The Meditations

The Meditations Tuesday, September 22 | The Freight DANCE FLOOR/STANDING AREA OPEN! Please Note: With chairs removed to make a dance floor / standing area, a ticket guarantees admission but does not guarantee seating. Ansel Cridland, Danny Clarke, and Winston Watson, also known as The Meditations, recorded their first hit single, "Woman Is Like a Shadow," in 1974 at Channel One Recording Studio. The group made their mark and cemented their status as reggae legends with the publication of their first two albums, Message From The Meditations and Wake Up, both produced by Dobby Dobson. Soon after, Ansel Cridland produced the third album, Guidance. The Meditations won the hearts of reggae fans all around the world. This resulted in collaborations with Lee Scratch Perry. Scratch, who produced Bob Marley and the Wailers, invited them to provide background vocals for "Punky Reggae Party," which featured Bob as the lead vocalist. Bob Marley was so thrilled with their harmony that he sought out the trio to provide further backup vocals for him. Many believe that The Meditations were Bob Marley's favorite group, which caused Bob to seek harmony and background vocals on songs such as "Rastaman Live Up" and "Blackman Redemption." Some of your favorite songs, such as "Bongo Man Youths Them A Cry" by Jimmy Cliff and "Mr. Cop" by Gregory Isaacs, feature The Meditations' harmonizing vocals. No More Friends, The Meditations' fourth album, was produced by Linval Thompson in 1983. On this album, Ansel Cridland sang all of the lead vocals. Meanwhile, Danny Clarke and Winston Watson released For the Good of Man. After some time apart, Ansel began to reunite the group with the 1993 release of Return of the Meditations, which he produced on the Heartbeat record label. Ansel followed up by creating and releasing Ghetto Knowledge on the Easy Star label in 1999, followed by Stand In Love on his own label, Meditations Music, in 2004. He has recently collaborated with another great Philip Smart on his album, Dangerous Society, which was released jointly by Meditations Music and Philip Smart in 2011. Ansel is a committed musician who writes, produces, and releases albums while also traveling with DaddyLion Chandell and Toussaint Webb on harmony. The album The Meditations & Friends—Smile Again was released in September 2021. The Meditations' latest album, Live It to Know It, was released in spring of 2025.