Bobby Tenna does it with Words and Melody

Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

It has become routine in the music business for artistes to release an album annually. Roots singer Bobby Tenna 'broke' those rules by taking three years before putting out Words and Melody, his second album.

The wait, as it turns out, was worth it as Words and Melody is a rarity in contemporary reggae. It is a strong set, built around quality singing, songwriting and musicianship.

Though the 37-year-old Tenna has called northern California home for the past eight years, he said most of Words and Melody was recorded in Jamaica, where he collaborated with producers like Flava McGregor, DeMarco and Michael Jones.

The singer's WileFiya Inc company also had a say in the album's production, calling the shots on six of its 15 tracks.

"Ninety per cent of my work is done in Jamaica. Yard is the root and yuh have to water the root," Tenna said recently from his San Francisco home.

With the exception of the Jones-produced Nothing Comes Easy, little has been heard in Jamaica of Words and Melody which was released in late 2010.

Built around Tenna's smooth vocals and tasty rhythm riffs from guitarist Ian 'Beezy' Coleman, the song sets the pace for a solid all-round effort.

Deliver Me, an old school roots rocker, the acoustic Children of the World (featuring guitarist Wayne Armond), the world-beatish Better Place and Way Back, are other strong moments on Words and Melody.

Tenna says he adapted the approach of some of his heroes when he began recording the album just over one year ago.

"I used to listen people like Bob (Marley) and Dennis Brown but not jus' the music. Yuh should feel the amount of time dem spen' on production," he said.

Tenna's debut album, Gita Thanks For Life, was released in 2007. Its highlights were In The Gideon and Just Might Wanna Say, produced by Sly and Robbie and Barry O'Hare, respectively.

Give Thanks For Life came after years of toil on the studio and north coast hotel scenes by Tenna, who was born Robert Sylvester Virgo in Orange, a district located on the outskirts of Montego Bay.

He remembers growing up in a devout Seventh-day Adventist home, but that did not stop him from listening to roots legends like Marley and Brown, as well as Garnet Silk, a leader of the Rasta renaissance of the 1990s.

Tenna pays tribute to Silk on 4 The Hard Way on which he teams with Capleton and Anthony B. It is also a digitally-enhanced cameo from Silk who died tragically at his mother's Manchester home in 1995.

The dreadlocked Tenna started his music career as Robert Tenna, recording Loneliness for singer Sugar Minott's Youth Promotions. He became Bobby Tenna when he cut Somebody Touch Me for producer Junior 'Heavy D' Frasier.

His next stop was the hotel circuit, performing mainly in Negril and Ocho Rios.

After immigrating to California, he resumed his recording career with Give Thanks For Life which he says got favourable reviews. Words And Melody, he believes, is an expression of his maturity.

"Things come together the right way an wi give thanks 'cause people sey not a lotta good reggae coming out. We'd a like change dat," he said.