The Presidents

BEST REGGAE/WORLD BEAT
PRESIDENTS

HOUSTON Press
MUSIC AWARDS '93
- HOUSTON Press

ENTERTAINMENT
MUSIC
BY MARK LACY
DAILY COUGAR STAFF

"Assassination," "C.I.A." and "El Salvador" sound like they might be top secret files in a personal dossier belonging to George Bush. But really it's just The Presidents' song making some humble statements on world politics.
In fact, The Presidents place so much emphasis on the meaning of their music that they call it "crucial world rhythms."
It would be a mistake, however, to think that The Presidents are an "okay" reggae band that likes to be involved in a good protest. That crossed my mind in June 1988 on my way to the :March for Mandella" that was held in Memorial Park.
Upon my first sight of them on a tiny stage, surrounded by a couple hundred people in the park, I knew I was wrong. The Presidents brough an edge to Houston reggae that i hadn't heard in all of my visits to the Caribana when it was still in the Village.
The Presidents were a Filipino reggae band with a saxophone. Their music brought images to mind of the perfect union: Poet and the Roots' moving lyrics on "All We Doin' Is Defendin'" and the wailing sax on X-Ray Spex' "Oh Bondage..."
I knew The Presidents were an up-and-coming band that could move people to dance. Their lyrics come back to haunt you (in a good way).
In the right setting, The Presidents could someday have the kind of impact with their sound and ideology as the almost immortal Stell Pulse taking the stage in London clubs, wearing Klan hoods to awaken their audience.
In the past two years, while The Presidents have been figuring out how to best use their talents, they have been voted "Best Reggae Band" in the Public News Houston Music Poll in 1989 and 1990.
The Presidents are evolving and from time to time take the stage with an entirely new appeal. As 1989 drew to a close, the hottest thing on a Houston stage was their "Free James Brown." Only three months into 1990, their audiience is begging for more soca and ska.
With the popularity of "Assassination" and "C.I.A.," The Presidents have found their purpose, blending together innovative sounds in the music that is finally becoming accepted as "world beat."
These songs are currently being pressed on a Presidents' album that will also include "Curacao" and the moving ballad, "El Salvador."
The Presidents will be appearing at UH on Friday in Lynn Eusan Park. They have had to miss some of their traditional stops this year, Bob Marley Day and Ecological Awareness Day, because of their recording schedule and are preparing for more extensive road shows, so the time to see them is now.
House in Orbit will show the Houston audience how reggae and ska are done where they come from - the Austinites open the early show at 8 p.m.

Photo by MARK LACY

the DAILY COUGAR
Vol. 56, No. 98
University of Houston
Thursday, April 5, 1990
Page 6 - the DAILY COUGAR

The Presidents' brand of Filipino-inspired world music - heavy on the reggae - takes them to number one in this category for their second year. Live, that mellow music quickly overpowers their hard-core, left-leaning lyrics. Whether you're sympathetic or antithetical to their politics, you're bound to get swept up - along with the throng that attends their every show - in the overwhelming, danceable rhythms and irresistible good vibe.

HOUSTON Press
AUGUST 27-SEPT. 2, 1992
THE WEEKLY NEWSPAPER - HOUSTON Press

THE PRESIDENTS, Fitzgerald's, May 6
reviewed by CHRIS KEMMERER

The Presidents are politically aware. Very politically aware. Like, in your face politically aware. If this bugs you, stay away.
"Free James Brown" is a great song. A great protest song. Maybe James Brown shouldn't be in prison. Maybe he is a victim of oppression. I don't know. I haven't studied the case. I tend to think that even my well-connected, white, middle-class ass would be in jail if I'd tried to outrun the cops while I was on P.C.P.
But this is all politics. The music is terrific. The Presidents lay a groove and hold it there better and longer than any other band in town. They filled up the dance floor at Fitzgerald's on a Saturday night. Most of the people weren't listening to the lyrics. There was one song about the revolution in El Salvador. They were for it. And another song about the military arm of the ANC who are setting off bombs in South Africa. I think they were in favor of this, too.
But ignore the politics if you have to, because the Presidents have got the music down and you sure as hell ought to go hear them. Especially if you like to dance for a long, long time, cause the reggae and the soca will keep you out there.

PUBLIC NEWS
MAY 10, 1989 #368 HOUSTON, TEXAS - PUBLIC NEWS

WF, 21, attractive redhead bohemian. Am creative, passionate, ambitious, visual, cynical, nocturnal. Tastes include Presidents, Bowie, Cult, Sisters of Mercy, films, art, books, Montrose. Write.

