Systemwide Live at the Festival International De Jazz De Montreal
Studio experimentation and roots reggae don’t always make a tasteful melange, but Systemwide manages to […]
Studio experimentation and roots reggae don’t always make a tasteful melange, but Systemwide manages to straddle the line between live music and mixing board. The band’s leisurely instrumentals and geist resonances are an anodyne for any dub-head weary of cocktail hour downtempo and club-style fluff. In Live at the Festival International de Jazz Montreal Systemwide re-captures the populist spirit of dub with “Burning Dub,” a languorous adaptation of The Wailer’s “Burning and Looting,” and “Ripe Up,” a paean to marijuana. Blending African percussion with syncopated melodica, Systemwide oscillates between energetic drum & bass and chilled one-drop beats.