Jah Cure - True Reflections: A New Beginning (VP) CD

Siccaturie Alcock aka Jah Cure has finally been released from Jamaica’s General Penitentiary after serving eight years of confinement after being found guilty at the denouement a juryless trial on charges of rape, a crime that many feel he didn’t commit, while others say there is no smoke without fire. You couldn’t make it up. Prior to his sentence, Cure was an obscure young singer who’d cut a handful of records for a variety of labels including African Star and Xterminator, songs such as Sunny Day, Jah Bless Me, Guide Us Jah, Songs Of Freedom, Move On and Trod In The Valley and under the guidance of the great Beres Hammond had begun to record tunes for Beres’ Harmony House imprint resulting in a brace of titles of profound spirituality including Zion Way, Zion Away, Hanging Slowly, Kings In This Jungle with Sizzla and Run Come Love Me with Jah Mason. All these emerged during a period utterly dominated by bashment artists such as Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Capleton, Sizzla and Elephant Man, yet such was the consistency of Cure’s recordings and the expressive quality of his voice on the best of them, that he soon attracted a following amongst both roots and dancehall fans all over the reggae world. The shocking circumstances of his incarceration and the difficulty many felt at the vile nature of his reported crime when pitted against the apparent spiritual testament of his records and the conflicting reports both official and unofficial all added to the interest his case attracted, his plight championed by many artists. His fans were amazed as a steady stream of records recorded directly from his cell began to emerge, and as the music’s focus shifted during the one-drop revival over the last five years, Cure appeared on as many records as he could have if he had been free to tour Kingston’s studios. Many of them seemed to elude to his situation, often, such as in the title track of this new CD for VP, explicitly. Amongst the reggae community the truth behind his story has been hard to determine, many people’s faith in his innocence has waxed and waned as more sad details emerged of those events eight years ago, nevertheless, from behind his prison walls a legend has grown truly without precedent or comparison in musical history. This album collects fifteen of the best of his tunes from the last five or so years without duplicating those found on previous collections including such modern classics as Dem Nuh Build Great Man featuring Fantan Mojah, Longing For, his cut to the foundation one-drop riddim Drop Leaf, What Will It Take, Share The Love with Gentleman, Congo Man, Love Is on the Seasons riddim, Jamaica, Most High Cup Full and the new VP single To Your Arms Of Love on the Guardian Angel riddim. Make no mistake, these are great records, fully deserving of their popularity. This is perhaps the hardest part of this amazing story for those with doubts about his innocence or whose belief in him blows back and forth. A young man has forfeited almost a decade of his life to a living death inside one of the worlds most notorious prisons, we at this remove truly only have the evidence of his voice and words as to his guilt or innocence, flimsy tools indeed. In the end, each man is his own judge and jury and neither we nor Jah Cure are no exception to this rule.

Track Listing:

1 TRUE REFLECTIONS (Reflections)
2 DEM NUH BUILD GREAT MAN FEAT.FANTAN MOJAH (Sweet Sop)
3 LONGING FOR (Drop Leaf)
4 TO YOUR ARMS OF LOVE (Guardian Angel)
5 WHAT WILL IT TAKE (Istanbul)
6 LOVE YOU (Soul Food)
7 SAME WAY
8 SEARCHING FOR A GIRL (Nine Eleven) (CD Bonus Track)
9 JAMAICA (Sunshine)
10 CEASE ALL WAR (Children Of Israel)
11 SHARE THE LOVE FEATURING GENTLEMAN
12 LOVE IS (Seasons)
13 THE SOUND (Turmoil)
14 CONGA MAN (Maroon)
15 MOST HIGH CUP FULL (Sun Is Shining)