Thirteen years and seven albums after starting the Groundation adventure, its leader Harrison Stafford launches his first solo project, "Madness". It is a first record under the name Professor, a reference to his position as a professor (he teaches reggae history) at a Californian university, and its theme is anything but light. Written during his trip to the West Bank, "Madness" tackles the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and, rarer still, takes the Palestinian point of view. It was a meeting with a Palestinian poet, who explained to him that reggae is considered pro-Israeli music in Palestine, that decided Stafford to embark on the project. There have been less risky subjects on which to start a solo career.
"Madness" is built as the antithesis of Groundation: more roots, less adventurous, and placing more emphasis on melodies. More Jamaican, in short. Recorded in seven days between April and September 2010 at Harry J studio, then mixed and mastered in Kingston, "Madness" was crafted with a battery of local legends as musical guarantors: drummer Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace (already present on "Rockamovya"), Flabba Holt, the Roots Radics bassist, Lloyd "Obeah" Denton on keyboards, and Dalton Brownie on guitar. As guests, U-Roy, Winston McAnuff, Bernard Collins (The Abyssinians) and Ashanti Roy Johnson (the baritone of The Congos) take turns behind the microphone. It departs from the long jazzy improvisations and favours short formats (Roller Coaster, with Bernard Collins, lasts two minutes). But it does not disown the Groundation touch, starting with the depth of its subject.
On such a divisive subject, Harrison Stafford adopts the necessary detachment and opts for humanism, sending out a message of peace. The title track, Madness, sends both camps back to back: madness reigns in the Middle East. "We are not here to hate but only to defend the free choices of the will of Men". East Jerusalem, with its gentle syncopated melody, evokes the wandering of the Palestinian people: "Politicians do all they can but cannot imagine how much people have lost their minds, so much do they need a home" before the haunting chorus returns: "East Jerusalem is cold at night, we dream of a home."
With such depth of content and perfection of form, there is only one flaw to be found in Stafford's first solo project: its short running time. In this too, it resembles its Jamaican models of the 1970s, with only eight tracks and their respective dubs (crafted by Rob Cross, a childhood friend from California). But it would be wrong to stop there: "Madness" is indeed an undeniable success, and not only for Groundation fans.
