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Big Mountain continues to share their vision of hope for a better world. Founder and lead singer Quino has championed the band’s view of One World/One People as fervently as he has spread the gospel of reggae music throughout the world. Big Mountain proves decisively that they remain America’s premier reggae band. With their renditions of hits like “Dream Weaver” and the Al Green standard “Let’s Stay Together” the band chose to show the versatility of reggae Big Mountain style. “Dream Weaver” was one of the songs I remember grooving to when I was young, discovering music in the ‘70’s,” notes Quino. “As for ‘Let’s Stay Together’ I fell in love with the song immediately. It’s a difficult song to sing, but I think that I made peace with it.” With the added Jamaican influence in the band, it’s no surprise that songs like the deeply spiritual “Fe Real” are among the album’s best. The former track features lyrics written by a friend who guided the band around Jamaica during the Sunsplash Festival. “Every morning Homer would bring us fresh mangoes or some other surprise from the hills. One day, he and James sat on the beach and wrote the song ‘Fe Real.’” Other tracks, like “Free Up The Pressure”, the fast and furious ”Friction” and “Calling You Out” typify Quino and Big Mountain’s revolutionary philosophy, though this band has never been afraid of expressing tender feelings as well, as shown in the ravishing “Real Thing”. Says Quino, “I’m a hard revolutionary, but singing love songs is a beautiful part of life. It’s one of the joys we should all take advantage of.” The album ends with “Billion Bleeding Hearts”, a slow and lovely coda to the album, and features a chant by Tom Bedonie, a member of the Navajo nation and an old friend of Big Mountain. In fact, the group’s namesake is a peak located on Navajo land in Arizona.
That all-American connection is just one of the many unique aspects to this most accomplished of reggae bands. As a Chicano, Quino grew up in San Diego, steeped in the musical heritage of Mexico. At thirteen, he took in a 60 Minutes segment on Bob Marley, and from then on his destiny was assured. In 1986, Quino joined Shiloh, a local reggae band. Their 1989 album debut impressed fans everywhere, and after changing their name to Big Mountain, the band broke through with their album, Wake Up, in 1992. The single “Touch My Light” reached No. 46 on the pop charts, a remarkable feat for a then-unknown reggae band. Big Mountain went on to play such prestigious events as the Reggae Sunsplash World Tour, the Reggae Funfest, the Gathering of Vibes, and the annual Reggae on the River, America’s top reggae festival. Their hit rendition of Peter Frampton’s “Baby I Love Your Way” from the Reality Bites soundtrack rocketed the band to international prominence. Big Mountain toured around the world in support of their Giant debut, Unity, traveling across Europe, Japan, South America, and most significantly, Jamaica, where they played the original Reggae Sunsplash. The band returned to the studio in 1995 to record Resistance, their most politically explosive album to date, and one of which Quino is very proud. That album also led to constant globetrotting, especially to places where reggae was newly discovered, such as Brazil. “We went to Brazil three times in 1996,” recalls Quino. It’s like a gold rush, sooner or later every reggae band finds out about it. Not every nation is on the same cycle with reggae. Sometimes it’s big in one place and not in another, but it’s always burning hot somewhere.” Quino feels that Big Mountain needs to keep on going forward, we need to make this world more progressive, more open-minded. I think that these are some of the things you are going to see Big Mountain encouraging other artists to do, to speak out, to be vocal, be upfront and be firm.
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