Tenor Blue grew up in the famed Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. He was inexplicably drawn to soul music in his childhood years: acts like Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, Earth, Wind & Fire, The O’Jays and The Whispers. In high school, Tenor was introduced to reggae through a friend of his father’s who gave him a Bob Marley and a Black Uhuru album to listen to and his perspective on music was forever changed. From that point forward, reggae became his heartbeat.
He immersed himself in the sounds of Steel Pulse, Third World, Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown, Sugar Minott, Sly & Robbie, Lee “Scratch” Perry, The Mighty Diamonds, U-Roy, Culture and many others.
Tenor relocated to Los Angeles to finish college and picked up on the growing Hip-Hop/Ragga scene of the era. He began to play around writing songs to reggae instrumentals and to gradually hone his craft as a songwriter. Connecting with producers, he began to form his own sound, combining his love for great songwriting and melodies with raw tracks that blended elements of Hip-Hop, R&B, Reggae and Dancehall to create a flavor that was sonically relevant yet uniquely his own.
He began hitting clubs around the city to grab the mic and flash his style. L.A. was bubbling, Hip-Hop was coming up and Reggae was making its way into the mainstream. Tenor continued to write and record with a variety of producers in L.A. and eventually found his way into a contract with PMP, a subsidiary of RCA/Loud Records. But after a year working on his project, the album was never released and Tenor returned home to San Francisco to regroup.
After a stint back in his hometown, with the cost of living skyrocketing and with a child now in his life, it was time for a change and Florida called. So he packed up the car with his wife and newborn son and drove across the country. When he arrived, what he walked into was a hotbed of reggae and one of the biggest West Indian communities in the world. He went out and found reggae bands everywhere, and with that an opportunity to step up and flash his skills as a reggae singer. It wasn’t long before he was linking with other bands, producers and back in the studio recording.
Over the years, Tenor Blue has worked with a host of producers and shared the stage with numerous reggae legends including John Holt, Gregory Isaacs, Frankie Paul, Barrington Levy, Marcia Griffiths, Cocoa Tea, Glen Washington, Etana and many more.
Tenor Blue is an artist to the core, but more importantly he’s a human being of flesh and blood, a lover, a warrior, a man of faith and a man of the people. He cares deeply for those around him and has a heart that beats for God and his fellow man. He believes in love, justice, equality, righteousness and the inherent value of life. He has been through ups and downs, felt joy and pain and has seen poverty and plenty. Through all this he’s managed to hold on to his spirit and passion for life. His latest single “Get It While It’s Hot” has now entered the South Florida Top 25 Chart in the number 21 spot.
These experiences and his genuine heart drive the themes in his music–light, love, heartache, struggle, redemption, faith, hope and overcoming adversity. Tenor’s songs reflect the deepest realities of the human condition and take us through dry valleys and up to snow-capped mountaintops. Spanning the breadth of reggae’s diverse soundscape and seamlessly weaving in a variety of influences including R&B, Pop, Jazz and Global sounds, Tenor Blue is creating music not for a moment, a specific genre or any one culture, but music with a message for the world to enjoy today, tomorrow and years to come.
You must log in to post a comment.