Press for Andew Jones ‘Obeah’ blesses the Spirit House (Nassau Tribune, February 15 2002) Bahamian and his band on nation’s rhythms for ‘Cat Island Sessions’ album As far as Andrew Jones is concerned, the presence of Obeah proved a blessing rather than a curse. For he and his band, Spirit House, are releasing their third album, Cat Island Sessions, next Saturday, complete with the influences of Obeah Man and the rhythms and passions of island life. As it’s name implies, the album was conceived and produced in Cat Island, which Jones describes as the birthplace of the Obeah Man, Tony McKay himself. "Part of it was certainly because of Tony McKay," he recalls. "He had often talked about his dream of recording in Cat Island. Then, in October of 2000, I was there and it came to me that the next CD I was going to record would be Bahamian music, and that I was going to record it in Cat Island." Other major influences on the album were reported to be the spirits of Joseph Spence and Blind Blake, with its composition taking inspiration from life’s ebb and flow, mixing the painful with the tender and quiet ecstasy. Among the tracks included on Cat Island Sessions are ‘Run Come See Jerusalem’ and ‘Obeah Man,’ as well as new originals such as ‘Billy Goat Drink Clear Water,’ ‘Biggitty Man,’ and ‘Nothing Deeper Than Love.’ "Artists have a responsibility to speak about tribulation, about life and death issues, to give comment on these things and to give people a way of bearing up," Jones says. "‘Run Come See Jerusalem’ is happening every day on our shores with our Haitian neighbours, who are drowning at sea in their search for a place to live. I myself am hungry for the affirmation that exists in that song. It speaks of tragedy and mortality, which each of us faces, as well as immortality of the spirit. It is one of the greatest spirituals of all time and I’m humbled and honoured to sing it." Born in Nassau on November 6, 1960, as the fifth and youngest child of Roger and Peggy Jones, an American couple who moved to the Bahamas in the middle 1950’s and have lived here ever since, Jones has moved between New Orleans, New York and Massachusetts over the past 20 years, yet there is only one place where he feels most at home. "I had been playing with my band for ten years [in Cambridge, Massachusetts], and I wanted to give them the real experience of the Bahamas, the magical presence of Cat Island," Jones recalls. "It was a conscious decision, I wanted to get some of that old time feel of the island. I wanted us all to be in a room together recording, playing live natural sounds made by people, not studio gadgetry… a real experience of making a record. I wanted us to be able to swim in the ocean in the day, and then come in that night and record a song about the ocean — to have the feel of the ocean in the song — and it worked. "Everybody said it had been the greatest experience of their lives and, somehow, that shows up on the tracks. I knew that there was a powerful tradition of music on Cat Island, and it seemed like it was there waiting for us, and all we had to do was plug in. "I just felt like it was a trip for me to the place where I felt the most positive spirits. It was a gift to ourselves, and to myself ultimately." Back to Top   Interview with Andrew Jones of Spirit House, from ‘What’s On’ By Helen Klonaris Who is Andrew Jones? When I first heard of Andrew Jones, back in 1993, he had just released his first album, Spirit House, and his music video, Can’t Hurry Love was being played daily on our local ZNS television station. When I first heard of Andrew Jones, I felt as though I had stumbled across an enchantment. Tony McKay’s art work on the cover of the first album, of a small wooden house in a clearing surrounded by trees and yellow stars, only confirmed my suspicions, that this was music coming from a special place, a place rooted in the everyday magic of Bahamian realities, a place too often neglected and forgotten in the hustle and bustle of growing island-city life. Almost ten years later, I had the good fortune to stumble upon this artist a second time. Born in Nassau some forty-one years ago, and after ten years and three albums, the last, Cat Island Sessions, only just released, Andrew Jones has consciously chosen and has been chosen by a strong Bahamian songwriting tradition, to make music that he says he feels compelled to make. Helen: Andrew, why do you write? Why do you make these songs? Andrew: I can't help it. These songs come around and they want to be sung. I gotta sing ‘em. Nobody else knows them. Andrew grew up in Nassau, and although his parents were originally from America, Andrew felt at home here, in these islands where the true-true magic of life could be felt and experienced every day; bare feet against limestone rock, the quiet wisdom of ancient bush, the sense of extended family in a stranger’s greeting. Helen: How has being from the Bahamas affected you, influenced you as an artist? Andrew: There is so much music in these islands, so much rhythm and color in speech and history, so much great tradition of singing and songwriting. Bahamians are very musical people and somehow music is at the heart of being Bahamian for