Rain Dance: S.T.O.R.M. Reggae Band

IT'S 12:45 A.M. ON a rainy Saturday night in Silver Spring and S.T.O.R.M. Reggae Band is standing around the Hollywood Ballroom's lobby. The group is supposed to perform at some point — first, a set of its own and then as backing group for veteran reggae singer Tinga Stewart — but there's virtually no audience.

The good-natured band chalks up the situation to the bad weather, and when it finally does hit the floor — for there is no stage — the group rips through a quick set of songs as if the empty hall was filled to the brim.

S.T.O.R.M. is nothing if not professional, but its high-energy music is also a top-notch blast of butt-busting rhythms and harmonious voices.

"To me, the best reggae band in the Washington, D.C., area.," says Tony Carr, a longtime DJ with WPFW-FM. "There are a lot of good reggae bands around, but a lot of them play in the old style reggae — roots style, which is OK. But these guys can do everything: roots, dancehall, everything. ... And very lively on stage; you will not be bored."

The same can be said of S.T.O.R.M.'s dynamic and diverse new CD, "Eye of the S.T.O.R.M.," which Carr calls "outstanding."

The band is built around the tight vocal interplay of Lenny Kurlou (formerly of Stryker's Posse) and Denton Bedward, aka Monsoon (late of The KGB). Their mix of singing and rapping is telepathic.

"That's the magic between us," says Monsoon. "If I'm on stage doing something, he can harmonize me right there. ... And if he's doing something, I can pick up on it. We're spontaneous. You play the riddim [rhythm], we can do anything on it"

"Most of the songs are [composed] on stage, freestyling," Kurlou says. "We'd do it over and over, and if people liked it, we say, 'OK, this one's good for the album.'"

The music, too, often begins as improvisation, usually dictated by S.T.O.R.M.'s other core members: keyboardist-producer Daryl "D-Trane" Burke and bassist Ambrose "Amby" Connor.

"A lot of the bigger songs ... 'Hola Hola' was just a party jam, and the crowd really started liking it," says Burke. "'Gimme di Treez' started as a freestyle when we opened for Culture at Eden's Lounge in Baltimore."

But what comes out of all this on-the-fly collaboration is a sound so tight and fiery that it can ignite a barren ballroom on a cold winter's night.

» Bukom Cafe, 2442 18th St. NW; Fri.-Sun, 10 p.m., free, 21+; 202-265-4600.

LINER NOTES
Listen to six of the tracks discussed below here or download the whole album here.

"Prelude: Eye of the S.T.O.R.M."
» DARYL: I'm a '70s baby, man. I love albums that have concepts. I was raised on it, man. Like, Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," Steve Wonder's "Songs in the Key of Life." I was always into concepts. To me, an album always should tell a story. Some way that we can put this together so it makes sense. Three or four songs didn't make the album because we tried to keep it in a mode. This is the eye of the storm — this is what's happening right now.
» MONSOON: To me, the eye sees everything, the body reacts to it, the mind thinks it, but the eyes is the one who sees. So it was a very good concept when he say, "Eye of the S.T.O.R.M." Because we see what's going on right now and we just adapt to it, we just roll with it.
» AMBY The [band] name coincides with the name of the DJ, Monsoon. The idea being that once you had seen Monsoon and Kurlou perform you would have experienced the Storm, being the band. The acronym [Strong Talented Organized Real Musicians] came later on as we played together and discussed the possibilities."

"Price Increase"
» MONSOON: That song was originally written by me when I was in Jamaica when I was about 18 or 19. That was years ago, back in the days when you heard about gas prices going up, everything going up. I transfer it from Jamaica to here. I sit down with Lenny and say, "This is what I want you to do; this is what I want you to say." And we just come together and put it on wax.
» DARYL: It's so relevant right now.
» MONSOON: You ever have a dream and that dream come true? That's what this song is about. ... In Jamaica, you see everything go up every day. You go to the shop today and it's a dollar for this; you go back the next thing it's like $2.


