Mista Savona
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Mista Savona

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | INDIE

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | INDIE
Band Hip Hop Reggae

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"Mista Savona Presents 'Melbourne Meets Kingston'"

Mista Savona Presents Melbourne Meets Kingston
Dancehall, Hip-Hop & Roots From Jamaica To Australia & Beyond
Melbourne Meets Kingston is one of the most stunning album length releases of Jamaican influenced music I have
had the pleasure of witnessing emerge from the Pacific. I have always considered the Australian reggae scene no
joke and I feel this release, given the right promotion and support, will ram home this truth, a reckoning that is
long overdue.
Mista Savona is a Melbourne based music producer and keyboard player who has over the last few years in
collaboration with a collection of talented musicians and singers from Australia and Jamaica, produced a stunning
Roots and Culture work with a dazzling array of depth.
I could wax lyrical on this release for pages, but it has already been done far more concisely and correctly by
Australian reggae music authority, Jesse I, word for word as follows:
?A landmark for Australian music ? this is the first time an Australian producer has worked extensively with
big-name Jamaican artists over a full-length album. More importantly, it is the strongest reggae & dancehall
album produced in this country to date?.
So who are these big names? Anthony B, Big Youth, Determine and a load of lesser known but equally talented
artists such as Lisa Dainjah, Stevie Culture, Bashy Bashy, Vida Sunshine and more.
All the artists turn out dazzling performances grounded in Roots but venturing into Hip-Hop and Dancehall
territories. Mista Savona manages to cover most of the current sounds and styles of modern Dancehall Reggae
with a mixture of straight Roots flavoured material, Oriental and Arabic sounding riddims, classic Rastafari
numbers and the odd digital edge as well.
I could talk about this release for a long time, but I feel that it's best that you just go and listen to it. Melbourne
Meets Kingston is really good music, and that's all I wrote. - Niceup


"Mista Savona - Mista Savona pres... Melbourne Meets Kingston"

Melbourne-based dub / downbeat producer Jake Savona has
previously been responsible for two independently released solo
albums of a decidedly dub / dancehall-flavoured nature; his 2001
debut ‘Bass & Roots’ and its 2004 follow-up ‘Invasion Day’, but this
third album (this time under his Mista Savona persona) easily
represents his most ambitious creative venture yet. It’s also a release
that represents a pivotal moment for the Australian dub and dancehall
scenes in the sense that ‘Melbourne Meets Kingston’ marks the first
time that a local producer has worked extensively with Jamaican
vocalists over an entire album. In this case, Savona spent
considerable time in Jamaica working with and recording the vocalists
before polishing the instrumental elements in his Melbourne studios,
and the list of Kingston talent pressed into service is certainly an
impressive one, with the legendary likes of Big Youth appearing
alongside newer talent such as Determine and Anthony B. Taking in a
whopping 21 tracks over its 75 minute running length, ‘Melbourne
Meets Kingston’ also manages to traverse a wide range of divergent
dub / dancehall territory, with the unmistakable influence of brokenbeat
rhythms and dubstep coexisting comfortably alongside more
roots-oriented instrumental excursions.
‘Turn Up The Music’ opens this collection with a bang, Stevie Culture’s
adept lyrical toasting clinging tightly to a rolling backdrop of bhangratinged
dancehall rhythms as bright shimmering synths float around
the percussive kicks. With a soul-blues vocal breakdown thrown in
halfway through, it certainly gets your attention from the start and
fans of the likes of Lotek Hifi and Diplo’s baile-funk fuelled roll ought
to be pleased. ‘Land Of The Brave’ takes this momentum and runs
with it, with Lisa Dainjah testifying (“When trouble a come Satan blow
no horn”) over an undulating, bass-heavy backdrop of woody Latin
percussion and booming electro elements that calls to mind M.I.A.’s
recent ‘Arular’, before Determine commandeers the mic for ‘World A
Run So’, taking firm aim at the current political adminstrations of the
West (“USA, Bagdad, now me a report this / You nah go see me name
pon your voting list”) as broken hiphop rhythms stutter around
dancehall-inflected bass sub-bass swells and icy sounding electro
synths on a Timbaland tip.
After this slew of predominantly electronics-based tracks, instrumental
track ‘Words & Meditation’ offers a welcome diversion into rootsier
sounds, with rich, majestic King Tubby-esque horns ringing out over a
laidback backdrop of live drums, bass and clavinet in what’s easily one
of the most blissfully smoked-out moments here, the entire riddim
being re-used again in classic dub style on ‘Know Yourself’ as a
backing for Determine’s reverb-drenched ragga-soul vocals. ‘Blaze The
Fire’ throws the rolling garage elements back to the forefront, with
vast sub-bass drops booming alongside blaring air-horn samples and
densely polyrhythmic beat programming reminiscent of Roll Deep /
Wiley providing ample fuel for Anthony B’s adept vocal toasting as he
offers up shout outs to both Jamaica and Melbourne (surely a first),
before ‘Herb Herb Herb’ offers up the obligatory ragga ode to the
green stuff as Stevie Culture’s rapidfire lyrics dart over bleeping
electronics and juddering programmed dancehall rhythms, his
unpredictably nimble verbals evoking the short attention spans
inherent to a serious sensi session. In many senses though, it’s left up
to reggae veteran Big Youth to contribute this collection’s most
incandescent moment with ‘Travelling Man’, his unmistakable vocals
ringing out clearly over a warm live instrumental backing that once
again recycles elements of earlier track ‘Words & Meditation’, his final
chorus refrain of “Do the good you can for the people you can” taking
things to a close. All in all, if you’re a fan of dancehall / dub with
leanings towards the sorts of contemporary garage / grime / dubstep
influences currently emanating from the UK, ‘Melbourne Meets
Kingston’ repres - In The Mix


