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Current mood:  productive Category: Music
Benjy Myaz takes two years for 'Higher' start Published: Sunday | August 30, 2009 Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer Myaz stays 'Hooked' on dancehall Published: Sunday | August 30, 2009 Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer  Recording Love You Higher took Benjy Myaz a year. And actually getting around to releasing it took another year. Then another year passed before it was released on his debut album, Intimate Relationship.Still, that three-year period, from recording in 1994 to including the Randy Crawford remake on the musician turned vocalist's (but still very much the musician) first full-length album in 1997, falls short of the time Myaz was singing Love You Higher on the north coast circuit.He had been delivering the song on the cabaret circuit since 1986. And to say that he put the song down on tape is not quite accurate. It did get to tape eventually (Tony Holness played Love You Higher from cassette when it was first played on the radio), but Myaz recorded the song the digital way at 93 East Studio in downtown Kingston."It was done at the only digital studio in Jamaica at the time," Myaz said, crediting Trevor Bailey for getting him into digital recording.He took his time recording and releasing Love You Higher as "it was my first piece (as a vocalist) coming out. It was important to get all the elements together". Those included jazz, R&B and rootsreggae "as well as listening to the voice over and over again to make sure"."It was important to get it right," Myaz emphasised to The Sunday Gleaner.He had long had the arrangement pat when he started recording, but called in Paul Kastick to programme the drums just right (Myaz points out that there is a 'Bob Marley style' at the beginning), Andrew Simpson played rhythm and R&B-style guitars, while he played bass guitar and keyboards, with additional keyboards by Christopher Birch. Junior Jazz did the backing vocals.The mixing was done with Lynford 'Fatta' Marshall at Mixing Lab, where the saxophone was done by Howard Messam. Then came the next year before Myaz finally released Love You Higher."It was mixed and in my vehicle for about a year. I was still playing bass, travelling with Jimmy Cliff," Myaz said. And there was something else. "I was learning the song as well, how to sing it on the real reggae rock, not the north coast," Myaz said.hit on his handsIt was generation next which made him realise that he had a hit on his hands, as his daughter started picking up on the chorus.After Tony Holness debuted Love You Higher on radio from a cassette, Myaz did a 'test press' of the song, cutting six records and sending them out without labels. When Donovan Dacres played the song in a Mystery Voice feature on JBC Radio One, nobody could guess who the singer was.Love You Higher, released on Valentine's Day, 1996, properly labelled and all, quickly made an impact and has gone on to be an enduring love song in the annals of Jamaican music. It did not hit the upper echelons of the charts, though, Myaz saying that it moved in stages from number 40 to just under the top 10.And was stopped by payola - or the lack thereof."I did not get involved because I did not have the resources or the intention to take my career like that," Myaz told The Sunday Gleaner, adding that he does not believe he should spend money to produce a good quality song and then pay more to have it played on radio.chasing the creativityAnd he pointed that "I have never been one to watch the charts that way", explaining that for him, music was not just about what was popular. A slogan on his website states "chasing the creativity, not the competition".Myaz said he was "very fortunate and happy" to not only meet Randy Crawford, but to also perform with her in 2002 at Jamaica House, where "I did my second verse and she did her first verse". While that performance was "intimate", the 2000 Reggae Sumfest International Night performance was "wow!""People kept stopping the song, kept pulling up," Myaz said. And a scrapbook shot on his website shows a newspaper clipping of Myaz, hand in the air, under the headline 'Sumfest 2000 ends on high note'."And that song is still getting forward," Myaz said. <<<<<<>>>>>>>> Myaz stays 'Hooked' on dancehall Published: Sunday | August 30, 2009 Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer Benjy Myaz said when he recorded Love You Higher, "I ended up playing not live bass, but synthesiser bass". It was a strategic move to keep the song relevant to the dancehall.Myaz makes it clear that for him, dancehall is not a beat, but a space, and Love You Higher is a dancehall song. So is Hooked On You, his new song which will be released in mid-September. "We have done the video and we are very excited," Myaz told The Sunday Gleaner. In addition, he says it has been getting good rotation on a number of radio stations.live musicIn the mid-1990s, when Myaz was recording Love You Higher, he says the digitised Steelie and Cleavie sound was closing out and live music was coming back to the forefront. Myaz chose to go with what was seeming to fade, rather than the sound that was apparently on the rise."I wanted to stay in the dancehall. I wanted to put the sound system vibe into it," Myaz said. He said that Time is another street hit that got a lot of play in the dancehall, while Show Your Lovehad a different feel.He has put another influence into one mix of Hooked On You, as "I've been listening to a lot of dub in recent years". These include songs by Agustus Pablo, Sly and Robbie and Scientist. So he has done a 'radio bounce' of the song for the airwaves and a 'street bounce' for the sound systems."This particular mix is a reflection of where my mind was," Myaz said.And his mind is not going back to what he could have done to make Love You Higher any better, as "I would not change Love You Higher for anything". Still, "there are things I could have sung better".Myaz said he has learnt "to be bothered more by my expression than my notes. Some people are perfect, but have no feeling. I am still a perfect pitch person in my ears, but I have learnt to let go of that".And then there are the fans, who will merrily sing along, feeling expression much more than note-perfect singing.- Mel Cooke
4:14 PM
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