Arizona’s Sly and Robby: The 602 Band
by Dean “Irie. Irie. Court Is Now In Session” Bonzani
10.12.04
Reggae frontmen like to travel light. Packing one’s toiletries, tri-colored Bob Marley t-shirts, and dreadlock cozies is enough work— packing an entire entourage of backup musicians is a major undertaking.
That’s why, when titans of reggae pass through Arizona, they call The 602 Band. The ever shifting lineup of The 602 Band is composed of some of reggae’s finest mercenaries, on call to lend their mighty backbeat to those light-traveling sons of Jah.
One of the band’s revolving members, guitarist Rand Anderson, recently attempted to explain the 602’s roster and history.
“The 602 Band is a large, anonymous organization which at times I’m employed as a member of, and at others, I’m a friend or a guest.”
“Banks is the bass player. The other guitarist’s name is ‘Slew,’ and that’s a nickname. I’ve never seen it on a check or a piece of paper. I know him by ‘Black Trash,’ or ‘B.T.’ I think his real name’s like...Ernest, ya know...Rothchild...WinthropWinston...we just call him Black Trash.”
“He wears a...what’s the thing you drain pasta through? A colander over his face, or if he can’t get that, a French fry basket. I’ve seen him wear a cape sometimes, alá P-Funk. He’ll wear diapers onstage. You never know how he’ll show up, or with what kind of entourage. When we played with The Wailers, he was showing their backup singer girls, who were some really nice girls— I think from Africa, like Kenya or South Africa — they weren’t the original Wailers backup singers, the I-3’s— some polaroids that he carries around, of white girls spanking him or something. So you don’t know what’s going to happen.”
“Those guys, Banks and Black Trash came out from Washington, D.C. They were part of the scene in the late ‘70’s, early ‘80’s, where they were in Bad Brains. They grew up together. I don’t know how they ended up in Phoenix, but people from all over the reggae scene know those guys. Like, The Wailers knew them all by name.”
“A lot of bands are from Jamaica, and it’s not practical to fly a whole band around, so someone like Jimmy Cliff, when he’s playing in the States, rents a band out from wherever he’s playing. Maybe (they’ll bring) key members, but some of these guys’ll pick up bands here and there. It makes it more lucrative for the front people. Even Casper (Lomayesva) does that. When he goes to D.C., these guys’ll hook him up with players there. So 602 does the same thing when artists come to perform in this region. This is kinda their zone— there are people in L.A. who handle that area, and these guys handle the southwest. I noticed the last time that we were down in Tempe, playing for Walt Richardson, that the reggae scene was getting stronger, and more bands were popping up. So (602 drummer)Vinnie, Banks and Slew are kinda the Sly and Robby of that scene. They’re the backbone for a lot of these bands. Everybody wants that rhythm section.”
“The real guy— the sleeper in The 602 Band is Dumi. He’s like the eldest lion of the bunch. He’s Zulu. He’s a Zulu guy. When we were on tour, I roomed with him, and he showed me all this crazy West African guitar stuff. He can play kit, he can play bass, guitar— as well, if not better than anybody else in the band. But he’s just happy to sit and play percussion. But if you hit a wrong note, he’s the guy who’s going to look at you and give you the first sneer.”
Then there’s Philly Blunt.
“Vincent and her are sort of a team. She does a lot of the backup singing, and she also does her own thing, which is more R&B and Gospel. It’s like a built-in opening act. When we’re with Casper, we do one set as ‘Lady Philly,’ doing this R&B, Gospel stuff, then Casper comes out and we do two or three sets of the Casper repertoire.”
“The other guy would be the keyboardist, Rodney. Casper needed a keyboardist in D.C., and these guys knew about this Rodney guy and hooked it up. And they talked him into moving to Phoenix.”
Anderson first played with The 602 Band when the unpredictable Black Trash went M.I.A. for a spell.
“Once I got there and rehearsed and learned everything, he showed back up. So they said, ‘Let’s have two guitar players: White Trash and Black Trash.’”
______________________________________________________________________
A Sierra Club Benefit: The Winds of Change Tour w/ Casper and The 602 Band, John Densmore of The Doors, and Aaron White of Burning Sky, Fri., Oct. 15th at The Orpheum Theater. Doors open at 7:00 P.M., show begins at 8:00 P.M.
©2005 by Dean Bonzani, All Rights Reserved