Leroy taught him how to sing the harmonies of the Heptones, this led R.Zee to start singing background vocals and playing percussion R.Zee Jackson, later on he became some what of the Band Leader. Half of the year the band was on the road touring and most of the other six months they were in the Studios making music for a number of producers and other artistes. They also did a lot of live TV appearances with CTIY TV, MUCH TV, radio shows, concerts, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, hotel gigs, fairs, biker initiations. They were the driving force for Reggae in Canada.
R.Zee Jackson and the Ital Groove was the backing band for most of the Reggae artists coming out of Jamaica & England who performed in Canada. The Groove worked with Sugar Minott, Johnny Osbourne, John Holt, Horace Andy, Bob Andy, The I-Threes (Marcia Griffiths, Ken Booth, Cornell Campbell, Lynval Thompson, Gregory Isaacs, Josey Wales, Leroy Brown, Chaka Demus, Frankie Paul, Half Pint, Junior Soul (Penny For Your Song fame), King Yellowman, Delroy Wilson, Trevor Ranking, Carlene Davis, Barbara Jones, Carol Brown, the late Phyllis Dillon, Dobby Dobson, I-Roy, U-Roy and a host of other local Jamaican artistes, who lived and toured Canada and the United States.
In the late 80s the whole music scene changed; in Europe there was the emergence of the two tone (ska band like Madness, Selectors) and the punk rock band began making headway onto the scene. The promoters and booking agents for Reggae artists and shows scaled back their financial investments into these shows and began spending more money on the new arrivals on the emerging scene (Reggae was once something that was used to open and kick doors open, but after the users got in, they forgot about the grass roots,; e.g., magazines, newspapers, disc jockeys, promoters, they all would use Reggae because that was always something everyone wanted to hear, but as soon as they were established they left Reggae in the dust).
With promoters cutting back on the cash, and jumping on the bandwagon, shows had to downsize and scale down, with that whenever Leroy would be booked for gigs, he would sometimes have to leave the band behind and take only the background singers and sometimes none at all. The band consisted of five musicians Benbow Creary on trap drums, Anthony Jah T Hibbert on Bass guitar, Herbert Pitters Esq. on keyboards & synthesizer, Tony Campbell on lead guitar, Mikey on rhythm guitar, R.Zee Jackson, engineer/percussionist/vocals and Leroy Sibbles Star & lead vocal. Later two background singers were added. Leroy would head out with the background singers for these gigs. Some of the show promoters could not pay and others did not want to pay for the backing band. However many times Leroy insisted on performing with his own band.
The band had to come to a decision as to how they were going to earn an income during these down times. That was how "The Groove aka JAMAFRICA" (sometimes called the Hit Squad with leader FATCAT, just changing some of the musicians here and there). They were the money band playing to the highest bidder. It was during this time that R.Zee Jackson recorded his first studio album "Seat Up" R. Zee Jackson (Rio 1006) Distributed in Canada by Trend Records/Mango.
"LEROY SIBBLES & ITAL GROOVE" or "R. ZEE & THE GROOVE" would tour all over United States and Canada from Quebec right across prairies to British Columbia. R.Zee Jackson opened shows and shared stage with Adrian Belew, B.B. Gabor, Peter Tosh, Sly & Robbie, the Mighty Diamonds, The Wailers, Gil Scott Heron, Bow Wow Wow, Steel Pulse, Selectors, Toots & the Maytals, the original Black Uhuru, opening shows for Freddie Jackson, Shabba Ranks, Cocoa Tea, just to name a few, and a host of other top acts in the business even some young Rap artists.
In 1980s, a significant change happened in the industry. A lot of younger artistes started making hits so the band had to learn all the new rhythms coming out of Jamaica and England just to stay abreast with the changes in the industry. The band started traveling out further and making more contacts as they went along. Eventually, everyone in the band started venturing into their own projects such as their own production studios, and having their own bands, to play back the music they were producing. After a while because of our various schedules and projects the band disintegrated.
R.Zee saw that there was a lack of administrative prowess in the reggae music industry so he decided to attend Trebas Institute (www.trebas.com) in the 1990s. While at Trebas R. Zee majored in Music Business Administration and earned a diploma in 1996.
His other studies included Audio Engineering & Production, Television & Film Production. Throughout his career as a musician/producer/songwriter/artist, R. Zee has won several Producer of the Year awards from Cheer DJ Pool from 1980 to 1982 and for Best CD/Cassette for "Unda Di Struggle" from the Canadian Reggae Music Award; demonstrating that he is not only a successful recording artist and musician, but also a versatile all round stalwart in the reggae music industry. R.Zee Jackson had owned his studio in Toronto on Eglinton Avenue at Dufferin called DubWorld Audio Visual HQ. Where the specialization was cutting dubplates for sound systems with Big Roy at the control. Voicing specials, recording new beats, audio visual production, and band rehearsal was all part of the daily schedule at Dub World, which later became Sniper Dub Studio.
