Planet Jam - "It's Open" Live at The Tribal Visions Festival in Taos NM 07-2009
Planet Jam " Defiant " Live at The Tucson Earth First Benefit in May 2009
Marius Todirita -Guitar and Vocals
Kacy Todirita - Bass and Vocals
Kini Wade - Drums
Stevie Abramson - Keyboards and Vocals
Cecil Carter - Percussion
Planet Jam Live - Disobey
U.S. PRESS
Planet Jam brings the world to its shows
November 26, 2008 Tucson Arizona
OTTO ROSS
Tucson Citizen
The members of the local "world jam reggae" band, Planet Jam, come from different backgrounds and cultures but all share one powerful passion: music.
Guitarist/vocalist Marius Todirita, bass/vocalist Kacy Todirita, drummer Kini Wade and keyboardist/vocalist Stevie Abramson will share their eclectic global backgrounds in an international fusion of cultural music and worldly awareness this Friday at The Hut.
In a recent e-mail interview, Todirita discusses the band's roots, its University of Arizona connection and how he outsmarted censors in Romania.
Q: What got you into playing music and when did you start?
A: I started playing guitar and singing when I was 10 years old in the Socialist Republic of Romania. Communist political screening censored most music, and there was some contraband music smuggled in from the West, but not enough for my demand, so I provided my own uncensored music by playing my guitar. We usually had to show our lyrics to some comrade before we could play anything on stage. I was persecuted for breaking the rule and playing AC/DC and Rolling Stones tunes at my last high school dance. We generally played a lot of instrumentals.
How did your band come together?
When the Berlin Wall came down, I was finally able to travel. I went west to Italy and was busking in the streets of Bologna where I met Kacy, who was also traveling with a guitar. We fell in love and we've made music together ever since. She's been playing bass since 1999, when we put out our first CD, "Tribal Healing." We've been jamming in this configuration since September 2007 when Kini Wade joined on drums and Steven Abramson playing keyboards.
From where do you draw your inspiration?
We are a multinational, multiethnic, multiracial group, so we draw from that diversity and try to remain as objective and universal in our unifying approach. We listen to a lot of diverse music. I try to put a positive, transcendental outlook on subjects that most people can relate to in current society. It's important to be aware, and music is a vehicle for awareness to become instantly contagious on a mass scale.
How would you describe your style of music?
Concisely, I would call it world jam reggae. We use roots elements like ancient Romanian Gypsy riffs with traditional roots reggae beats and take it all into a dub infused electric jam.
Where did the name Planet Jam come from?
The name came at a time when we had a more geographically diverse show in 1999, when the point of the performance was to sing in as many languages as possible and musically travel around the planet on a genuine cultural experience.
How did you end up in Tucson?
I married Kacy, our bass player, and immigrated to the U.S. in 1993. She's a UA architecture graduate who has a lot of friends here. We now have two children, so we settled in the warmer side of our previous nomadic route.
Where do you most like to play music?
I like to play outdoors. There's a revolutionary aspect in our message and it feels good to bring it to the street like in California's summer music festivals. I loved playing on the beach on the Romanian Black Sea coast last summer, too. Here in Tucson, we like to play at The Hut on Fourth Avenue.
Money? Fame? Fortune? What are your goals for the future?
I'm going to keep writing music and share my gift with the people because it's my calling. Money is what's needed to produce and deliver music. Fame is what brings people to the show. Fortune is needed for magical elements to fall into place and provide catalytic support for the ignition and launch of unique time and space moments into the multidimensional universe when consciousness accelerates friction-free for leap years in a second. We intend to keep the new music flowing in and to keep performing, make some nice videos and book some good shows.
Influences
Bob Marley, Midnite, Israel Vibes, Easy Allstars, Zappa, Santana, Goran Bregovic, Traditional Romanian music
Sounds Like
Gypsy Ska, Dub, and Roots Reggae
Here's our Live in Romania CD at CDBaby.com:
-- Planet Jam - The Riot - N E W 2008 V I D E O About the 1989 Revolution in Romania - - - ON TV IN ROMANIA
Planet Jam's Short How did it Start Story:
For a few years in the nineties, when Marius Todirita was an illegal alien in Italy, Kacy Armstrong was hitchiking, working, and then driving across Europe in an English ambulance with a sketchpad, a guitar, a few human friends and an Irish Wolfhound named Monte, so space was tight but there was written on the ceiling: "There's always room and never a problem."
They had met before while busking in the streets of other Italian towns, both being guitarists claiming to be from Arizona. After an eclipse of the moon in Rome, they began to make beautiful music together.
Years later in Tucson Arizona, it's a fusion of Eastern and Western music and culture called Planet Jam. Reggae rhythms and Gypsy licks, dubby and tight, rock with ancient tap roots.
Planet Jam lyrics are about experiences that Marius had in the Romanian Army as a draftee Private during that country's 1989 revolution and concepts like seven generation awareness, freedom of expression and illegal alien issues.