PUBLIC NEWS
HOUSTON'S ALTERNATIVE NEWSWEEKLY
APRIL 4, 1990
ISSUE #414 - PUBLIC NEWS

The Presidents' ...with guns and cannons and the Book is meant to educate and activate the listener. Six of the nine members of the Houston-based band are Filipino-born, and their heritage shines through.
The album's title is taken from the rousing lead track "Banawe," a makossa number that begins with the Filipino igorot rhythm powered by a gangsa, an indigenous percussion instrument. The song rails against the colonization and Christianization of the Philippines: You came dancing across the ocean/With guns and cannons and the book/You said you came to Christianize this land/So why are you running around/Burning my people down?
This then continues on the Fela-inspired Afrobeat of "Long Long Time," reflecting the "colonial mentality" left initially by the Spaniards, who brought "Christianity, bureaucracy [and] feudal misery," followed by the American's "gift" of "democracy, dysentery [and] chocolate candy."
"Johnny and Alicia" is a haunting tale of false hope shared by many "hospitality girls" (prostitutes) working outside U.S. military bases. Soca prevails on "Ethiopia," which suggests that feeding the starving children makes more sense than fighting a civil war. Other topics include "El Salvador" (a Latin American-reggae-style number with Andean panpipes), political terrorism on the zoukish "C.I.A." (a dreadful account of the murder of Che Guevara), and the hopes and fears of freedom fighters on the reggae-powered "One Night."
The album's cover art is attractive and creative, with a reversed photographic image of an unidentified male superimposed on several handwritten letters, one of which poses a question from seven-year-old Barbara: "Dear God, Why don't you leave the sun out at night when we need it the most?" The other side provides lyrics and identifies the singers and players while thanking nearly 60 individuals, organizations and entities for support and inspiration.
There is no lovers rock, no praises to H.I.M.,no paeans to the holy herb and no slackness on ...with guns and cannons and the Book. The music demands dancing feet while the lyrics command attention and incite action. Politricks aside, the Presidents have my vote.
(Montserrat Records...)
-Papa Pilgrim

The Beat Vol. 10 #5, 1991
page 60
NEWS & REVIEWS
Los Angeles, California - THE BEAT MAGAZINE

by John Mijares

On the same day in late February, 1986, in a southeast Asian country beset by political turmoil, two presidents, each of whom claimed to be the legitimate one, were inaugurated. Five years later, also in late February, nine Presidents, most of whom are from the same southeast Asian country, inaugurated their first album in a packed Fitzgerald's in the Houston Heights.
The Presidents of Crucial World Rhythms have evolved. Born in the Philippines, but whose families were "forced" to migrate to the U.S. to avoid economic hardship in the third world country, the core members of the group started offwith a stint in a Philippino dance troupe in San Antonio. After forming an obscure garage band in Austin, the core members later moved to Houston to organize the Presidents.
The Presidents have already been voted Best Reggae Band in the Public News Music Pollin both 1989 and 1990. These and all their experiences have provided the groundwork for their first release "...WITH GUNS AND CANNONS AND THE BOOK (Monserrat) which is evidence to prove that the Presidents have now comfortably moved into the expansive field of third world music.
The album is testimony that this is not your typical "let's-go-party-in-some-faraway-exotic-place" worldbeat band. Though the name of the group may sound safely reactionary to some, and the songs set to very danceable rhythms, the lyrical content in no way suggests everything is alright.
The band's leader, Rommel Eslarinal, grew up in his native Olongapo--host to the largest U.S. naval base outside the American continent. In this setting he saw Magsaysay Boulevard light up in the wee hours of the morning especially when a ship docked. Prostitution is a serious source of livelihood while the "Hospitality Girl" waits for that encounter that can lead to waking up one day permanently domiciled in the U.S. Such is the subject of "Johnny and Alicia"--a romantic reggae ballad about an oftentimes false hope.
The three hundred sordid years of Spanish colonialism is dealt with in "Banawe" and "Long Long Time." The former starts with an Igorot rhythm using an ethnic percussion instrument known as the gangsa. The western instruments then come in. The gangsa is still played in the rest of the song, biut is overpowered by the louder supposedly more superior western instruments. But even if the Spaniards have successfully colonized the Philippines with their divide-and-rule strategy, the natives finally recognize the incongruity between religion and conquest. "Long Long Time" is an intenseand straighforward afrobeat tune with the Fela Kuti stigma. It goes further to touch upon American colonialism and the more subtle neo-colonialism. it mentions the American legacys ranging from representative government, which may not be the best system for a third world country if it wishes to develop fast, to junk food. This song is thus spiced by Oliver eclarinal's incendiary saxophone moans and shrieks in the Coltrane mode that seem to conjure restlessness and tries to instigate an uprising.
"Assasination" might be dismissed as another rhymed island song with the infectious rhythm of soul calypso from Trinidad and Tobago, but it actually touches on a violent solution to the bad effects of multinational corporations and parasitical cronyism that have plagued the country.
Their perspectives go beyond Southeast Asia starting with the soft zouk cut "C.I.A.", which may be harmless as any Antillean number, but actually talks about the murder of Che Guevara in Bolivia. Turmoil and U.S. intervention in "El Salvado" is not spared, additionally the still ongoing mix of war and famine and bleak future in "Ethiopia" which is concocted with a feverish mix of soul calypso and highlife.
Finally Rommel and drummer Ray Jaceldo's "One Night", done in the regular reggae tempo, is one of the first songs written by the group and is perhaps one of the best produced cuts in the album (along with "Ethiopia"). It is written in the eyes of a revolutionary, the everyday fears of e guerrilla fighter who may be today's subversive or political prisoner convicted of treason in a mock trial, but hopeful of the movement's success--overthrow of the existing government structure.
A word of caution would be not to allow the uncanny rhythmic sense of the songs to deceive you. These tunes are aimed to inform, to make you aware of what has happened and what is happening in the rest of the worldso that your dispositions are made based on a more holistic perspective, than an isolated one. Call it disturbing, but everything else is secondary.

