| BY KEVIN JACKSON— Observer writer— |
WHILE working on his third solo album, Positive Vibrations, singer Gramps Morgan said winning a Grammy was the furthest from his mind.
In an interview with the Jamaica Observer, Gramps said he wanted to inspire music lovers with his latest body of work, released on July 23 via Halo Entertainment (distributed by Sony).
“I’m really not hoping for anything. I really wanted to bring back the smile to Jamaican music; songs to make you think of our beautiful country, songs that make you remember people like Harry Belafonte, Byron Lee and the Dragonaires, Toots and The Maytals, and The Heptones,” said Morgan.
“As far as a Grammy nomination, you never know what to expect. We make music and hope to achieve the highest heights in our industry but the most important thing for me is for the people to hear, feel and understand the music,” he continued.
Morgan (real name Roy Morgan) is a member of sibling band Morgan Heritage. The outfit won the Grammy for Best Reggae Album in 2016 for Strictly Roots. Two years later, the act secured a nomination for Avrakedabra.
Morgan’s other outings are: 2009’s 2 Sides of My Heart, Vol 1; and 2012’s Reggae Music Lives, which peaked at 12 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart.
He explained the inspiration behind the 15-track project.
“The inspiration behind the album was simply a lot of time on my hand to make myself a better person a better musician but most of all a better songwriter and through becoming better at songwriting. I discovered that the world needs some more sunshine some more positivity with all of the things going on in the world today,” Morgan explained.
In June last year, Morgan scored a chart-topping single with People Like You. In January, he followed up with Runaway Bay, while A Woman Like You topped charts in May. All three songs are included on Positive Vibrations.
Scottish songwriter/producer Johnny Reid, who is based in Nashville, Tennessee, is the main producer for Positive Vibrations.
Among the musicians who worked on the project are Jamaicans Kino Newby, Sean Mark Darson, Chris Meredith, Michael Johnson and Kenroy ‘Short Man” Mullings. Musicians from Nashville also contributed to the project.
Asked how different this album was compared to his two previous solo efforts, Morgan said, “The biggest difference with this project compared to my other albums are that the quality of the recording is on another level. I thought I have seen it all but working with someone like Johnny Reid really open my eyes; there’s so much room to grow in this music you can never think you have reached your limit. For me as a vocalist the biggest thing was hearing my voice on a US$3,000 microphone compared to a US$25,000 microphone. It still blows my mind to this day listening back to the quality of the vocals in the production. It was just on another level.”
And how has he evolved musically between albums?
“I have grown so much between each album; this is my third solo album and each time I thought I couldn’t do the last God has showed me a way. With this album I’ve had this sound in my mind for many years. But for sure I’ve definitely become a better songwriter and like I told most people, it’s not every songwriter can be an artiste and it’s not every artiste is a great songwriter so this has truly made me better,” Gramps explained.
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