Reggae Time WebZine
(review from Italy) - by Ras Walter
Seefari (real name Tom Carroll) is a very interesting
Rasta reggae singer from Ohio, USA, an authentic veteran of the
independent American scene with an incredible number of appearances at
festival and gigs all over the years. In his almost two decades long
career he has earned the fame of great live entertainer and has
imprinted his reggae with a particular and recognizable character -
while known for his covers of classic roots tunes too -. His
astonishing debut album entitled 'Dread pon Da Scene' released on his
own label Upful Sound, showcases Tom handling with effect the whole
instrumentation by himself alone giving birth to a particular style, a
sort of 'synthetic' reggae, realized in most parts using electronic
keys and instrumentation. Seefari's reggae ranges with effectiveness
from roots to dancehall and his original vocal style - imbued with
great sweetness and communicativeness - which often digresses into
sing-jaying, perfectly interacts with his essential, pulsating and
electric riddims. I can't make comparisons with other names in reggae
because Seefari is an highly original stylist with strong abilities in
song writing: 'Dread Pon da Scene' includes two cover tunes (Bob
Marley's' Positive Vibration' and Van Morrison's 'Tupelo Honey') but
are his own compositions - all with original lyrics and melodies -
that attract us the most. Among them my favorites are the title track
- a truly original dancehall tune - 'Reggae Music Haffe Gwaan', 'RastaRebel',
'Seek Jah Kingdom' and I Love Jah' - the latter a beautiful and sweet
tune showing Seefari's heartical chant about his deep devotion to Jah.
Recently Upful Sounds has released the pre-release cd 'I and I',
another very interesting chapter of Seefari's electronic reggae here
evolved in a sort of 'cyberroots' of great potential.
Niceup.com -
I&I CD
Seefari is Tom
Carroll, an American solo artist with strong Rastafarian beliefs and a
taste for both roots and dancehall-flavored rhythms. No other
musicians are credited on this album, and if that means that he's
played all the keyboard parts himself, then that's a pretty impressive
accomplishment; he writes good lyrics and very good tunes, and while
the all-electronic backing tracks are a little bit on the sterile side
there's a warmth and genuineness to his delivery that counteract it
nicely. Not every song is a success, and one or two are overlong. But
this album can be recommended overall.
Note: keyboards
on I&I: Yacob (Michael Shepherd),
produced by
SEEFARI (Tom Carroll) and Yacob (Michael Shepherd)
