| Joseph Hill and
Culture launch
World Peace Tour
Photography and Story by Diane
"Livonn" Adam © 2003
"Rasta say we can't take another war, we
want world peace."
Following the release of their wonderful 2002 live recording, Live
in Africa on Ras Records, Joseph Hill and Culture now launch the release of
their brand new CD, World Peace. This latest self-produced album is filled with the
richness and high spirits that has made Culture so popular and the album is incredibly
appropriate in this time of turmoil and war. Joseph Hill of Culture is a man
who has always maintained his mission of Rastalivity in every production, song and album
he records and performs. In the mid- seventies, Culture shook the reggae world with the
release of the ground breaking album, Two Sevens Clash which they performed on July
18, 2003 at the new venue for reggae, the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco's
Tenderloin district.
World Peace is Culture's landmark 30th album release
and is sure to please all fans of strictly roots and culture music. Joseph Hill's name
remains tightly linked with everything roots, everything culture and everything reggae.
Always capturing the thoughts and concerns of the "man in the street"
Culture now joins with members of the Firehouse Crew to bring his fans into the
next millennium with the powerful new album, World Peace released on Heartbeat
Records.
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| Albert Walker and Talford Nelson of Culture |
The mystical Joseph Hill and Culture members Albert Walker
and Talford Nelson delivered an excellent root reggae performance at the Avalon
Ballroom on July 18th and sang some of their most cherished rasta songs
including, "Addis Ababa", "Chant Down Babylon", "Stop This
Fussing and Fighting" and the spiritual "Slice of Mt. Zion." Culture also
introduced fans to new songs like "Sweet Freedom" and as they sang "World
Peace" it seemed everyone in the house was swaying and saying, we don't want no
war, we want world peace! Closing the show proved almost impossible for Culture as
everyone in the house loudly cheered for just one more song which brought Joseph Hill and
Culture back on stage for an encore to sing the song "Chant Down Babylon" (Right
Now).
With the elimination of San Francisco's Maritime Hall, a well-know
venue in the past for live reggae music in the Bay Area, the much more elegant Avalon
Ballroom is a step up in venues that usually host reggae shows. Outside of Slims, which I
might add has consistently been a dedicated and pleasant venue for reggae music, the
charming Avalon Ballroom housed on the corners of Sutter and Van Ness streets in San
Francisco is a small but comfortable and clean venue that is now picking up where Maritime
Hall left off by providing an inviting venue for lovers of reggae music.
The Avalon Ballroom has hosted other reggae shows in the past including
Buju Banton and will offer future reggae shows with performers Capelton, Ghetto
Youth Crew with Stephen Marley, Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley
and Julian Marley; Pato Banton and Israel Vibration who are scheduled to
perform there in August.
If you missed this performance or you would like to see Culture perform
once more, head to Reggae On The River where they are scheduled to perform on
Friday, August 1st. Culture is also scheduled to perform in San Francisco's
Golden Gate Park on Sunday, August 3rd for International Forgiveness Day
and at 19 Broadway in Fairfax on August 5th.
Opening the show for Culture on July 18th were heartical performances
by Groundation and the Abyssinians. |
