SEEFARI

"The midwest's hottest reggae band: SEEFARI ... Fantastic reggae! ... SEEFARI is the Miami valley's Bob Marley! - rev cool radio DJ (WYSO FM) writer (I Wanna ) - rev cool

ReggaeReviews.com – Burbank California

Tom "Seefari" Carroll is a veteran Ohio-based roots singer whose Rasta Italist marks his sixth album to date. This is in itself an impressive achievement, but if Seefari took as hands-on an approach with his previous releases as he did with this one, his track record is all the more astounding. One look at the liner notes reveals his Prince-like control over all aspects of the album -- including writing, producing, engineering, lead and backing vocals, and every single instrument. Rasta Italist is a pensive and heartfelt album that harkens back to the '70s Golden Age of roots reggae. Coupled with Seefari's righteous lyrics and humble, unassuming vocals, it draws favorable comparison to Pablo Moses' best work. Highlights include "1 Love Not 2 Hate," "Pray Every Day," "No More War," and the title track.
- reggae-reviews.com

World Music Central Review

from the US (although I don't know exactly where he makes his home) is Seefari, whose CD Rasta Italist (Upful Sound US1015CD, 2007) is true to its title with extended meditations on Haile Selassie, ganja, spiritual unity, natural living and the absurdity of war. Seefari is a hands-on dread who plays all the instruments, sings nearly all the vocals and cultivates a murky, dub-heavy sound that's deeply pleasing whether you're the inhaling type or not (www.seefari.com).
– Tom Orr - World Music Central
- World Music Central

Sunset to Reggae in Akron

Sojourner Tre’

July 30, 2005, reggae in the center of downtown … a first for the City of Akron! Sprawling out in the center of Akron, the Lock 3 Entertainment Complex was a welcoming green sea of calm smack in the middle of a new, vibrant downtown. This venue is a great open-air atmosphere affordable and easily accessible. For the price of $8.00 a head (and no parking expenses), five hundred people or so more came to mash it up for a Day of Reggaein the heart of Akron with legends of the live music circuit, Israel Vibration.



Opening the show was Seefari from Dayton, Ohio and his 10 piece (or more) reggae band who were jamming under the canopied stage as spectators lounged in the golden sun, slowly soaking in his reggae vibes. The timid ones that lay out on the lawn took a little while to warm up to the sounds as he relentlessly delivered with passion. However, the bold that knew the reggae classics that he and his band skillfully covered were up in front of the stage grooving, enjoying to the maximum the rare fun in the sun that blessed Akron. Seefari, a seasoned and consistent performer in the southeastern Ohio reggae scene proved his commitment to the music, too. He willingly played a double set due to the fact that The Ark Band, who caught in traffic, was a no-show. The crowd didn’t seem disappointed, though; for Seefari was nothing short of a roots sound power that eventually brought man, woman, and child to their feet! As the sun set and Seefari’s band of horns, strings, bass, drums and things came to a powerful close a sense of hunger and anticipation hung in the crowd, setting the stage for more reggae music!



- clevelandreggae.com

- by Ras Walter

Seefari (real name Tom Carroll) is a very interesting Rasta reggae singer from Ohio, USA, an authentic veteran of the independent American scene with an incredible number of appearances at festival and gigs all over the years. In his almost two decades long career he has earned the fame of great live entertainer and has imprinted his reggae with a particular and recognizable character - while known for his covers of classic roots tunes too -. His astonishing debut album entitled 'Dread pon Da Scene' released on his own label Upful Sound, showcases Tom handling with effect the whole instrumentation by himself alone giving birth to a particular style, a sort of 'synthetic' reggae, realized in most parts using electronic keys and instrumentation. Seefari's reggae ranges with effectiveness from roots to dancehall and his original vocal style - imbued with great sweetness and communicativeness - which often digresses into sing-jaying, perfectly interacts with his essential, pulsating and electric riddims. I can't make comparisons with other names in reggae because Seefari is an highly original stylist with strong abilities in song writing: 'Dread Pon da Scene' includes two cover tunes (Bob Marley's' Positive Vibration' and Van Morrison's 'Tupelo Honey') but are his own compositions - all with original lyrics and melodies - that attract us the most. Among them my favorites are the title track - a truly original dancehall tune - 'Reggae Music Haffe Gwaan', 'RastaRebel', 'Seek Jah Kingdom' and I Love Jah' - the latter a beautiful and sweet tune showing Seefari's heartical chant about his deep devotion to Jah. Recently Upful Sounds has released the pre-release cd 'I and I', another very interesting chapter of Seefari's electronic reggae here evolved in a sort of 'cyberroots' of great potential.



- Reggae Time webzine

Niceup.com - I&I CD

Seefari is Tom Carroll, an American solo artist with strong Rastafarian beliefs and a taste for both roots and dancehall-flavored rhythms. No other musicians are credited on this album, and if that means that he's played all the keyboard parts himself, then that's a pretty impressive accomplishment; he writes good lyrics and very good tunes, and while the all-electronic backing tracks are a little bit on the sterile side there's a warmth and genuineness to his delivery that counteract it nicely. Not every song is a success, and one or two are overlong. But this album can be recommended overall.

