By John Denny Observer Reporter
(Charlestown, Nevis) ” Claiming reggae/funk as their genre, Jon Bone with the Karuna Movement from Vancouver, Canada, will be performing at the Island Life bar, formerly the Mariner’s Pub, near Cotton Ground on New Year’s Eve. Jon Bone and his crew – Jim Lambert on guitar, Matt Belcourt as percussionist and Juan Parris on drums – have been playing at different venues around Nevis for the past few weeks; often times playing impromptu gigs for anyone that will listen. Jon is also spending his time on the island writing songs for future recording. The Karuna Movement is a Jam band laying down a mix of reggae, funk, and world grooves and coloring them with catchy melodies and deep lyrical content. “We groove on a nice balance of tunes with free form, improvised jams. We’re all heart. When you join us, come ready to dance,” Jon said. Karuna means compassion. Music is medicine, he says. “Music can help to heal the world of it’s miseries by inspiring people to set down their worries, even for a short time, and be present with the vibrations sounding from the band’s very heart. Music can inspire people to dance and awaken to the reality of the sensations in their bodies; the sensations that can only be now,” he said. “No past regrets or sorrows. No future desires – the pureness of the present and the music of this moment. Music can communicate a message, and in our case, the message of awakening to this moment, to accept and enjoy it, and to celebrate life through song dance – to live with the conscious intention to be of benefit.” Jon went to jazz school seeking to deepen his knowledge of music and enter a community of musicians. He practiced and wrote a lot as he started recruiting a band. He played with many musicians and finished a couple years of school before The Karuna Movement took full form. It turned out to be a rotating group of talented, experienced and well-educated musicians from Vancouver Island to the Caribbean. All of these dedicated artists have chosen a charity that register closely with them. Ten percent of all The Karuna Movement’s profits are donated to these charities.” Jon explains what the Karuna Movement is all about. “The Karuna Movement is the quality of compassion expressed in musical form. Interestingly, “passion” comes from a Latin word meaning ‘to suffer.” Similarly, compassion means ‘to suffer together.” When we musicians come together and create music we express, in a raw musical form, that which lay in our hearts and minds.” And in the hearts and minds of all human beings, alongside feelings of joy and happiness, there lay feelings of sorrow and lamentation. So when we musicians, open ourselves with music, we share these feelings with each other. As we share ourselves with all of you who, through your dance, enjoyment and support, give inspiration for the whole musical expression. It is a beautiful relationship between artist and audience. As our hearts open so may yours and vice versa. There is a basic spiritual recognition in this group experience through which we can all begin to see, or at least feel, how we are intrinsically united in this fleeting existence. We are never alone. We all together endure the miseries and hardships of life. We all together want to be free and happy. We can begin to see the pain and suffering of others as our own.” Compassion has arisen. We then work for the benefit of others because their happiness naturally reflects our own. Compassion takes action,” he said.” The Karuna Movement has been in the studio over the last several months recording their debut album, “The Power of Music”. It is set to be released in the spring of 2009. A pre-release is available on their website both by mail or download. After their fall tour they came to Nevis, this small but inspirational Caribbean island to reconnect with local recording artist, Ras Ibo and do some recording in this warm, inspirational environment. While here, they have been developing some songs that will involve local artists as well as compiling some more footage for the developing documentary. After their stay on the island, they will take a month off to recoup and regroup as well as some serious meditation time. Then it is on to the spring tour back in Canada. The show at Island Life starts at 10 p.m. and there is no cover charge.
