The Ava Story, which is only just beginning, is already a triumph of an old Jamaican proverb – Who feels it, knows it. Though she’s a devotee of a music made before she was born and a world away, mid-1970s Golden Age reggae, Ava’s own breezy, sexy, sensitive spirit makes a much-loved sound fresh, and very much her own.
Helped by roots veterans like Sly and Robbie, and top UK sound men like Futurecut and Nick Manasseh, “Turned-on Underground” was recorded between Harry J’s famous studio in Kingston, Jamaica, Nick’s garden shed right by Glastonbury Tor and a basement studio in Brixton. Her vocal nuance and shimmering harmony show AVA appreciates all she’s learned from old school greats like Marcia Griffiths and Dennis Brown. One of their favourites when Ava used to sing along with her Mum, an avid Jamaican music fan, while they did the housework in Chester, was Matumbi’s lover’s rock classic, ‘After Tonight,’ sweetly re-invented here by Ava together with Finley Quaye.
Ava experimented with all sorts of music, from rock to r’n’b. But reggae chose Ava, and vice versa. “You know when something feels right,” she laughs, “I was so happy when I finally found my music.”
“Turned-on Underground” displays the many moods of Ava. Sly and Robbie’s drums and bass underpin ‘Rolling’ “It’s that stoned, two in the morning feeling when you’re at an all-night party, hanging with your friends. You’re young!” The ethereal ‘Breathe’ reflects on our earth and how lucky we are to be on it; while “Same Old Thing,” amusingly disses every day routine, reminding her of some rough times. But as Ava says, “I had to go through those experiences or what would I have to sing about?
Love, of course, is big in the mix, like the fun romance of “Mad About The Boy.” It may surprise you as they sound so uptempo, but Ava calls the rock steady of “Who Told You”, and the instant lilt of “La La La,” her “angry love songs.” “Sometimes you’re in it and you can’t get out of it, even when you know it’s wrong for you,” she explains. “I’ve felt that way, and I know there are a lot of people going through the exact same thing right now.”
Since she was a schoolgirl touring with her school swing jazz band, Ava’s vocals have always earned applause. With an innate sense of her own direction, Ava will be providing us with pleasure for years – partly because, as she says, “I write lyrics about me and my friends’ own personal experiences and I just love songs that everyone can relate to, and that will always remind them of the moment they first heard it. I want to make memories.
Corrections
The Washington Post January 29, 2012 30 MONDAY | 6 P.M.John de Graaf, national coordinator of Take Back Your Time (an organization challenging time, poverty and overwork), discusses and signs his new book, “What’s the Economy for, Anyway?: Why It’s Time to Stop Chasing Growth and Start Pursuing Happiness” (written with David K. Batker), at Busboys and Poets, 2021 14th St. NW, 202-387-7638. go to site a practical wedding
7 P.M.Adam Johnson, a teacher of creative writing at Stanford University, reads from and discusses his new novel, “The Orphan Master’s Son,” at Politics and Prose Bookstore, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-364-1919.
7 P.M. Meg Keene, creator of APracticalWedding.com, discusses and signs her new book, “A Practical Wedding: Creative Ideas for Planning a Beautiful, Affordable, and Meaningful Celebration,” at One More Page Books, 2200 N. Westmoreland St., Arlington, Va., 703- 300-9746.
31 TUESDAY | 7 P.M.Ayad Akhtar, a first-generation Pakistani American with an extensive theater background, reads from and discusses his first novel, “American Dervish,” at Politics and Prose Bookstore, 202-364-1919.
1 WEDNESDAY | Noon. The Poetry and Literature Center at the Library of Congress is celebrating the 110th birthday of Langston Hughes, the famed Harlem Renaissance poet, social activist, novelist, playwright and columnist, with a reading of his work by Dolores Kendrick, the District’s poet laureate, and Evie Schockley, a poet and assistant professor of English at Rutgers University, in the Thomas Jefferson Bldg., Whittall Pavilion, 10 First St. SE. They will also discuss the influence Hughes’s poetry has had on their work. For details, call 202-707-5394.
Noon. Thomas S. Kidd, an associate professor of history at Baylor University, discusses and signs his new book, “Patrick Henry: First Among Patriots,” at the National Archives, William G. McGowan Theater, 700 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 202-357-5000. this web site a practical wedding
7 P.M. Simon Doonan, creative director and window display creator at Barney’s New York, chats about his new book, “Gay Men Don’t Get Fat,” at the Altitude Ballroom at W, 515 15th St. NW. A book sale and signing follow; RSVP at whappenings@brandlinkdcrsvp.com.
7 P.M. Alec Wilkinson, a writer for the New Yorker, reads from and discusses his new book, “The Ice Balloon: S. A. Andree and the Heroic Age of Arctic Exploration,” at Politics and Prose Bookstore, 202-364-1919.
7 P.M.Dylan Ratigan, host of MSNBC’s “The Dylan Ratigan Show” and a former global managing editor for corporate finance at Bloomberg News, reads from and discusses his new book, “Greedy Bastards: How We Can Stop Corporate Communists, Banksters, and Other Vampires From Sucking America Dry,” at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, 600 “Eye” St. NW. Tickets are $10 each or two free with purchase of the book. For details, call 202-408-3100; to RSVP, visit www.sixthandi.org.
2 THURSDAY | 11:30 A.M.Zbigniew Brzezinski, formerly President Jimmy Carter’s national security adviser and currently a professor of foreign policy at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, discusses his new book, “Strategic Vision: America and the Crisis of Global Power,” at a luncheon at the Woman’s National Democratic Club, 1526 New Hampshire Ave. NW. The event begins with a cash bar followed by lunch at 12:15 p.m. and the lecture at 1 p.m. Admission is $30 for nonmembers, $25 for members and $10 for those attending the lecture only. Visit www.democraticwoman.org to RSVP.
6 P.M. Educator Ilchi Lee, founder of the Sedona Mago Retreat (a place for spiritual awakening) and originator of the Brain Education System Training, discusses his new book, “The Call of Sedona: Journey of the Heart,” at Barnes & Noble-Metro Center, 555 12th St. NW, 202-347-076. A book signing follows. Wristbands for the signing will be distributed beginning at 8:30 a.m. He will also speak on Sunday, Feb. 5, at 3 p.m. at One More Page Books, 703-300-9746.
5 SUNDAY | 2 P.M.Diane Ackerman, an award-winning essayist, poet and naturalist, reads from and discusses her most recent book, “One Hundred Names for Love: A Stroke, a Marriage, and the Language of Healing,” at the Weinberg Center for the Arts, 20 W. Patrick St., Frederick, Md. A book signing follows; call 301-600-2828 or visit www.fcpl.org for details.
For more literary events, go to washingtonpost.com/gog/ and search “book event.”
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