Title
Artist
Label
Format
Date

 A Time & Place
Julian Marley
Lightyear-Tuff Gong International
CD
October 10, 2003

Track list
  1. Father's Place
  2. Where She Lay
  3. Harder Dayz
  4. Build Together
  5. Summer Daisies
  6. One Way Train
  7. Systems
  8. I'll Never
  9. Sitting In The Dark
  10. Rock With Me
  11. Sunshine
  12. Couldn't Be The Place
  13. Time
Rating : from 5 (excellent) to 1 (poor)
Vocals : 4/5 Backing : 4/5 Production : 4 Sound quality : 5 Sleeve : 4
Julian Marley, "outside" son of reggae icon Bob Marley, was born on June 4th, 1975 to Lucy Ponder in London, England, where he lived most of his life. In 1992 he moved to Jamaica to team up with the Melody Makers. Four years later he released his critically acclaimed album, "Lion In The Morning," which serves as a testimony to Julian's growth as a Rasta and a musician, and is reflective of the collaboration with Ghetto Youths International, a musical collective whose core members are Julian and his brothers, Stephen and Damian. Now, after a very long wait, here's Julian Marley's newest offering titled "A Time & Place".
Julian delivers a very sophisticated set featuring thirteen well crafted songs, excellent musicianship, expertly laid riddim tracks, and solid production work done by Stephen, Damian, and Julian himself. The core of this album is reggae music, represented by tracks such as the solid "Build Together", "Couldn't Be The Place" and the outstanding "Systems". On the other hand this set includes a remarkable number of tunes that incorporate a wide range of musical influences, which makes it obvious that Julian Marley doesn't want to limit himself to a specific musical style. Most notably are the breezy jazz sounds, coming to full expression in the moving "I'll Never" and the wonderful "Simmer Daisies", the latter powered by flute, horn section and wah-wah guitar. Furthermore we're also treated to a ska-fueled tune titled "Sitting In The Dark", the samba-tinged Latin-Caribbean love song "Sunshine", the funky groovin' "One Way Train", and the hip hop-oriented "Harder Dayz", a nice track that samples the famous trumpet riff from Bob Marley's "Natty Dread".
"A Time & Place" is a solid album, not exactly one that will suit the taste of the reggae purist, but definitely well worth checking out, especially for those who like any kind of good quality music.