Cool Runnings
reggae news international
March/April 1991 - Cool Runnings reggae news international

The Presidents rocked the house at PN's Xmas Party at Homage.

HOUSTON SCENE MAGAZINE
JANUARY 1990 - HOUSTON SCENE MAGAZINE

by CHRIS KEMMERER

Down the stairs on Franklin Street, a lot of folks are dancing, white kids mostly, interesting because the event is Asinamali, a benefit show for City-A, Amnesty International, the African National Congress and others. Fighting aparheid has acquired a certain cachet, at least five dollars a head worth, and the seven bands include a couple of proven crowd-pleasers, so Power Tools is packed, crowded enough to be powerfully hot. Even away from the dance floor, though, and in a cooler place, a beat starts up that is unignorable; one is drawn almost against one's will, back to the stage where a band is playing reggae, a Wailers cover, woven sound cast over the audience like a bright, soft net. The band's seven or eight people are Filipino -- the flag of the Philippines is draped somewhere -- and there is a black man playing drums, dreadlocks swaying, and on guitar, a gangly whote boy with curly hair. All in all, a pretty striking crew; they look like the cast of an engagingly low-budget movie, and the music is good, exceptionally good. They're laying into a number with an involved and wild beat when a woman next to me (she happens to take ballroom dance classes in a storefront studio in southwest Houston) turns and says, "They're playing a rhumba." She demonstrates with a few steps, and sure enough, the complex African polyrhythm lends itself to the task very well. "I wonder if they even know they're playing a rhumba?" she says; and something is going on here. Cultural circuits are being crossed with negligent abandon, Houston, Asia, Africa, and ballroom dance all caught up in the same beat, and the music careens on, good to better, fast to faster, the crowd closed in, fascinated, some swaying, some dancing, some just watching.
That was the first time I saw the Presidents, February in Houston, when winter was already shredding to spring.

* * *

Go back to the Sex Pistols. Or, rather, to Malcolm McLaren, fringe-dwelling genius and Svengali who essentially made the Pistols, though not to last. Adrift in the '80s, looking across the world for the next big thing, McLaren decided that only the whole world's music would do. He scooped up material from Latin America, the Appalachians, the inner city, and West and South Africa, shook it up, sang over it, and called it an album (Keith Haring did the cover). Duck Rock went nowhere, partly because it went every which way, "lacked focus" as they say in high school grading (and nowhere else), even Malcolm McLaren couldn't generate enough heat to fuse so much together. Partly it was -- cliche, cliche -- ahead of its time, soca is discussed seriously in the New York Times these days, and Keith Haring's headed for the archives. But Duck Rock was for sure the first time anybody from League City, Texas ever heard of this stuff, and it had a strange effect on some. My best friend from fith grade, Jon Hall, grew up just down Texas Avenue in leage City from me. Jon bought that album at random in Austin, and it became his favorite lp -- period. Now, Jon was as straight as an arrow (still is, he's now a lawyer in the Army in germany), and he'd probably no even care to talk about the Sex Pistols if he could avoid it, but that album struck a note in him that I had never guessed existed.
May, and the solid wooden floor at Fitzgerald's gives slightly under the weight of many dancers. The Presidents, opening for another band, are (literally) rocking the house with "Free James Brown," and the crowd is big, hip and a little drunk, shouting along with the boys at the end of each line -- "Free James Brown!" I leave after the Presidents finish; interesting how many other people are leaving too. (In June, Fitzgerald's will, with some slight trepidation, book the band to headline on a Saturday night. The turnout will be impressive, Fitz will graciously retract its trepidations and cannily book them again, in August).

* * *

Start with love gone wrong.
"We were going through emotional trouble involving female counterparts," says Koy Severino, bass player and usual spokeman for the Presidents. "I remember that very well," he says, laughing.
A working committee of the Presidents is assembled in an office upstairs at the Axiom, recounting the early days. Heartbreak, it seems, figures heavily.
"So, we thought, how are we going to get over this. And Rommel suggested , let's jam." All the nascent band's equipment and instruments were in Austin and it was 7:00 at night, but it seemed like the thing to do at the time Koy and lead singer Rommel Eclarinal to got in a truck, made the round trip, set up at home and, with drummer/ co-founder Ray Jaceldo, honed an edge onto that bad case of the blues, far into the night. "Originally we were going to be a classic rock/ reggae band," says Koy. "Reggae always figured in there somewhere." After a certain couple of such jam sessions, the trio felt called upon to share their talents with the world, or such part of it as could fit into their house in the Heights on a Saturday night. They even ran off flyers which stated, sensibly, that music was being performed by "The Residents." Not until they were actually handing them out were they made aware of the existence of another band, teh Shreveport/ San Francisco Residents. They looked at the stack of flyers, already paid for. Obviously they had to change the name on them, and quickly. But how? And to what?