"Sweet Reggae Music"
» MONSOON: I was born and raised on reggae music, so it's really and truly a blessing for me to sing about something I love. When I was little boy, that's all I used to hear. Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, all of them. Toots [and the Maytals].
» KURLOU: Reggae is the heartbeat of the people in Jamaica. Sometimes we hungry and to hear the music is to forget about the hunger. Just dance and feel the vibe. It's the heartbeat; it keeps us going.
» DARYL: Like country and blues, reggae is a roots music. ... It's a life.
» AMBY: It's everyday music about everyday people.

"Gimme di Treez"
» MONSOON: [When asked facetiously if the song is about saving the environment] Save the trees!" [Laughs]
» DARYL: Save the trees. Need to plant more trees.
» MONSOON: The Father gave us the trees to clean the air! Plant the trees. A lot of people might take [the song's meaning] different, but that's it. [Laughs]
» AMBY: Sometimes controversy is good. We'll just leave it at that.

"No Gal Nuh Betta"
» MONSOON: "No Gal" is a dancehall tune for the girl who keep their body right, they're looking good. And not matter what them other girls say, keep your head high.
» DARYL: It's about ladies competing against each other. But the one who knows she's the best, she don't have to worry about the rest.

"Call Me"
» MONSOON: It's for the ladies who are home alone and want some loving, just call the S.T.O.R.M.; we'll be there. [Laughs]
» DARYL: We want to big up Chris Thomas, Powermix [who made the riddim "Love and Justice," which this song is based on]. We're not really into the do-over riddim thing, but it was a chance to be with some name-brand artists. Sizzla's got a nice tune on there; Mr. Perfect, Delly Ranks. The song was test marketing and S.T.O.R.M. was chosen as the number one [version.]

"Hola Hola"
» MONSOON: We were just on stage and we just freestyle and people start dancing and singing it and we like, "Oh! Let's go in the studio," so you know. It's a dance song and they love it.

"How Much I Love You"
» MONSOON: It's sweet, but a little more thug love, too. Jamaica girl understand that. It's really for the Caribbean girls. It's a personal thing I've been through that I don't want to explain. We you got to break down and tell them as a man. They tugga-tugga your heart, but you gotta tell you female, "Baby, I love you," no matter what you go through. When she come home, give her a kiss one time — and two and three — and tell her, "Hey, I love you."
» KURLOU: Sometimes we do forgot to do what we do, so we put it in a song. Sometimes a woman says, "You don't tell me you love me." Put it in a song — bang! [Laughs]

"Protect My Soul"
» KURLOU: It's partially based on an old riddim. That's the only beat that came to mind, so we had to produce something around it — about 20 percent of the son. "Joe Frasier" riddim; Jack Ruby produced it. ... A few years ago I was just chilling, going through a little thing and read my Bible. It's a psalm. Probably about 25 percent of the psalm is in it and the rest is mine. I don't remember the psalm off hand.

"No More War"
» MONSOON: It covers everything, man — worldwide. The Middle East, Jamaica, Southeast, Northeast, England, Canada. Because war is not the answer to the problems of this world right now.
» KURLOU: Mainly speaking about the leaders.

"Drama"
» MONSOON: All kinds of drama. Man get a lick on his head because he messing around with another woman. That's what that song all about.

"Nuh Ramp"
» KURLOU: There are some very disrespectful guys. You're walking with your girl and your girl look nice and they're like, "Mmmmmmm! Hey, mommy!" Just on a tuggy-tuggy level. Nuh ramp up no woman like dat. You know, touch her on the butt and all that kind of stuff.
» MONSOON: 'Nuh ramp' means don't play with me girl.
» KURLOU: [Toward the end it sounds like Kurlou is recasting Ini Kamoze's song "Hot Stepper"] Ah, it just came out! I didn't realize it till you just said it. [Kamoze] is one of my main inspirations.

"As-Salaam Alaikum"
» MONSOON: Like "Price Increase,'" that song was written in Jamaica. ... I did that song when Mandela came to Jamaica [in 1991]. I went on stage and saw certain artists ... who didn't speak about what Mandela stood for, or Africa stood for. I took three or four years to write that song. I wanted it to be so powerful that it can resonate; that people can relate to it. [Why the Muslim greeting?] I didn't want to do "Hello, Momma Africa, How Are You?" because Garnett Silk has a song like that.
» KURLOU: All kinds of "Hello, Momma Africa," so we needed something different.

Photos courtesy S.T.O.R.M.