Recorded at Earl Chinna’s Smith yard, Kingston, Jamaica in november 2005 Mixed by Jah Clive Additional Mixs and mastering by Serial P at Dubwise Factory Musicians : JAH IS MY LIGHT BAND Ras Michael's son is the least-known of the artists to be featured thus far in Makasound's Inna de Yard series, but he provides one of the most memorable tunes in "Medicine Man." Previously featured on Chinna Smith's edition, the song is strong enough not only to headline this album, but also to make it the first in the series not to be titled Inna de Yard. The haunting, folky tune tells an epic biblical tale that I won't pretend to recognize (shoulda listened more in Sunday school...) involving a dreadlocked "medicine man" who saved the life of someone named Mary Anne, who in turn saved John the Baptist, who of course baptized Jesus. This is understandably the high point of Medicine Man, but Ras Michael Jr. comes close to recapturing its melancholy power on "Old Man," a haunting portrait of a tragic figure who "watched all his neighbors die." Such vivid, impassioned storytelling is the key to his appeal. Although several of his songs are Rasta-centric, he doesn't focus on righteousness as much as his father. Rather, he seems fascinated with the nature of human emotion and indeed displays keen insight in songs like the goose bump-inducing "Good News" - - a tribute to "all the lonely people living in this world" -- and "White Line," on which he reveals that he had a son who died. The tone is thus meditative and the pace measured, aided (or hindered) greatly by the plodding, austere opening and closing dub poems from Ronnie Davis of Itals fame. Still, there's enough excellence on Medicine Man to make us wonder why we haven't heard more from Ras Michael Jr. before and if we're going to hear more from him in the future.
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