LOS ANGELES-BASED ROOTS SINGER RAS TEO, RELEASES HIS SEVENTH ALBUM “TEN THOUSAND LIONS!”

AN avid disciple of roots-reggae, singer Ras Teo is also a student of the Rastafarian movement. For his seventh album, Ten Thousand Lions, he revisited a tragic incident that took place in Jamaica 56 years ago.

Bad Friday, one of the songs from the album that was released in June, recalls the Coral Gardens standoff on Good Friday, 1963 that resulted in the deaths of eight persons including two police officers and three Rastafarians. It sparked even more discrimination against the burgeoning Rasta movement, which first emerged in Kingston during the 1930’s.

“As a youth and till now I read a lot of books and that’s how I read about the incident. I was very sad when I was reading about it and I felt I had to do a tune about it,” said Ras Teo.

Born Teodik Hartoonian in Uppsala, Sweden, Ras Teo has lived in the United States since 1996. Based in Los Angeles, he worked with producer Roberto Sanchez of Spain on Ten Thousand Lions, a double set that has 12 vocal songs and as many dub versions.

All, including Bad Friday and the mid-tempo Hitey Titey, have the stripped-down roots sound that made reggae an international force during the 1970’s. It is a feel Ras Teo first discovered at age 12 in Sweden, listening to acts like Fred Locks and Hugh Mundell.

“My sound is roots, rock, reggae, with reverence for the golden era, that authentic roots-reggae sound from the late ‘70’s. I seek the ethereal and strive for the celestial. That’s why I linked up with the maestro Roberto Sanchez from Santander, Spain to make this vision a reality,” he said.

Sanchez, who has worked with influential roots acts such as singer Earl Zero and singer/producer Linval Thompson, assembled a cast of Spanish musicians for Ten Thousand Lions. He and Ras Teo were scheduled to highlight songs from the set during two shows in Jamaica, the first at Kingston Dub Club on September 22.

It is Ras Teo’s second visit to Jamaica. His first was in 2015 when he did recording sessions with roots-reggae legends including drummer Leroy “Horsemouth” Wallace and percussionist Bongo Herman.