In September 2007, Kini Wade joined the band on the drums, and Steven Abramson (from Living Earth and Woody Harelson) on the keyboards.
Highly skilled on their instruments, they add another half a century of music experience to the mix.
THE PRESS :
Saturday, October 11th 2008,
Tucson Weekly
"Tucson's finest straight-up reggae band ... ...Traditional, with a social conscience."
Wednesday, July 9th 2008,
RENASTEREA BANATEANA, Nr. 5623 TIMISOARA ROMANIA
"From Arizona, to Timisoara"
..."Planet Jam is considered to be emblamatic of the new fusion between
eastern and western cultures."
Monday, July 14th 2008,
AGENDA TIMISOARA - ROMANIA (in Romanian)
http://www.agenda.ro/news/print/9072/ritmuri-reggae-cu-planet-jam.html
Reggae Rhythms with Planet Jam
"Saturday night on the terrace of the Cafe Papillon, music lovers and the people that just happened to be passing by had the opportunity to enjoy a very special event: The music of American band Planet Jam, with a mix of roots reggae combined with Balcanic sounds and other goodies.
Above all, one of the most surprising things which everyone could see was the ease with which the band came before the audience. The fussiness and other such things which unfortunately are often present at the shows played by Romanian musicians, were completely absent.
The band has its roots in our country and their music represents a fusion
between east and west with reggae, gypsy, rock and roots influences.
... It was an interesting and very special concert which left a question hanging in the air - Why don't we have any other reggae bands in our country?"
Planet Jam: Reggae and Dub - Romanian American Version
Fans of Jamaica straight from Arizona Live at Play
by Cosmin Stoian
"Sunday night is a discouraging moment for the people that have to go to
work the next day. But Play organised a concert, sticking to trouble just
like velcro would on the hair of the singer.
The 13th is an unlucky day for old women who believe in superstitions, but not for the customers of Play,to whom reggae band Planet Jam induced a wonderful state of optimism and relaxation, 'cause that how reggae is. A joint was missing for the recipe to be complete. The song "Jamming" by Bob Marley, covered by Planet Jam arrived just like a full tank of gas when you have no money but you want to go to the beach. It put an automatic smile on everybody's faces...
This Saturday night we are throwing a Halloween Party at the Orpheum with Yin Yang and Zen Some. Sedona superfreaks Yin Yang and Zen Some know how to throw a party. Its actually impossible to convince them not to dress up in costumes during the 364 days of the year that are not Halloween. That's why we thought that they would be a particularly appropriate band to play Halloween. YYZS plays a an eclectic mix of music, focusing on 80s songs that don't suck (think New Wave, Talking Heads, etc...). So put on your freakiest outfit and come down to the Orpheum to dance. Bwahahahahaha!
The show is all ages, ONLY $5, and starts at 9pm.
Also coming up soon: 11/4 Minus the Bear with The Antlers and Twin Tiger @ Orpheum-All Ages 11/14 An Evening with Hot Buttered Rum @ Orpheum-All Ages (A GREENBUILD GREENSTREETS Event see www.usgbcaz.org/northern/greenstreets for more information. ) 11/17 Misfits with Hour of the Wolf, Moonlight Howlers, and Awaken the Nightmare @ Orpheum-All Ages 12/2 Voodoo Glow Skulls with Fayuca @ Downtown Greenhouse-All Ages 1/17 John Gorka @ Coconino Center for the Arts-All Ages 2/15 Badfish, a Tribute to Sublime @ Orpheum-All Ages 4/23 Greg Brown @ Orpehum-All Ages
Divine Greetings: Keep faithful Keep in touch. My new music will uplift you. I absolutely guarantee that you will not be disappointed. In fact I seriously believe that you will be utterly surprised. I have been testing some of the songs out playing them to almost everyone I have come in touch with and...(no hype) everyone gave me the most positive response. So keep holding on a little more. The strategy has to be right. This music must be given time to breathe. I will be launching things real soon. A little different but thunderous. Are you ready to dance? Waith for it. Reggae rules OK. One Love. Spread the word...wait for it! Do you Love Reggae? Keep on Loving it.
It's a great honor for us to open the show for the internationally-renowned Toubab Krewe at Plush on Wednesday, October 14 with special guest Adama Dembele.
Greetings! Thanks for the ideas and support. I was thinking all his friends could write some memories and send to me, and I will post them in the blog. Photos too, also the songs you did with him. Much Love, Nancy
Caught you on KXCI tonight. Nice work and interesting stories. Also saw you at The Hut last weekend. Keep doin' what you love. Tucson scene needs more reggae and groove influenced rock!! Take it easy, and Keep it SKITN!!!!
ahh so nice to hear you. i am determined to make a myspace page for rey. i gotta turn the cd to mp3.do you have mp3s of him? i can run the page if you want. it would be niice. that agave drum btw helped me out a great deal lately. with love, nancy
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