Discography

"Bass And Roots" (2000) - mostly instrumental ambient hiphop with a few vocal tracks.
"Invasion Day" (2004) - More vocal tracks on this one, and a little more experimental with reggae/dancehall leanings
"Melbourne Meets Kingston" (2007) - almost all vocal, recorded in Jamaica and the album that established Mista Savona in Oz and to a degree overseas.
"Warn The Nation" (2010) - a second trip to Jamaica, and a really high calibre lineup of vocalists from the UK and Caribbean.
"Women Run Tings" feat. Vida-Sunshyne Single (May 2011) off forthcoming album to be released November 2011.

Video links:
Big up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qfR1mz6KUk&feature=related

Album promo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8TiZrtRhtU

Photos

Bio

Jake Savona, aka Mista Savona, is arguably Australia's leading exponent of
roots reggae and dancehall music, with international releases under his belt and
the 2010 release of his stunning fourth studio album "Warn The Nation", which
sees him working alongside internationally renowned artists such as Capleton,
Sizzla, Horace Andy (Massive Attack), Anthony B, Alton Ellis, Burro Banton
and many more. With J Mag calling it “Australia’s definitive reggae album” and
the Sydney Morning Herald defining it as “fantastic… authentic...the most
incredible reggae album”, the results are undoubtedly some of the most exciting
and original sounds currently coming out of Australia.
To complement the release of "Warn The Nation", Mista Savona has released
a series of explosive 7” singles known as the “Fire Dragon Riddim” - the first
ever Australian produced releases of their kind to be manufactured and
distributed globally from Jamaica. Hailed as ‘hypnotic’ and ‘irresistibly charming’
by French critic Jean-Marc Lemonnier (Natty Dread), these singles constitute
Australia’s official entry into the global reggae market.
Savona’s third studio album release, the pioneering "Melbourne Meets
Kingston" (2007), is a magnificent 21 track tour de force - the first ever album
length collaboration between Jamaican and Australian musicians. Featuring
reggae luminaries such as Anthony B, Big Youth, Determine, Lisa Dainjah
and a host of upcoming artists, “Melbourne Meets Kingston" has been
described as “a landmark for Australian music – this is the first time an
Australian producer has worked extensively with big-name Jamaican artists
over a full-length album. More importantly, it is the strongest reggae & dancehall
album produced in this country to date.” Jesse I (Chant Down Sound).
To perform this music live, Jake has brought together an incredible 10 piece
band, including a horn section, African dancers and Melbourne vocalist Vida
Sunshyne (whose credits include work with Nitin Sawhney and Lionel Richie) -
and his show is by far the toughest and most exciting presentation of authentic,
raw roots reggae and dancehall music in this country.
________________________________________________________

“The best reggae album made in this country”. James D’Apice, Drum media
“A stunning work with a dazzling array of depth”. Martyn Pepperell, Nice Up (NZ)
“An essential Australian document. Highly recommended”. In The Mix
“This 21 track compilation is brilliant…I was stunned”. Jeff Neems, Waikato Times (NZ)
“Australia’s premier reggae and dancehall producer…A major cross cultural coup”. Dan Rule, MAG
“Infectious beats and rhymes…a piece of history”. Planet Urban

Instrumentation:
All band members are over 21 and hold passports.

Jake Savona Keyboards, Sample, Producer
Jordan Murray Trombone, Composer, Arranger
Julian Goyma Drums, Percussion
Neda Rahmani Percussion
Andy Papadopoulos Bass
Baz Turnball Guitar
Rob Tromlett Vocalist
Vida-Sunshine Borquaye Vocalist
Andrew Jackson Saxophonist