Groundation

American reggae band Groundation was formed by musicians studying jazz at Sonoma University (California) in 1998. The core group included Harrison Stafford (vocals, guitar), Ryan Newman (bass), Marcus Urani (keyboards) and Jason Bodlovitch (drums), before the arrival of other musicians and numerous changes. Stafford is also a professor of reggae history in Sonoma, and founded the Young Tree Records label, under which Groundation's albums were released, blending roots reggae, jazz fusion, funk and dub. The label gave its title to the first album Young Tree (1999), reissued in 2002 between the releases of Each One Teach One (2001) and Hebron Gate (2003), with contributions from Don Carlos and The Congos. Faithful to the spirit of Rastafarianism, the group named after a celebration remains as close to the original reggae in its organic approach, and allows itself flights into jazz through the interventions of the rhythm section. Between the albums Free Again (2004), Upon the Bridge (2006), We Free Again (2009), Here I Am (2011) and Building an Ark (2012), Groundation signs the dub exercises Dub Wars (2006) and We Dub Again (2011). In 2011, the compilation The Gathering of the Elders 2002-2009 features collaborations with Pablo Moses, Apple Gabriel, IJahman Levi, Don Carlos and Cedric Myton of The Congos. After A Miracle (2014), Groundation gave a dub follow-up to its second album, Each One Dub One (2018), between two international tours, before inviting a jazz big band of a dozen brass players on The Next Generation (2018). Forced to take a break during the Covid-19 pandemic, the band returns in 2022 with One Rock, featuring guest appearances from Israel Vibration, The Abyssinians and The Congos. The following year saw the release of Dreaming from an Iron Gate, a collaboration with French dub band Brain Damage, followed by Dub Rock in 2024 and Candle Burning in 2025.

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