The Presidents grew in numbers and prowess all through 1988. Oliver, on sax, and Ted Jaceldo, on percussion and keyboards, joined up almost immediately after the first gig; Cie Jaceldo soon came aboard, also on percussion. Gaida Alafia, originally from Nigeria, and former lead drummer for Laihi Kuumba, signed on as a singer and percussionist; the octet was rounded out by Charles Laudermilk, a high school friend of Koy Severino's, former member of the band Probable Cause (and bizarre amidst this crew, a native Houstonian). As they stretched their muscles musically, they moved away from doing straight reggae (they used to cover "Red Red Wine") to explore African forms of music -- soca, Afrobeat, Zulu, Malcossa. And all the while, with each gig they played, word grew.

* * *

Galveston. The band is playing at Yaga's, a yuppified bar on the Strand. Frankly, it's full of the kind of people I hated in high school, grown older as I have, but with real jobs, and more credit cards. At one point I am sitting next to an ex-soldier named Will, on an upper level, looking down at the bar. He draws on the cigarette I gave him, stares down at the band and says, "Orientals, aren't they?"
I tell him they're from the Philippines and he nods. He tells me he was in Korea, in the Army, but that he preferred Berlin. "The women hung out of the windows. You got to choose which one you wanted. It was like shopping."
I nod so I'll seem cosmopolitan. After an interval, I leave him another cigarette and go down closer to the band. They're playing a mostly serious, slightly schmaltzy verion of "No Woman No Cry," and a half-dozen couples are swaying around, probably drunk, maybe evenm in love; the weather's warm, the crowd at the bar is thinning out, and it strikes me how nice it is not to have to struggle all the time, and that reggae's not just music for the revolution, but music to rest you when you're weary from your wars. I want to ask Will about the music soldiers listen to in Korea and Berlin -- is it Mettalica? Poison? -- but he's disappeared into the night. My lighter's gone too.

* * *

I respect the Presidents a lot. Not just because they're one of the best bands this city has, although they are; not just for the depth of their cultural and social and political feeling, though that's there too. What I most like about the band is that they do what they can to raise your consciousness and move your feet simultaneously, and neither more important than the other. The music doesn't just carry the message any more than your body carries your head -- it may do that but it does much more as well. If you realize that they're singing a message of protest, calling for awareness, fine, but if not, just move along with the music for now, maybe it'll all come clear for you tomorrow. The Presidents play reggae clubs and hardcore clubs, beach bars and frat parties, and they play, always, music, always with the same feeling. They do not preach, they do not push, they just play and let the people figure it out for themselves. And in love, politics, religion and music, that's how it ought to be.

* * *

A night in mid-September, and it's just getting cool enough to be glad for your jacket. Down on Clear Lake, around the pool at the Hilton, the Presidents are playing. The crowd is somnambulating, the tiny stage has no maneuver-room at all, and the volume has to be kept down because a city councilmember lives nearby. The cheezy cruise-ship-style limbo contest is over, they've proclaimed Denise the "Limbo Queen of Clear Lake," the last set is winding down and the beat of Africa, by way of Leyte and Luzon, is throbbing out across the marinas and into the night. League City, strangely enough, is just across the water from here; if I climbed one of the oaks there where my family's house once stood, I could easily see this hotel. If I'd been out walking once, late at night, on the other, darker side of the lake, I might have heard that music drifting over the lake, the words unintelligible and the melody only a guess, but the beat rolling easy, turned to catch something in me afire; perhaps, though, I would only shrug it off. But I think that each time, when the Presidents play, someone hears something they hadn't heard before, maybe only in themselves. And people came out to dance, always they dance, when the Presidents play.

6
PUBLIC NEWS
MUSIC
SEPTEMBER 20, 1989 Issue #387 - PUBLIC NEWS

The Presidents: Houston's most lauded reggae/world beat band, and for good reason. Their mastery of many cultural dance styles is unmatched. They move effortlessly from African styles to Brazilian dance with a little room in between to catch your breath. You got your horns, you git your percussion, you got your voluminous backup singers. One feels the sincerety in everything they do. No nuance is overlooked and feet as well as head benefit. - HOUSTON MUSIC COUNCIL

Sights and Sounds
Triangle Review's weekly guide to arts & entertainment

THE PRESIDENTS are bringing a message of global harmony through culturally diverse music.

