bit different from others in that most of the people seemed to be
there for the other activities (holistic health expos, eco-village, green living
symposium), and not the music.
Fellow St. Croix artist Ikahba
accompanied Dezarie on this tour,
and got the crowd in the mood with a rousing 30 minute set of songs from his debut album, Troddin To Zion
which was released on the Afrikan Roots Lab record label earlier this
year.
| By the time Dezarie took to the microphone, it was clear
that a large contingency had come out for more than just holistic healing. Although Dezarie’s voice was hoarse for this entire
portion of her musical journey, the message of Rastafari resonated brilliantly with every
note she uttered. Several people commented that she commands a great ‘presence’
despite her relatively slender stature. |
Painting by Jesse
Watson
|
Without a
doubt, this powerful young artist stands on a solid foundation. Strongly rooted in her
beliefs, Dezarie speaks her mind,
both in the lyrics of her songs and her interactions with those in attendance. At one
point, some women dancers came on the stage dressed (barely!) in Brazilian carnival
outfits. Dezarie immediately
stopped the music, turned to them and pronounced "I don’t sing with folly on
the stage. You don’t mix Jah and lust in the same sentence." She later told
the audience that "One of the biggest worship is the worship of the woman.....
with no clothes on" and explained that it was time to value the woman for more
than just her body.
Dezarie sang selections from her current
album, Gracious
Mama Africa on Afrikan Roots
Lab, as well as some from Fya, her debut album on I Grade
Records. She also let off "Imposter" for the people to hear. Although I
had heard this selection in San Diego last year, it seemed to really grab me this time.
I was glad to see Dezarie touring with her own band instead of
being backed by Midnite, as had been the case in the past. No disrespect
to Midnite, but Dezarie is a powerful force. She deserves to be
recognized in her own right. Throughout the tour it was great to see those familiar faces
that comprise ‘The Midnite Family’ (Northern California branch) embracing the
music and message of Dezarie.
Dezarie’s band, which consisted of Leslie
James, Jr. on drums, Ryan Wilson on bass, Jr. P
on keyboards and Jerry Simon on guitar, were excellent and sounded really
tight by the end of the tour. They did a particularly good job backing Dezarie on her new Rasta chant "Hail HIM".
But it was the new selection "Set
The Flame" that really
moved both the crowd and me. Set to a baseline that resembles "Judgment Come", Dezarie calls on the audience to put up their
lighters and "Bun down injustice, oppression, hatred and segregation"
before ripping into the song lyrics:
"Moral
corruption with vice in all form. Erase true morals of the young ones. Mis-education,
brainwashing. White as snow Clorox to the mind. Unemployed and hunger. It's a game being
played on the chessboard that all those in power created. Food shortages and financial
panics. Organized crime war tactics.... Disgust is too nice of a word to describe how I
feel about them. So set the flame. Set the
flame. Set the flame." |
 |
The spark Dezarie set
a flame to in Santa Rosa grew stronger with each subsequent concert. From San Francisco to
Santa Cruz, from Berkeley to Fairfax, the audience seemed to fan the flames under this
selection. When Dezarie let this
song off at the 11th Annual Sierra Nevada World Music Festival on Friday, June 18, I was certain the local
fire department would be arriving at any moment. A
sea of lighters blanketed the thousands and thousands of people that came out to partake
as Dezarie pronounced, "Raging
regents of captivity. No more singing ‘we shall over come’. 'Cause right ya now
say we want we freedom."
Make no mistake about it Dezarie has arrived. Standing firm with fiery
lyrics, an incredible voice and impassioned beliefs Dezarie is sure to ‘Set The Flame’
throughout the Four Corners of the earth for years to come. |
