PRESS PAGE

Ras T. DubFlex represents reggae's second wave. Incorporating dance hall and R&B into classic roots reggae, he's one of the genre's more diverse performers. Last year's Breathe established Dubflex as one the area's most powerful reggae voices, with impressive range and rhythm. A keyboardist as well as a singer, he has toured with Jamaica's storied Meditations as well as New York's Rising Lion.

# # #

Breathe's best tracks, "Stop" and the disc-opening "Don't Cry," are sparkling examples of what reggae's about -- all lazy, sun-soaked rhythms and uplifting vibes. Likewise, "Move On" and "Jah Love" are firm affirmations of the singer's spirituality. The tasteful and rootsy "Meditations" features guest vocalists Ansel Cridland and Danny Clarke, on loan from the legendary reggae group that shares the song's moniker.

# # #

On July 5, as fireworks went off all over northeast Ohio, some three hundred revelers gathered in the Superior/St. Clair neighborhood of East Cleveland to celebrate a special calendar date B one that enshrines life, liberty and the pursuit of island-beat jams. No, it wasn=t Independence Day, but rather the annual combine birthday party of local musician Terrance D. Reynolds and his wife.

Reynolds (born June 11, 1973 in Philadelphia), alias Ras T. DubFlex, front Dub Flex, a foursome he founded in 1990. Dub Flex (which also included Marlon ARastafoot@ Harris on drums, his brother Ghani APlatinum G@ Harris on guitar and Asi=Nuri on keyboard and vocals) carries on the tradition of Jamaican reggae. Exemplified in the public ear by such genre anthems as AI Shot the Sherif,@ ANo Woman No Cry@ and AThe Harder They Come,@ reggae is the impassioned, Afro-Caribbean music as popularized by Jimmy Cliff, Peter Tosh, the legendary Bob Marley and others. In the 1970s reggae caught fire, crossing racial and class divisions to win over a new generation of listeners.

Grounded in the deprivation-ridden shanties of Kingston and the rural hills of the island nation, reggae can be found today on college radio stations across the USA and in the street markets of East London (where the music is sold tellingly, right alongside food produce). Sometimes reggae is fiercely political, sometimes sunny, indolent and fun, and it can take such variant forms as ska, roots-reggae, rocker and dancehall.

AReggae has as many different areas of music as jazz does,@ said Reynolds, in between hosting client sessions at the busy TD Audio & Recording, a Cleveland studio he runs with Delvis Valentine. Reynolds said that the music fo Dub Flex is a Acollective,@ of traditional covers and upbeat original material.

ABut we are one of the few bands that will perform your requests, as asked.@

So far Dub Flex has issued four CDs (with a fifth on the way), which can be purchased at their live shows and at tghe band=s website (www.dubflex.com). Their third disc, AFlex,@ was performed at Chicago=s Wild Hare, one of the Midwest=s most prominent reggae concert stages.

As far as the reggae scene on Lake Eries=s not-so-tropical shores, it=s still hurting from the closure of Splash, a Cleveland Flats club that was the reggae center of town. AI=ve been in the business at least a good ten years,@ said Reynolds. AI=ve seen it diminish... We need a reggae club in the community.@ In the meantime, he credits college radio programs - Cleveland State University=s ARudy Can=t Fail@ and Case Western Reserve=s ABlack Scorpio Show,@ for example - for helping keep the beat alive.

Dub Flex themselves perform at the upcoming Vintage Ohio summer food and wine festival in Lake County, and regularly visit the Galley on the Marblehead peninsula. Smack in between, they=ve been booked to play Wednesday nights in July at the Around The Corner Saloon in Lakewood.

AAround the Corner is great. We have a chance to get to that part of town where the reggae music isn=t found on a normal basis.@

# # #

Flexing Reggae=s Muscles
Area Artists Keeps Dub Music Alive and Innovative
by Marie Skoczylas
Scene Magazine
Regional Beat
August 12, 1998

AA lot of different artists don=t really know that there are so many different types of reggae music,@ says Terrance D. Reynolds, a.k.a. Ras T. Dub Flex. AWhen they think of reggae music, they think of the island vibes and vacation music and there are just as many types of reggae music as there are types of jazz.@

The 25 year old reggae artists is out to prove just that with his latest CD, UNION. AWhat Dub Flex came from is incorporating the dub-style reggae into every other reggae that=s popular now,@ he says. AIt=s flexable.@

But he doesn=t stop there. Dub Flex has a message to send surfing alongside his Caribbean concoction. He wants people to learn something from what he=s doing. AI always wanted to be sort fo an innovator. I didn=t ever want to put out music that musicians couldn=t take and learn anything from.@

This attitude gave birth to his self-described goal of Aalways conscious reggae.@ AThe act of thinking. Anyway that I can promote the thought process is good because there=s power in thought,@ he explains.

AThat=s why I=m kind of pro-life and down on drugs because that stimulates the mind not really to think. It pauses and stops life for a minute; you don=t have time to meditate and make things grow. Everything you see is a product of the mind. If you don=t take time to think about it, the world would be a bad place.@

Dub Flex has always had a spiritual influence, not too surprising considering his musical career began for religious reasons. AI started music inside of the church. I was a drummer for about six years and I started playing piano, too. I used to play with my family B one brother was a bass player and the other played guitar.@ His parents, of Southern U.S. and West Indian decent, encouraged the exploration of his Jamaican roots.

There are now five additional members adding even more flavor to this reggae potpourri. Bill Nails contributes with both rhythm and lead guitar. Will Douglas is the drummer, Pupa D leads a helping harmony on background vocals and Fire burns up the stage on bass. Ras T. Dub Flex of course, handles lead vocals and mans the keyboard. They=ll be in action next at Duffer=s in Lakewood this Friday, August 14.

As for the future, Dub Flex wants to welcome reggae into the mainstream. AI want reggae to be available wherever jazz and hip-hop is, and I would like to see at least one premier reggae station in Ohio. You go to New York and you have seven or eight different reggae-only stations. You don=t have that here.

AYou don=t have reggae venues in Ohio. We have two or three concerts a year, but in other cities you have that going on every month. Reggae is definitely a positive music, it=s not influencing destruction and I would like to see more of that being promoted.

APresently, I=m incorporating a studio that is going to be [devoted to] reggae music,@ he says of his current solution. ASo that I can get it out to the audience that wants the reggae music so they don=t have to go all the way to Ne York. I know some artists that go all the way to Jamaica to get the tracks that they want. Well, if there was something like that in their backyard, they wouldn=t have to go that far. Right now, there isn=t a primary reggae studio available. Hopefully I=ll get it one step ahead.@

Dub Flex offers other helpful possibilities to the serious lack of reggae on Ohio. AI plan to put out an album at least once a year, and I want to put out a compilation album with the other artists in Ohio. Unity and the reggae in definitely needed here because a lot of the bands git deporessed and felt like it was a hopeless situation so they went elsewhere.

AWhen an artists comes to another city, like New York, and says, >Where does all the local talent hang out? Where do they do their work? Where do they record?= There=s always somewhere they can go to see local talent. There=s nowhere in Cleveland that=s going on.@

However, Dub Flex doesn=t let it dampen his spirits. He;=s always attempting to face the challenge rather than Aleave town@.

AI love Cleveland and I love it bad,@ he says. ABut they number one thing is that I would like to do more performing in my city B a city that has all these good things happening. It=s kind of disappointing. I mean, there=s no place like home.@

# # #