Note: keyboards on I&I: Yacob (Michael Shepherd),

produced by SEEFARI (Tom Carroll) and Yacob (Michael Shepherd)
- niceup.com

>SEEFARI was nothing short of a roots sound power - Sojourner Tre clevelandreggae.com

> SEEFARI are the premier Reggae masters and we love to have them perform their jammin' Jamaican sound!...Boardwalk web site, Restaurant/club (Put-in bay, Ohio)



> Out of the Ohio plains comes Tom Carroll with a roots and culture sound that could be from the Jamaican jungle... Johnnie G., Texas Beat (Austin)



> The vibes are nice serious and sincere the lyrics are heavily balanced towards message as exemplified by tracks like the ska-based "Independence" and agricultural awareness alert "Homegrown" the real gem here is the humble and meditative chant "I love Jah" ... Chuck Foster, Beat (LA)



> His lyrics are conscious and pertinent. Worth checking out for the lyrics alone T.C's vocal style seems to have a flair for the Deejay... Scottie Macdonald, Cool Runnings (Houston)



> Great stuff! ... Doug (Midnight Dread) Wendt, DJ/ Program director (Black Eagle, Montana)



> Irie CD. I love roots and culture music... Dave Weatherly, DJ (Greenville, NC)



> Good roots music... Rasta Rebob,DJ(Juneau, Alaska)



> Best music we've heard since we were in Mo-bay!

Nite crawler (reggae fan MI)
- various

Here's what people are saying about "Rasta Italist" the latest CD from SEEFARI –

"Rasta Italist is a pensive and heartfelt album that harkens back to the '70s Golden Age of roots reggae. Coupled with Seefari's righteous lyrics and humble, unassuming vocals, it draws favorable comparison to Pablo Moses' best work. - Reggae Reviews.com Burbank, California

"This is without a doubt one of the finest, rootsiest, consciousest musical packages yet. We are sure enjoying it in The Lion's Den. " – Lioness KRCL FM - Salt lake City, Utah

"The CD is very good. I like that it's roots music with a positive message. I listened to it all the way through more than once and really enjoyed it. I like the dub mixes at the end. We intend to give it lots of airplay." – Mary Searcy WCVF – Fredonia, New York

"A talented musician, SEEFARI played every instrument on this album…I really like the song "Rootsman" – Lance –O Miami-based host of nationally syndicated "Reggae vibes" and "Island Hoppers TV" -
*** "Rootsman" will be featured on "Island Hoppers TV" !!!!!!!!

"This is solid reggae gold!" – Dr Mooch (African Reggae artist) – Miami, FL

"I like 'Wizzy' It's got that 'old school' feel." – Charleston Okafor WCSB – Cleveland, Ohio

""Rasta spirituality pours out of the reminder to "Pray every day" as well as the tribute to Jah on "Beautiful majesty" – Ras Adam Simeon – niceup.com

"New roots reggae sensation on the international scene SEEFARI is undeniably one of these young artists emerging on the top" – Baldacchino Salvatore – Reggae Connection Radio – Belgium

""Thanks for the CD "Rasta Italist" that you sent us recently. We have enjoyed it immensely and have added tracks from it to our playlists." – Graham Barclay – soundwavefm – New Zealand

"really full-joyed the sounds! Great vibes from start to finish, and will look forward to getting some track into play on REGGAE Fi’REAL. Big props too on the production at large… Antony Postmon KUNR –Reno, NV

"When you talk about reggae. SEEFARI is the best in the Midwest. The Miami Valley's own Bob Marley!" – rev cool WYSO Yellow Springs, Ohio

"love the title track and dub versions...bless, too dread" – Tracy too dread Moore _ KTHX 101 Reno, NV

"reaction as been very good for real .i am still pushing it hard for real thanks." – riddim master vibes 90.6 FM – UK









- seefari.com

"New roots reggae sensation on the international scene SEEFARI is undeniably one of these young artists emerging on the top of the basket. So much the better! We hope to see SEEFARI on one of our European scenes. In the meantime we can always obtain this album via the net."
BALDACCHINO Salvatore
Reggae Connection
Belgium
- reggaeconnection.com

Seefari - Rasta Italist
Tom "Seefari" Carroll is a foundational player in the Midwestern US reggae scene. He not only wrote, produced and sang these 15 trax , but he also played every instrument on this cd. Complimenting Seefari on these eleven songs and four dub versions is I Jah Melody's angelic high vocal harmonies. A plea for peace in "No War" mixes lead guitar lines with harmonica giving a blues rock flavor to the steady one drop. Rasta spirituality pours out of the reminder to "Pray Every Day" as well as the tribute to Jah on "Beautiful Majesty." The title track shows appreciation for the natural herbs and "Wizzy Wisemind" is a sweet take on the love story of Solomon and Sheba from the old testament. This whole cd has a cohesive American roots rock natural vibe to it. The disc doesn't always have that glossy polish of big budget productions, but the heart and soul behind it makes up for that. Ras Adam Simeon Upful Sound Records - www.niceup.com