If you ever heard Karen Gibson Roc singing, you know about the jaw-dropping effect her voice and her way of performing has. This lady got style, she got spirit and an enormous portion of love to share. This chick has the gift. Her new album “The cool of the day” is eagerly awaited. The gap of 4 years, since her highly valued debut called “Touching the soul” got released, was filled with nothing less than the challenge of motherhood. But the flow of rhyme didn’t stop, it got even more inspirational through this little being growing up beside her. When Karen sings “I find my destiny in poetry” she is revealing her inner most being. Poetry is an essential of her life. It is an urge, an unstoppable force like a wellspring, that never runs dry. Therefore it appears simply logical, that the Jamaican-born lady calls her music “spoken word performance poetry music”.

Karen’s background beats range from Lounge music to Acid Jazz and so many variants in between. To bring this idea to life, inquiries of different producers asking for collaboration were very welcome during the process of the new album. Even though the album is floating along organically, each track is adding new aspects with variations in instrumentation and style. Mats Samuelson of Glam Sam and his Combo from Sweden flavoured his productions with bits of Soul & Funk. The Lemongrassmusic masterminds Roland & Daniel Voss contributed 3 tracks. They do what already worked very well in past collaborations by focusing on melodic Downtempo grooves, leaving space for Karen’s voice to captivate us with her grace. Another 3 outstanding productions come from Nadjib aka DJ Boulaone of BanBella Jazz, widening the boundaries of what modern NuJazz means. On “Wake up” he throws in a very cool scratchy groove, which Massive Attack would be proud of. Johannes Huppertz aka Newton is contributing two productions. One is the beautiful ballad “Destiny in poetry”. Also Karen’s old buddy DJ Hen Boggie has joined once again. Not to forget iëlo from France with a laidback tune, helping to turn “The cool of the day” into a beautiful amalgam. Both live instrumentation and samples got used by all producers, giving the album an organic, soulful appeal. Karen Gibson Roc’s “The cool of the day” sounds fresh and inspiring but at the same time it is evoking the golden age of Acid Jazz with Jazzmatazz, US3, Galliano, Urban Species and others. 


“Don’t you wanna know who you really are?” is the refrain of “From the inside”. It is a question, Karen keeps having a focus on for herself. Day by day it is her mantra. It is an expression of her spiritual approach ever-present in her lyrics. Reflecting herself, the meaning of god and being true down to the bottom of her heart. Good to leave you -while listening- with Karen’s liner notes: “I hope this quiet yet powerful album finds its way into the hearts of those who crave something interesting to listen to. At times I strayed from my comfort zone to places that made me take a look at who I am as a human being on this journey through life. I used my voice in new ways and tiptoed into melodic places. The musicality of the work shines through and I am grateful to have found myself in great company.”

Digital Release Date: September 21st 2012
Catalogue number: LGM 105-4
Label: Lemongrassmusic – LC 12644

4 remixers have treated Karen Gibson Roc’s successful “spoken word poetry” song “Painted Room” with passion and have created a colorful, shining mosaic.

Digital release on iTunes: June 2nd 2009
Other portals: August 2009
Catalogue number: LGM 032
Label: Lemongrassmusic

Karen Gibson Roc is an astonishment. This Brooklyn-based (by way of Jamaica and Canada) poet and musician is fierce and fearless. A musical chameleon (she calls herself a “poetist” or poetic vocalist), she combines elements of rap, downtown-diva poetry slamming, and an urgent backing band called Fluid (both for the easy flow of the grooves and the tendency of musicians to come and go). Producers from East and West Coast America, Germany and Japan have contributed some truly nice beats for her that range from jazzy to soulful, with a rock edge that the hip-hop pioneers used to such great advantage. She has been touring live for 9 years by now – and you can hear that in the amazingly relaxed, organic sounds of her beautiful music.

A reviewer of one of her live performances once came to the conclusion that Gibson Roc must have something to do with the preservation of the universe. She has been compared to Gil Scott-Heron, although she is not political, as Scott-Heron was. She is a sloganeer as he was, but in a more personal mode. Neither depressing nor conflict-oriented, her lyrics are impassioned love songs to black heritage, femininity and art. In sweet images she is writing blueprints for Noah’s next arc, and reattaching leaves to trees. Being creative is intensely important to her, and by extension to the rest of the world.

After her 2003 debut album „5 & 2 Fish“, and giving birth to her daughter Jolie Lulu in 2006, she now blesses the world with her sophomore effort „Touching The Soul“. Here, she tells us her story in the aptly titled song „Herstory“. But first she takes the listeners by the hand and leads them into „The Painted Room“, the colourful surroundings of her imaginative vision, with lyrics like „the soul learns more / gathering the courage to explore more / people are learning to grow / learning to let go / and flow“. Another highlight is the third offering „Looking For The Light“ which is as smooth and sophisticated as one could hope for. Here, she ponders with deep earnest: „What could be the remedy / for our global malady / is it to love more and more / from distant shore to shore? / is this the truth we can’t seem to see / Or are we doomed to be never free?“

Karen Gibson Roc manages to ask these profound questions without making them sound too hard to bear. Instead, her songs are so sweet and consoling that you start to wonder how you can ever do without her music. She seems connected to universal love, as she puts it in the song „Who“, and aims at connecting us with the power of love, too. Still, life is not always easy, and Karen Gibson Roc knows it. In „Some Other Place“ she confesses „I need to cry alone sometimes“ and encourages us not to „be afraid to shed a little tear“.

The songs „It’s Time For Less Talk“ (nourished by the legacy of blaxploitation sounds) and „Live Awake“ (a rather dark and grimey approach) reveal a rougher edge to her personality and introduce new flavours to the production side of the album.

Karen Gibson Roc says her main theme “is the evolution of spirit and the truth about following what is your calling here in the physical.” Her objective is “to inspire dream chasing, to uplift hearts, and to open minds.” And that she does. She grabs your soul and never lets go, both through her music, her words, and her spirit.

Release date: November 7th 2008
Digital release (iTunes 2 months exclusive): November 11th 2008
Other portals: January 11th 2009
Catalogue number: LGM 019