Such is life for 31-year-old Josh Werner, bassist and songwriter in Hasidic reggae artist Matisyahu’s backing band, Roots Tonic. Werner is all over the place these days: In addition to Matisyahu’s breakthrough live set Live at Stubb’s and chart-topping studio effort Youth, Werner can add a third release, Roots Tonic Meets Bill Laswell, to his growing credits roster. The instrumental trio of Werner, drummer Jonah David, and guitarist Aaron Dugan blazed through eight tracks in just a few hours for Roots Tonic’s dub debut. “One of us would spark an idea and everybody else would just jump on it,” says Werner. “We were in the zone.”
“When there are vocals, there are responsibilities to support it,” adds Josh, whose bass jumps to fill melodic lead roles in Roots Tonic with support from David’s deep pocket and Dugan’s textural, heavily effected guitar work. “Without them, we can just let loose.” Josh credits much of the recording session’s inspired atmosphere to producer Laswell, whose trademark futuristic sound effects and filters color the album. “Things are very creative with Bill in the room. He has a Zen-like creative force.”
Werner’s tone stands out on record, emphasizing the deep frequencies dub bass is famous for without losing mid- and high-range complexity, a trait Josh attributes to his favorite bassists’ influence. “John Paul Jones, Paul McCartney, and other players like them have that midrangy rock tone that I love,” he says. A skilled pianist, Werner also played keyboards on both studio albums and doubled some of his Meets Bill Laswell bass lines on synth.
From Matisyahu to side work with art-folk act Coco Rosie and personal project Royal Vagabonds, Werner creates bass lines that draw from a range of influences. With the new Roots Tonic album, however, he wanted to highlight the music that first inspired him as a bassist. “For me, it’s an homage to players like Flabba Holt [Gregory Isaacs, Israel Vibration], Robbie Shakespeare [Black Uhuru, Sly & Robbie], and “Family Man” Barrett [Bob Marley & the Wailers]. A lot of people get into reggae because they hear bands like No Doubt or Matisyahu. I just hope they’ll also check out where that stuff comes from.”