by DEREK BERES on May 2, 2024 | 0 Comment
Bambu Station: One Day
“One Day” created itself. Bambu Station’s minds and hands served the spiritual force that carried this song into existence, a song whose title became the album’s name. The lyrics and music offer a framework for spiritual ascendancy, for yearning, for the persistent inner call to forge a better future. That day shall come, one day.
Jalani Horton and Andy Llanos had been rehearsing songs for the record. Horton was searching for an interesting chord progression; upon finding the one that would inform “One Day,” Llanos dropped in root notes on bass. It all felt automatic, destined, just like this entire project.
READ MORE → by DEREK BERES on April 18, 2024 | 0 Comment
Bambu Station: Humanity Bawlin'
“Humanity Bawlin’” hits Jalani Horton on several levels. He vividly recalls performing the song in Tel Aviv in 2005, at a Passover festival for African Hebrew Israelites. Not the Israel most imagine watching the news today, though that too plays into the meaning of the song. This is an ancient Israel, one that connects Africans and their descendents to this day.
Horton instructs Bambu Station to quiet the music. He asks the crowd about this “Palestinian thing,” the same “thing” African-Americans have endured for centuries. Someone shouts back, “you know how it is.” Horton nods his head affirmatively. Indeed, he does.
READ MORE → by DEREK BERES on April 5, 2024 | 0 Comment
Bambu Station: So Much Love
When Bambu Station was first writing the songs on One Day, Jalani Horton wanted a short introduction to “How I Feel.” Bassist Phil “Pix” Merchant jumped on the keyboard. Within moments, he created a short and sweet vibe that perfectly introduced “How I Feel.”
That song, “Interlude,” included two short lines, repeated twice.
READ MORE → by DEREK BERES on March 11, 2024 | 0 Comment
Bambu Station: Gunsmoke
### “The situation has changed. It has gotten worse.”
It’s been over 20 years since Jalani Horton first wrote “Gunsmoke” to reflect on increasing gun violence in his homeland, St Thomas, and the Virgin Islands writ large. Horton becomes ponderous when reporting that the situation is more dire, especially since there are no gun stores on the island. Yet they’re coming from *somewhere*.
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