By Kay Rios
For the Triangle Review

Social/political commentary within a music framework is nothing new. But in today's pop music scene, it doesn't always seem to be much of a factor. It is, however, the only factor for The Presidents, who will appear in concert at Mishawaka Inn on Friday (June 21) and at Fort Ram on Tuesday (June 25).
"The message is a very important part of our repertoire," says spokesman Kokoy Severino. The message is global harmony, he says. "We are tryign to express different points of view. That's why we play music from different cultures."
As the nine-member Reggae/World Beat band begins its "Tour of Consciousness," Severino says it brings not only Reggae, but other forms indigenous to other parts of the world.
"The industry has classified it as 'World Beat,' but we call it 'Crucial World Rhythm,'" he says.
And if its album, "...with guns and cannons and the Book," is any indication, the Presidents' group ability is, indeed, worldly. Not only does the band have a firm grasp on Reggae, it moves easily into South American rhythms, and, just as quickly pulls up a "Zouk" sound, or incorporates another Afro beat.
The musicians exhibit finely-honed skills in terms of both their instrumental and vocal qualities within the context of all-original music. Posed against a backdrop of puntuating percussive instruments, and the sensitive cry of a saxophone or a tender touch on a guitar or keyboard, the lyrics take on a haunting feel.
That feel is built not only on delivery, but the message, too, as they comment on the CIA's role in the death of Che Guevara or the cultural losses syffered from colonization of the Philippines by America and the Spanish or the situation in Ethiopia. The lyrics are not limited to any one situation or any particular hemisphere. (Their album, likewise, is split into "eastern" and "western" rather than side one and two.)
Their instruments set the stage for playing out their political and social statements about inhumanity, racist-guided policies and colonial subjugation. The instruments themselves are indicative of the Presidents' quest for universal understanding - a large variety are used, both those familiar and new to the average listener.
"We use traditional instruments from around the world," says Severino. "From the Philippines, we use the Gansa and Kulintang, which are both percussion. From South America, we have a samba instrument called the Cuica."
- Fort Collins Triangle Review

by Kathy Todd and Lesli Singer

Houston's international community is well represented again this year via the reggae and crucial world rhythms of The Presidents. this youthful group's conscious philosophy and infectious riddims defy all borders and limitations. Environmentally, politically and globally astute, the Presidents' all-original approach appeals to an ethnically diverse, issue-informed market. In 1991 their self-produced debut LP, ...WITH GUNS AND CANNONS AND THE BOOK, was released on the band's Montserrat record label to critical acclaim. The autumn of last year also witnesses the Presidents embarking on a "Tour of Consciousness," which carried their world vibes throughout the southwestern U.S.

by Kristi White

Among our native talent, The Presidents are probably the most well-known and most widely toured. The group's first highly-danceable album, ...WITH GUNS AND CANNONS AND THE BOOK, has been well received. In fact, this debut recording garnered a favorable review from Papa Pilgrim in a recent issue of The Beat. Last November, The Presidents were honored with an "AMBO Award" at the Arizona Music Conference in Tempe. The group's submission was recognized as one of the top twenty recording judged the best out of hundreds sent in by artists from all over the country.
Influenced by African and Jamaican music, The Presidents' world beat style has gained a large, devoted following. These rootsy and hard-working youngsters have incorporated native Filipino instruments and conscious, political messages in their lively, international sound. Don't miss the opportunity to hear The Presidents at Austin's SXSW music conference, where they are scheduled to headline the Cool Runnings friday night showcase at Mercado Caribe.

Cool Runnings
reggae news international
Volume 9, Issue 1 March/April 1992 - Cool Runnings reggae news international

...WITH GUNS AND CANNONS The Presidents have released their debut.

NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND

BY MARK LACY
DAILY COUGAR STAFF

The problem with revolutionaries today is that they call their movement a revolution and expect that others will join and make something happen. Instead, they should make something happen and let historians call it a revolution.
Not long ago, The Presidents performed at an anti-war demonstration where special interest groups crowded the community center at the Allen Parkway Village. "Revolutionary" organizations of every calling handed out literature to promote their special causes, while the Presidents performed for the few remaining who believed in common cause and could withstand the bombardment of special interest fliers.
The Presidents have always supported political activities from marches for Nelson Mandela to awareness of the environment with their performances, even though selfish interests of participants often crowd the agenda. the presidents always go about their business, playing their socially-conscious "crucial world rhythms" for the members of the audience who aren't selling memberships.
Giving their time and music without complaining has been a way of life for The Presidents. But while political activists in Houston have taken the band for granted so they can push their narrow versions of world politics, The Presidents have had something to say to a steadily growing audience for years -- something people who want their lives to be meaningful can understand through reggae and soca music.
...with guns and cannons and the Book The Presidents have begun their own movement. The record that was nearly a year in the making will finally debut at a record release party this Saturday at Fitzgerald's.
Last April, the group was set to put the final touches on an EP, but soon decided a full length record was in order. The band certainly deserved more for their years of hard work in the local music scene, as did the fans who supported them long before they were considered headliners in Houston.
Opening for touring acts such as The Bonedaddys and Pato Banton, The Presidents drew a large portion of the audience and could put on a show at least as competent as the headliners. Well-established Houston clubs finally took notice.
Once The Presidents became comfortable headlining shows, recording was the next logical step. With the large amount of material that didn't appear on ...with guns and cannons and the Book, it seems the next step should be a summertime release of a second record. As in demand as The Presidents' shows are, however,that probably won't happen. Recording is time-consuming and expensive, and if you believe guitarist/vocalist/perfectionist Rommel Eclarinal, a frustrating experience for the band. With nine members, it isn't easy for The Presidents to rehearse and record.
Unknowingly, the group outdid themselves and released one of the very top records in Houston. Another one may seem like an eternity away.
The eight-song recording proves the band's superior balance of musical ability and emphasis on lyrics. Every song is one that fans demand and take to heart, from "Johnny and Alicia" to "One Night."
As a bonus, ...with guns and cannons and the Book opens with traditional Filipino dialect before "Banawe" and concludes with the topical "Ethiopia." The record release party will likely feature added effects on teh audience favorite, "El Salvador."
While The Presidents aren't revolutionaries, their movement is strong. They only promote awareness, but the record offers more to fans than the group realizes -- a higher level of credibility for music in Houston.

