Jahson Ites

Jahson Ites is known for his super-positive lyrics and energetic stageshow, whether he's singing with The Crucialites as his live band, or has a selector running riddims. Jahson Ites tears up the dancehall, inspiring the people to dance 'til they're about to drop, jump up in the air, and shout out for joy, leaving copious amounts of sweat and smiles in his wake. Whether he's performing solo with his daughter DJ AnJahLuV spinning, or as the core of the Sick Donkey Records Conscious Music Showcase with his Idren Essential I, Huckleberry, and BlueJay (aka DJ Sticky), who make up the SDR Family crew FiyaCrackah Sound, Jahson Ites' stageshow has been an awakening, life-changing experience for many, as evidenced at Seattle Hempfest 2008 on the Seeley Memorial Stage.

"Foward Outta Babylon is one of the best debut albums to come along in many years. Jahson Ites, Essential I, Bluejay, with special guests Adrian Xavier and Dub Champions and the Legendary Bill Ortiz on Trumpet, all blend together to make this sound like an album created in the spirit
of Linton "Kwesi" Johnson, Steel Pulse and even Peter Tosh! This album should give us all faith that Positive Lyrics and Conscious Messages can reach some new highs, and will open up a whole next generation's eyes and minds. Powerful, Positive and Insightful!"
-- Steffen Franz aka Stand Out Selector
Producer "Forward Outta Babylon"
President Positive Sound Massive Recordings/Independent Distribution Collective

Jahson Ites began his musical experimentation and spiritual striving early in his childhood, encompassing organ, electric guitar, classical guitar, bass guitar, Nyahbinghi drumming, and other types of hand percussion in the musical spectrum, and studying Orthodox Christianity, Zen Bhuddism, Sufism, and Rastafari. He has two decades experience playing punk rock, accoustic folk, roots reggae, and dancehall, performing Nyahbinghi drumming and chanting with his family as Ites Family Dread, teaching Nyahbinghi workshops at gatherings throughout the Pacific Northwest, and writing for fanzines published accross the U.S. and around the world. In 1990 Jahson Ites moved to Santa Cruz, CA, where he made his first links with Rastafari People and was introduced to Nyahbinghi drumming and chanting by widely respected Kette drummer David "Dave-I" Wright. He learned to play the heartbeat and sing his first chants in an ocean-erroded cave on the beach north of town. This well-known spiritual focal-point has since been reclaimed by the rock and sea water that created it, but over the following years Jahson Ites would often hear Nyahbinghi drumming and chanting within himself reverberating from the deep foundations of that cave.

In February of 2001, Jahson Ites and his family moved to the remote mountains of Northcentral Washington to live Ital and simple according to their Rastafari ideals. Their 12'X16' cabin beside a small creek, with no plumbing, telephone, or electricity, became a conduit of musical and spiritual inspiration, and after a 3 week trip to Jamaica in 2004 a flood of songs, which has still not slowed, began to issue forth from the heart and mind of this simple woodcutter.

Jahson Ites has worked with and played supporting sets for artists such as Stephen & Damian Marley, Rocker T, Ras Attitude, Adrian Xavier & the Dub Championz, Stand Out Selector, Bill Ortiz (of Santana), Karney, Sizzla Kalonji's Judgement Yard, the Crucialites, Hawaii's Freesound and many others. He is as likely to be found chanting at a generator-powered sound system party miles past the end of the pavement on a far-flung mountain road, in small clubs packed to the gills and overflowing into the street, or on a festival mainstage in front of thousands. This has all culminated in the release of Jahson Ites' 2007 debut album "Forward Outta Babylon". Jahson Ites' original Standing Firm Riddim will be released as a riddim album by Sick Donkey Records in summer of 2008. The Standing Firm Riddim will be the first release in the World Consciousness Unification Project (World C.U.P.), a super-conscious riddim album featuring Chezidek, Lutan Fyah, Prezident Brown, Promoe (from Sweden's Loop Troup), Ras Attitude, Essential I, FyahCrackah Sound, and numerous underground conscious artists. He is an honorary member of original Okanogan County hip-hop crew Figures Of Speech, the Sick Donkey Records Crew, and the Royal Family. Jahson Ites is at work on the follow up to Forward Outta Babylon entitled "Highrie Heights", a collaborative album with Seattle's Crucialites entitled "Crucial Ites", as well as a collaboration EP with New York reggae & R&B singer Sybelle. Jahson Ites is also currently voicing riddims for Sam Gilly of House Of Riddim in Austria, and Jahson Versionist of http://www.versionist.com.

http://www.myspace.com/jahsonites