me. Helen: Beautiful. You have said that Tony McKay and Joseph Spence and Blind Blake have all influenced your own music, can you talk about that? Andrew: Those guys are giants in my world. It just makes me so happy to hear them. There is so much culture that is communicated in song and these guys are the ones who somehow transmitted the essence of Bahamian wisdom and humor and genius, along with many others, like Ronnie Butler, Eddy Minnis, Dry Bread… Helen: Do you see yourself as part of this Bahamian tradition of music making? Andrew: Absolutely. Yeah I do. I have other influences too but we all do. Spence traveled in the southern US as a contract worker, Exuma was in New York for the folk boom in the 60's, Blind Blake has a lot of Jazz and Latin influence. I guess it's also about who the audience is that you write for. I think lots of people could like our music, but I think and hope that Bahamians really get it and recognize it for what it is. I had heard, in a kind of folk legend way, that Andrew came to make music because of a dream. In the dream, it is said, he saw a place, a house, wooden, like the one Tony McKay painted all those years ago, and in this house were people making music. And he felt a strong feeling of belonging. And of being in the presence of Spirit. It was this dream that kindled the desire to make music, and to find that place, in the dream, where that music gave birth to community. Helen: Your band is called Spirit House, and both your first and second albums are called Spirit House... what is Spirit House? Andrew: Spirit House is a place, any place almost, where we gather to invite Spirit in. It is a sacred space where we give ourselves over to Spirit to manifest in music… Helen: 'Where two or three are gathered'...? Andrew: Yeah man, but it's secular, you know secular and sacred, sometimes spirit has many moods… Helen: This seems like a very old concept, a primal activity of human beings in so many traditional cultures, where music is the expression of spirit and the musicians act as mediums for spirit to come through... Andrew: Yeah. I think the music business has gotten so far from that. It's such a huge business it's not necessarily doing what it's supposed to. Helen: So true... and I think that in spite of what the music industry is doing, spirit is still here trying to get through... Andrew: Music has become an accessory now to a lifestyle. But, yes it's true, Spirit is patient and clever and will always find new modes to express itself, or old modes… Helen: Yes. Andrew, what is it like being in a Spirit House jam, when you are playing live, do you think people listening are also participating in Spirit House? Andrew: Yeah man, that's what we do. I think that's what's so cool about Bahamian music, African influenced music, it's so accessible immediately by the body. A Spirit House jam is everybody in the room. I want everyone to feel it and be a part of it and everybody adds something to it… Everybody carries spirit, spirit unites us. It is the commonality of human experience. Helen: People watching your performances, and being powerfully affected by them have said that you transform, from quiet and even shy artist, into a strong shamanic presence, is that true? Andrew: Could be. That's how it feels to me. I'm not a highly trained singer, it's not about technique for me. I definitely feel it as something that moves through me. Helen: I hear you... Andrew: It's intuitive. It's being affected by the music while performing and being carried away… Helen: …and people hearing you, listening and hearing, seem to be touched in the same place that you are coming from... Andrew: It's a great band. They are so much fun to sing with. We all love doing it. I play with exactly the people I most want to play with. Helen: You have talked about Spirit House also being a culture... can you explain that? Andrew: It's largely unspoken. Yeah we meet somehow on common ground. Even though most of the members are not Bahamian they love the Bahamas. We have influences all over the map, country, rock, folk, pop, and it all winds up as Spirit House music. We have a lot of mutual respect as artists and as musicians. It's always been about making the music that moves us, that we are moved to make… Helen: That definitely comes across, not only in your live performances, but on the albums as well, there is a unity that is not surface... Andrew: It's not calculated, yes. Helen: What are Spirit House plans now, are you coming back to the Bahamas to play? Andrew: Yes, we want to come back soon, hopefully this summer, June or July. We are playing in Massachusetts this month. And, we are starting a record company to promote our music and the music of like-minded musicians from the extended Spirit House family. Helen: That sounds great. I think I can safely say that your fans here in Nassau await you with plenty plenty enthusiasm! We look forward to the next Spirit House jam, and to you coming home.   Spirit House albums can be found at Island Tings on Bay Street, and at Traditions, corner of Victoria and Bay. For more information about Andrew Jones and Spirit House, visit andrewjonesandspirithouse.com or write to [email protected]   Back to Top