the DAILY COUGAR
Vol. 57, No. 72
University of Houston
Wednesday, February 20, 1991
- the DAILY COUGAR

With a psychotic, trance-inducing pace, this anthemic reggae hymn employs little more than a few vocal sounds played repeatedly over a militant drum beat. True to form, the plodding, hypnotic bassline is incessant, the main reason this single will remain in your head long after you leave the dance floor. The B-side is a jazzy retrospective about life before Spanish colonialism, American democracy and chocolate candy became such a big part of life in the Caribbean.
--Christen McClellan

CMJ
NEW MUSIC REPORT
Great Neck, NY - CMJ NEW MUSIC REPORT

Dance Crucial, Dance the World
by O. Akindele

The Presidents are coming to the city and the people are reacting. The heads of the state of the seven wealthiest and the seven poorest nations of the world are coming to Houston for the Economic and the Other Economic Summit. And the political and social riddims of the Presidents has the people thinking, acting, and dancing. Be confused not, I write of three sets of presidents: (1) the presidents of the seven wealthiest nations. (2) the presidents of the seven poorest nations, and most importantly (3), The Presidents of crucial world rhythms.
In mid-June, 1990 I attended a fundraiser for The Other Economic Summit; the main attraction here was the Presidents of crucial world rhythms. The socio-political subject matter of their music had the people thinking, acting, and dancing. People were not dancing to the tunes of building funds for more arms in Europe or programs like Star Wars. Rather, they were singing along and dancing to the tunes of achieving social and political justices in the world.
This was the last President's performance I attended prior to this article. The first time I saw the Presidents in action was at "Asinamali", a musical fundraiser by the City of Houston Anti-Apartheid Team. Even then the presidents had the audience reacting positively.
The difference between then and now is that The Presidents have sharpened their sound musically and lyrically. Also,in their revolution against injustices, they have recruited a large audience, evolving into true freedom fighters as they vocally, musically, and rhythmically chant for equal rights, justice and freedom for the people of the world.
At the "Asinamali" performance, Rommel, the lead vocalist and guitarist, commented on the immorality of apartheid and The Presidents' willingness to be a part of the "revolution against apartheid." Indeed, The Presidents are revolutionary. Revolutionary in that their lyrics are potent and conscious, defying oppression in all forms, at home and abroad. Songs like "Angola", "Long Long", "El Salvador", and "ANC" defy political injustices abroad, and "Southwest Freeway" protests police brutality here, in Houston. Even more, the Presidents are revolutionary in that their crucial world rhythms are changing the music that Houston dances to. "What I most like about the band is that they do what they can to raise your consciousness and move your feet simultaneously," comments Chris Kemmerer of Houston's Public News.
The Presidents feel and know their music subject; with most of the members being from tha Philippines, they have history and experiences of political wrong doings to sing about. The band felt that reggae was the perfect avenue for their music, for reggae historically is great protest music. With reggae they believe that they can best achieve their goal, "to move and to educate."
Truly, the people are moving and skanking. The bass is there, the percussions are there, the sax is present and, most importantly, the lyrics eventually soak into the people. Nowhere in Houston have I observed a reggae band excite an audience in a non-reggae club like the Presidents do.
While changing the standard of dance music, the band itself is evolving. And in accordance with their music, calling for a change to better the world, their sound is changing to create a better Presidents. Now, The Presidents are: Rommel on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Dondon plays keyboards, and the recent addition of the First Ladies, Anne Marie and Laine as background vocalists.
At The Other Economic Summit fundraiser it became more apparent; I had noticed at prior performances that The Presidents are including less straight reggae and emphasizing more afro-beat in their performances. Since the first time I placed my eyes and ears on them, afro-beat, along with makossa, were present, but The Presidents were more a reggae band. Now they are a crucial world rhythm band with emphasis on African pop sounds. Koy, the bassist, states that they are not necessarily abandoning reggae, but, via reggae, they are focusing on the roots and culture of the African sounds. As to which African musicians influence their style: fela Anikulapo-Kuti's music is prevalent, King Sunny Ade, Ebenezer Obey, and Alpha Blondy's influences are also audible in their music.
How The Presidents play also has changed. Since the "Asinamali" show, practice has made almost perfect. Then, the lyrics were there, but their instrumentation was a bit harsh. The music and sounds were great ideas - much like the debut of the First Ladies was a good idea. But, with a smile, I one day envision the First Ladies becoming classics, like Bob Marley's "I-Threes".
Today, The Presidents', with the First Ladies' lyrics and music, are entertaining to listen to and definitely to dance to.
And as for the other presidents coming to Houston, as part of your Economic Summit Meeting why not lend your ears to some reggae - some of The Presidents, and hear what the world should focus on. One love, one world, one aim, the human race, not the arms race.

