In Boston Ras Ipa met and communed with several Rastafarians, leading him to redirect his music to the conscious message that would be Zion Initation’s trademark. While the band’s exact date of birth is somewhat lost to the haze of memory, it was certainly playing community events in the Dorchester/Roxbury area in the late ‘70s and the Boston/Cambridge rock and reggae club circuit as early as 1980. Ipa was joined by Ras Jackson, who helped with vocals and songwriting.
In 1979 the band released the LP Showcase—six original tracks, heavy on dub ambiance. Mikey Dread, the influential Jamaican artist and producer whose “Dread at the Controls” was one of the first reggae shows on Jamaican radio mixed the album. Dread was a frequent visitor to Boston.
The website Ppcorn named "Showcase" one of the top ten American reggae albums of all time. It represents the beginning of a rich legacy of quality roots recordings emerging from Beantown and its surroundings. The album contains a handful of dub versions not on our compilation.
*Note covers do have some minor shelf wear and shrink wrap may be slight ripped.
