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’If you’re going to play Jai Alai, you gotta be a bad motherfucker, but if you’re the best at Jai Alai – if you’are a savant at playing Jai Alai you gotta be a pretty bad motherfucker.“ Ralph Darden Batman is one of the only superheroes that manages to fight crime without the gift of superpowers. However, the seemingly limitless wealth of his alter-ego, Bruce Wayne, tends to be a power in itself, providing advanced gadgets like the Batsuit and Batmobile. So where are all the everyday, penny-pinching superheroes? Ralph Darden is one. Between jiu-jitsu sport-fighting and maintaining his own alter ego DJ Major Taylor, Chicagoan Ralph Darden is just as busy as Peter Parker and Clark Kent ever were. Despite his other eclectic interests, Darden’s main focus is fronting reggae dub-rock trio The Jai Alai Savant, which was formed in Philadelphia in 2003 as a solo project of sorts and now includes bassist Dan Snyder and new drummer Michael Bravine following Jeremy Gewertz´s exit beginning 2007 (formerly of An Albatross, Reversal of Man, and The Deadly). Mike Ali, a former member, played on much of this new record. Did we also mention he mentored Hollertronix's Low-Budget with DJ’ing and he's gotten features in The FADER and Time Out just for being … errr … Ralph! He was the first to do genre-less dj nights in Philly with his long time friends coming through in the early days (Diplo, Low Budget, Amanda Blank, Spank Rock, etc), which of course later turned into an internationally acclaimed movement. Diplo: "wow ... well ... Major Taylor (Ralph) was one of the djs/musicians in Philly that inspired Hollertronix ... he’s like one of the true sources of that party." (...) After touring with previous incarnations Random Children (who opened for Fugazi on only their third gig) and reggae-influenced indie punk band Franklin (who's second album "building in a and e " was recorded with the famous dub reggae producer Scientist), everything came together for The Jai-Alai Savant in 2003 when Darden reconnected with Cedric of The Mars Volta while backstage at a concert in Philadelphia. The two had met briefly when Cedric attended a Franklin show as a fan in El Paso, Texas in the early 90s, "Ralph came through El Paso with Franklin back when At the Drive-In still lived there. They were inspiring, they were doing with reggae what we wanted to (with the band De Facto). Ralph's mix of dub and DC-style punk reminded me of someone like Elvis Costello doing reggae, or the great, great grandchild of the Bad Brains...“ Darden continues on as the frontman for The Jai-Alai Savant and as DJ Major Taylor but now based out of Chicago. It seems it is only just a matter of time until Ralph Darden and The Jai-Alai Savant take over cities all around the world with their unique, superhero-infused, dub-reggae punkrock. The band cut their teeth touring with The Flesh, The Gossip and Ted Leo And The Pharmacists and are soon back on tour in Europe! THE JAI-ALAI SAVANT » Scarlett Johansson Why Don't You Love Me « |
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