The Presidents' debut album, including many of their crucial tunes, will soon be released.

reggae news international
Cool Runnings
*
- July/August 1990
- Cool Runnings reggae news international

Here's a small-scale but perfect example of dance-hall's ability to provide instant gratification for the listener - that sort of feeling where, for either a few hours, days, weeks, or months, a catchy riff or beat can grab hold of you and pound everything else out of your head. Houston's Presidents use this insanely catchy and pummeling beat to introduce themselves (although they previously had a cassette-only LP) and the tactic works, as several New World reporting radio stations have discovered, including the Presidents in their playlist for several weeks now. The B-sides are a little less interesting to the strictly reggae listener, but are nonetheless a laudable fusion of world music styles and deserve airing. But it's clearly the A-side that's the winner here: It's the only thing on my turntable these days.

James Lien, Reggae Route

CMJ
NEW MUSIC REPORT
Great Neck, NY - CMJ NEW MUSIC REPORT Reggae Route

...Clint Black, King's X, Pierre and the Zydeco Dots, Ezra Charles, Keith York and the Presidents were all cinches to repeat last year's awards...
- R. Tuthill

BEST REGGAE BAND
The Presidents

6
PUBLIC NEWS
HOUSTON MUSIC POLL
MARCH 14, 1990 - PUBLIC NEWS

World-rhythm band growing

Saturday, march 3, is the last chance you'll get to see The Presidents before the band heads to Sugar Hill Recording Studio to work on its long- awaited first album. In Fact, it's the last chance that you'll have to see Houston's Best Reggae Band (Public News Readers Music Poll '89) before the band plays its headline spot at The Tunnel Club during Austin's huge SxSW music tourney.
In less than a year The Presidents have moved from the bottom to the top of the Houston reggae scene, becoming the best reggae/world music draw in the Houston market. It's no accident. The Presidents keep growing, annexing new musical pastures, adding depth and variety to the sound. You can expect to hear more new material from their crucial blend of reggae, soca, and funk at the upcoming Fitzgerald's show.
They have recently broadened their lineup to include The First Ladies, Laine and Anne Marie Scandalis, as backing vocalists.
Be aware that this is more than a rhythm band. The Presidents cover political ground as well. Whether it's freeing James Brown or putting an end to apartheid, some important messages are delivered. The motto: be conscious and dance.
If you don't come to dance your butt off and you're not listening to the band's varied social message, then just stop by to listen to the act that Houston will be talking about for quite a long while.

THE FITZHERALD
FITZGERALD'S The Music Magazine from The Original Roadhouse in the Heights
"Where Music Lives"
All the News That's Fitz'
Volume 8 No. 3
March 1990 - THE FITZHERALD

by Johnie Gillespie

Houston's Presidents spectate at Austin's Tunnel Club.

photo by D'Anne Hiskey

...My apologies to all the other good bands I missed at SXSW due to an uncooperative personal business schedule, particularly I-Tex, One Nation and the Presidents, all of who are targets for future features in this column...


Texas Beat
Vol. 1 No. 6 April 1990
FREE IN TEXAS - Texas Beat

The Presidents

PUBLIC NEWS
1989 Readers Music Poll
Houston, Texas - Public News Readers Music Poll '89

We've been in the business a while, so we know bands lie a lot. We always liked the Presidents' blend of reggae and other crucial world rhythms, and for some time we've billed them as Houston's best reggae group. We kept booking them upstairs on the weekends as the opening act for other bands (who will remain nameless). The guys in the band kept telling us that the hordes attending these shows were their fans. We scoffed. But we still loved the sound of the band.
So in late June things worked out such that we booked the presidents as the the headline act on a Saturday night. Well, we've been in business a few years now, but we don't know it all. That Saturday night proved to usthat the Presidents were right all along. They packed the house, played two searing sets, and left the crowd (and us) wanting more.
Things can sneak up on you, Houston. Right here on our own turf, the Presidents have grown into one of the best interpreters of fresh, contemporary reggae. Their music has always been great, and keeps on developing. But in the music business, like any other business, the bottom line is public acclaim. When people like the product - that means something. And lots of people like the Presidents.
If you like reggae and World Beat music, and you haven't heard the Presidents, you need to. You'll have a chance when they headline the show upstairs at Fitzgerald's on Saturday, August 19.

