Dub poet, singer, and songwriter Michael St. George will be the special musical guest performer at an African dinner being hosted by the high school group Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE).
A native of Jamaica who is currently based in Toronto, St. George inspires audiences with perceptive lyrics and melodic sound fusing reggae, jazz, and pop influences.
"I am thrilled that Michael St. George will be performing at the African Dinner hosted by Students Against Violence Everywhere, The Meaford Grannies, The Grey Grannies, and the C4YC on May 29th at The Marsh Street Center," said Fran Bouwman, one of the leaders of the Community 4 Youth Coalition (C4YC) helping to organize the event that will money for the The Stephen Lewis Foundation.
"The first time I saw Michael St. George perform was in 2005 at Kimbercote Farm during Earth Day celebrations. A group of us gathered in the barn where we curled up under blankets and waited, not knowing what to expect. I'm a huge fan of live music and especially of seeing someone new (to me) perform... you never know if you're about to experience something truly amazing."
Bouwman says she was "slightly impatient" as she watched St. George milling about, making sure everything was set up properly.
"I was immediately struck by his presence. Michael is a tall man with spectacular dreadlocks. His clothes are loose fitting and colourful. His movements are refined and flowing. When he is introduced to a person he shakes their hand with both of his. His warmth and authenticity is intimidating, especially to a Dutch girl like me. I now waited with anticipation. I thought to myself,
"Hey, maybe something is going to happen here."'
And it did. I was transported into a world of music and poetry that triggered almost all of my senses. My mind was shaken out of mediocrity and I felt fantastically alive. "Truly amazing!"
Michael St. George has been very busy since Bouwman saw him last. He was awarded with the Ontario Federation of Labour Art and Culture Award for outstanding contribution to his field in 2005. In 2006 he became a Professor at Brock University teaching drama education and society Dub style.
Dub is a form of music which evolved out of reggae in the 1960s. The dub sound consists predominantly of instrumental remixes of existing recordings and is achieved by significantly manipulating and reshaping the recordings, usually by removing the vocals from an existing music piece, emphasizing the drum and bass frequencies or 'riddim', adding extensive echo and reverb effects, and dubbing occasional snippets of lyrics from the original version.
His work was selected for a documentary entitled Speaking in tongues - The History of Language with the renowned Noam Chomsky. He is now in Japan with the TAP Project, an integrated arts venture for students. St.George created and first featured this program for 110 students in Jamaica in 2007. On top of all these incredible contributions, Michael St. George is completing his fourth album, entitled The Ital Suite.
This event will take place on May 29th at the Marsh Street Center in Thornbury. Tickets are only $20. For more information please contact either Amber (519) 599-7027 or Laura (519) 538-3257.