R.Zee Jackson was account executive for Imaaj Music handling Cocoa Tea products for (Roaring Lion) and was V.P for Marketing at Kings of Kings Inc. While at Kings of Kings, R. Zee Jackson aka Castro P. was responsible for putting together over thirteen compilations which were marketed to both major and independent labels across the world; labels such as EMI, BMG, Nocturne, and S2S Records Japan among others. The album projects included 'Blaze Up the Chalwa' by Sizzla Kalonji (Jetstar UK); 'Martial Arts Part 1 & 2', 'Bad Company' - Various Artists,' C-4' - Various Artists (Greensleeves); 'Dancehall Rock' - Various Artists (VP Records USA); 'Dancehall Gold Vol. 1' - Various Artists (Kings of Kings); 'World Crisis' - Norris Man (Jetstar/Kings of Kings); 'Comfort My People' - Chrisinti (VP Records).
Jackson directed Iley Dread's music video "Mamma" produced and had technical credits on the Kings of Kings Family Tour DVD. Being at the head of the public relations machinery he was able to make inroads for Kings of Kings in Europe, North America and the Caribbean. As tour manager on many of the annual Kings of Kings Family tours, that featured Norris Man, Admiral Tibet, Louie Culture, Chrisinti, Genie Slick, which toured the USA West Coast, East Coast and Canada. He designed and strategized the marketing plan for merchandising, posters, t-shirts, stickers, buttons, etc. Castro Pink served as Road Manager on Bushman European Tour which traveled to Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium and the U.K., supported by the Gumption Band; Cocoa Tea/Glen Washington European Tour, and a team player on the 2004 'For the Love of It Tour' featuring Beres Hammond, Marcia Griffiths, Maxi Priest, Iley Dread, Ginja, the Harmony House Singers and the Harmony House Band.
R. Zee has several albums under his belt that include Yellow Hammer du Reggae, Lyrics and the critically acclaimed Seat Up and Unda Di Struggle for which he won Top Reggae CD/Album at the Canadian Reggae Music Awards. His latest album "Trodding" has been receiving serious airplay in the U.K. and Europe. His album "Trodding" was produced by Mike Brooks of Teams, and his latest single called "War Monger" on the Skylarking Rhythm track (2006) is also on the Teams label distributed out of Jamaica, right now its available internationally at Ernie B's Reggae, California (www.ebreggae.com). Another recent unreleased single "My Cristina" written and performed by R.Zee Jackson and produced by Bill Campbell of World Sounds, London England is set to be another hit. R.Zee has also done some tracks for Gussie P/Sip-A-Cup label out of South London, England. "Come Now Father", " Revelation" and "Africa" just to name a few from an upcoming album (TBA).
After a hiatus from performing and producing to indulge in administration, R.Zee Jackson has returned and is ready to get his feet wet as a singer, songwriter and musician. He has completed several tracks with Singer/Producer Mike Brooks and Engineer/Producer Gussie P. Some of the tracks have already been released and have been in great demand by his old fans as well as hosts of newly garnered converts to the school of R.Zee. Jackson are anxious to work with both old and new musicians, producers and artists; he is quite eager to explore previously unchartered genres and territories such New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii, Brazil, Japan and Ethiopia. He is to and fro from the United Kingdom, Canada and Jamaica. He is currently working with New Creation Records USA and is frequent on the NYC live circuit and hopefully will spread his wings further shortly. He is available to begin this odyssey with any Real Reggae band/Artists who may share a similar interest.
www.rzeejackson.com
www.kingsofkingsinc.com
www.myspace.com/dubworld
Look out for the Dub Master Album
www.myjamaicanmusic.com
MJM Presents Recession Beater",Album (TBA)
Produced and Mixed by Gussie P of Sip-A-Cup On... My Jamaican Music (MJM) label.
For Dub Plate Sessions, Club Gigs, Festivals, Film, Collaborations with Live Bands & Dancehall Sessions!!!
e-mail:[email protected]
Contact: [email protected]
CHECK OUT R.ZEE JACKSON'S BRAND NEW 7" ON TEAMS LABEL "WAR MONGER" (SKYLARKING RHYTHM) AVAILABLE AT all leading records Shop
Download killer Free Recording Software at Studio Buddy, and learn how to make your home recordings the best they can be.