Birth name John Bolloten Name The Rootsman | Role Musician | |
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Albums Old School New School, City of Djinn, Realms of the Unseen, Return to the City of Djinn Similar People Muslimgauze, Daddy Freddy, Kevin Martin, Horace Andy, DJ /rupture |
The Rootsman @ Sao Luis, Brazil - Clinton Fearon and Fauzi Beydoun with Tribo de Jah
John Bolloten, also known as The Rootsman, is a musician and DJ based in Bradford, England.
Contents
- The Rootsman Sao Luis Brazil Clinton Fearon and Fauzi Beydoun with Tribo de Jah
- The Rootsman Fittest of the Fittest Only Jah Partial 10 PRTL10007
- Live performances
- Other projects
- Discography
- Songs
- References
In 2000 Rootsman and The Bug set up a label called Razor X, featuring dancehall music. Aphex Twin's Rephlex Records has now released a full album of these collaborations called "Killing Sound".
Additional info: The Rootsman (John Bolloten) is a musician and DJ based in Bradford, England. His musical career began when he was living in Edinburgh, Scotland and taught himself to play guitar in 1978 at the age of 13 and formed his first punk band. After 3 concerts, he decided that being a guitarist in a band was not for him and he retired from that aspect of the music business. He moved to Bradford in 1983 and quickly immersed himself into the local reggae scene. He worked for over two years in the local Roots Record Shop, where he began to be known as "Rootsman". In 1985 he started selecting on local sound systems and the following year began to play on university radio and local pirate radio stations. This continued for a number of years until he founded his own club night "Dub Me Crazy" at the end of 1991.
A residency with the innovative Soundclash club in Leeds followed a couple of years later, and Rootsman began playing alongside leading DJs like Dr Alex Patterson from The Orb, Andrew Weatherall, Justin Robertson (Lionrock) and others. In this period, Rootsman also founded the Third Eye Music label and released the debut album from Dayjah and The Disciples, entitled "Storm Clouds" which was very popular on the roots scene. Heavy demand from local club-goers who wanted to buy the music they were hearing at Soundclash and Dub Me Crazy convinced him to release his work. Subsequently, The Rootsman's debut EP "Koyaanisqatsi" (a cult favourite of his DJ set) was released in May 1994.
Rootsman released the classic "Natural Born Thrillers EP", his first release on Third Eye Music and a successful fusion of the steppers and jungle styles. The follow-up "Authorised Versions EP" carried on this innovative tradition and served to consolidate and increase his grass-roots following. Rootsman's debut CD "In Dub We Trust" was released in July 1995 and followed on from these earlier experiments and contained dub reggae like never heard before. A myriad of diverse samples and beats all tied to a heavyweight rhythm section made this CD one of the most original to be released that year. Not only was dub mixed with the furious beats of jungle, the album also brought African, Arabian and Asian sounds into the mix. It was a truly groundbreaking collection that set a new blueprint for dub-influenced music, and Rootsman began to label his own sound as "experimental global dub fusion". "In Dub We Trust" was a big success, especially in Europe. The Rootsman's been very prolific since.
The Rootsman - Fittest of the Fittest / Only Jah - Partial 10" PRTL10007
Live performances
Rootsman has played sound system clashes against Kaly Weed (Italy), Downbeat (USA) and Heartical (France). As a DJ, his main MC is D.Bo General. In May 2006, Rootsman and Eugene Hutz of Gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello performed two shows in Kiev, Ukraine.
As well as playing as a DJ all over the UK, Rootsman has also played in Tofo (Mozambique); Kiev (Ukraine - 2 times); Tel Aviv (Israel); Istanbul (Turkey); Paris (13), Marseille, Rennes, Lyon, Toulon, Orleans, Perigueux, Troyes, Montpellier, Le Mans, Morlaix and Lille (France); Rome (4), Milan (5), Bologna, Pescara, Salento, Jesi (2), Lecce (2), Naples, Grosseto, Bergamo, Grosseto, Osoppo and Bari (4) (Italy); Berlin (10), Hamburg (5), Frankfurt (5), Koln (3), Flensburg (3), Wuppertal (3), Greifswald (4), Dortmund (2), Munich (3), Stuttgart (2), Chiemsee (3), Nurnberg (2), Tubingen (3), Dresden (3), Leipzig (2), Ingolstadt, Muritz (3), Jena, Bremen, Augsburg (3), Reutlingen, Herzberg, Saarbrucken and Oberhausen (Germany); Brussels, Liege, Gierle, Kortrijk and Gent (Belgium); Warsaw (6), Poznan (6), Wroclaw (4), Szczecin (2), Gdansk, Lodz, Katowice, Krakow, Sopot, Bialystok, Opole (3), Knurow, Cieszyn, Zielona Gora, Pila and Zgorzelec (2) (Poland); Lisbon (Portugal) (2); Zagreb (3) (Croatia); Tallinn (Estonia), Ljubljana (2) (Slovenia); Belgrade, Novi Sad (2), Subotica (Yugoslavia); Vienna (Austria); Amsterdam (2), Leiden, Arnhem (Netherlands); La Chaux-De-Fonds (Switzerland); Helsinki (Finland); and Prague (2) and Litomerice (Czech Republic). In April 1999, Rootsman supported Max Cavalera's tribal metal band Soulfly in Paris, in front of 2500 people.
Other projects
Rootsman has provided remixes for Soulfly (ex-Sepultura), Glen Brown, Blue, The Woodshed, Treponem Pal, Dub War, Black Star Liner, Dub Syndicate, Muslimgauze, Grounation, Celtarabia, Primitive, G2, Systemwide, Banned X, Rosapaeda, Submission, Rasboras Inc, Dubblestandart, Lion's Den Dub Shower, Banned-X, Strongpoint and Oochi.
He has also provided the soundtracks to "Surfing in Indonesia", "Kranked 3: Ride Against The Machine", "Deviant Rhythms" and "Fashion World", a French CD-Rom fashion encyclopedia.
Discography
Songs
Higher Place
Ta Travudia
Parkway Rock
Conscious Dub
Miami Vibes
Rack Me - Rack Me
African Style
We Rocking All Night
Dub Oriental
Only Jah
Imitator
Into the Light
Summer Time Again
Intifada
We Come Rough
Al Aqsa Intifada
Pass The Chalice
Beyond The Hills
Roadblock
Soca Ambassador
Old Pan Killer
Sort Me Out
Joy and Sorrow
Leave Me Nanny
High Atlas
Show Me Some Love
Soca In The Place
Time To Pause
Festival Time
Pure Niceness
Al Andalus
No Carbon