THE FITZHERALD
All the News That's Fitz' to Print
Volume 7 No. 8
August 1989
FITZGERALD'S
The Original Texas Roadhouse in the Heights - THE FITZHERALD

BEST WORLD MUSIC BAND
The Presidents

PUBLIC NEWS
Houston Music Poll
September 2, 1992 - PUBLIC NEWS Houston Music Poll

- The Presidents- The members of the Presidents came from the Phillipines to Houston to attend college and stayed to form a reggae/world beat band which is now the hottest on the scene. Voted best in Houston, the Presidents' music has an oriental slant to it which again demonstrates just how eclectic the world beat can be.

Texas beat
FREE IN TEXAS
MARCH 1990
VOL. 1 NO. 5 - Texas beat

The Presidents

1990 Houston Scene Awards - HOUSTON SCENE

The Presidents ...with guns and cannons and the Book - Arizona Music Conference 1991

$49.99

Item specifics
Speed: 33 RPM
Duration: LP

Record Size: 12"
Genre: World Music

The Presidents - With Guns and Cannons and the Book LP
Montserrat Records (US)

Description: A surprising college radio hit almost 15 years later!! Super tough to find

Year/Label/Number: 1991/Montserrat Records/MON 1001

Conditions:

Jacket/Sleeve: VG (wobc)

Vinyl: VG

Track Listing:

A1. Banawe
A2. Johnny and Alicia
A3. C.I.A.
A4. Long Long Time
B/W
B1. Assassination
B2. El Salvador
B3. One Night
B4. Ethiopia.

there is a tiny bit of glare from the camera at the bottom of the photo, its not a defect in the cover.......

Visit store: Revolver Records Arizona

Item location: Phoenix, Arizona, United States - ebay

Rhonda Meredith, Houston Concert Photography Examiner April 15, 2010

How a band came together is always entertaining to know...
The Presidents beginnings are very interesting...to say the least...

"Organizing meetings and marching in protests were no longer a sufficient level of democratic participation for us – now we had to bring the music."

“In 1985, the anti-Marcos dictatorship movement was about to reach its crescendo in the Philippines. A leading member of the Students Christian Movement from the Philippines was touring US campuses speaking about the anti-dictatorship peaceful resistance,” says Kokoy Severino (bass). At this lecture, Severino met Rommel Eclarinal (guitar, lead vocals) and formed a friendship that has lasted to the present.

“We went on to form the first Filipino students association in the history of UT, organizing events, meetings and discussions. Through my friendship with Rommel, I was brought into his jam sessions with Jaceldo brothers [Ray (drums), Caesar (congas, percussion, kulintang, vocals), and Ted (keyboard)]” notes Severino.“In 1988, Rommel, Ray and I decided to move into a house together in the Houston Heights, and our lives took a drastic turn, as we found ourselves jamming for hours on end into the morning every single night. We wrote songs voraciously, and played them in endless meditative rhythmic streams.”

"Our songs became our outlet for expressing our anger towards the legacies of colonialism and historical injustice, and our vision of peace and liberation."

The Presidents’ members also included Oliver Eclarinal (saxophone, keyboard), Laine Scandalis (vocal, percussion, congas), and Anne Marie Scandalis (vocal, shekere).

The band released an album and maintained a grueling extensive tour while holding down their day jobs for over four years. It got to a point where life happened and The Presidents’ members went their separate ways.

Until...EIGHTEEN YEARS LATER...

Mark Lacy, the Executive Director of the Houston Institute for Culture, asked The Presidents to headline the “Celebrate Houston!” festival last November.

Now, The Presidents continue to bring the music to the masses. Just recently, they performed at the Continental Club. Their music can’t really be classified into only one genre. They play reggae and explore many other rhythmic styles as well – including afrobeat, zouk, juju, soca, Igorot.

This highly talented band performed a beautiful song called “Cotabato” with lyrics in “Tagalog” and the song featured a brass instrument called the “kulintang”. Severino adds this about the song, “Cotabato is the name of a province in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao that has seen centuries of strife between its Muslim and Christian communities. The song is actually an afrobeat, but we fused it with a Southeast Asian rhythm. The lyrics are in Tagalog, the national language of the Philippines, and express a vision in which religious faith should not be a source of conflict, but rather a powerful foundation for unity and reconciliation.”

"It’s interesting that many of the songs we wrote in the late 80’s to early 90’s are so much more socially relevant today than they ever were."

Severino goes on to add, “Some things have changed, so we choose not to play certain songs because they would be kind of moot - the anti-apartheid material for example. But some conditions unfortunately have worsened – there is now a household phrase for kidnapping and torture – extraordinary rendition; there is still widespread starvation caused by civil war in east Africa; and there is still a great deal of inequity in the Philippines. To express these things is one of the reasons why we want to play this music again.”

The Presidents' music is so beautiful that it's haunting. It's music you will find yourself thinking about days after...

examiner.com - examiner

Only 1 left in stock--order soon. The press kit photo measures 8 x 10 inches approximately and is in mint condition. Price: $30.00
In Stock. Ships from and sold by Rhythmhound U.S.A..
- amazon