AdvertisementTessellated: Jamaica's Spirit of Contradiction
By Jeremy Gardner · · 6 min read
The Alchemist of Sound.
THE JAMAICAN WAY.
In Jamaica there exist certain combinations of ingredients that are so ubiquitous with island life that we never stop to think about the absurdity and deep alchemy that goes into them. Who, for example, was the first man or woman to add saltfish to ackee? Who mixed the first brew of Pine and Ginger? Jamaicans mix the disparate and the contradictory to balance and sustain life. And the artist Tessellated is a master of bringing this practice to his music.
BREAKING GROUND.
At the root of his creative process lies what to others might be a contradiction. Tess is the first and the only Jamaican artist to have a song, I Learnt Some Jazz Today, reach number one on Billboard's Smooth Jazz Songs chart in 2019. This effort earned him a Primetime Emmy nomination through the Apple AirPods 'Bounce' commercial. These achievements, on their face, show someone unafraid to embody difference, who is no stranger to pushing boundaries and exploring more idiosyncratic avenues through sound. And if that was all he did, Tess would be a notable jazz talent and the conversation would stop there. But he also leans heavily into the reggae and dancehall traditions.
ROOTED AND REACHING.
Tessellated aims in every song to be both authentic to himself and his own ambitions to create genre-defying mosaics (as his name suggests), but also to remain rooted firmly in the earth. "It is a responsibility," he says, "to wave the flag and represent, but also to let life inform the process, to stay inspired and to live life inspiringly so that the music and its message is never a lie."
SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE.
More balancing acts characterise his work. To enjoy the process of creation and synthesising new sounds is his first love where being a musician is concerned. And yet, in time, he has come more and more to enjoy the art of performance. For him, the music must be for and by the people. He makes music to be listened to. It cannot only be concept work and grand orchestral harmonies. It is certainly those things, but it is also a simple rocksteady anthem to relax to or a melody that sticks with you long after you listen.
That yin and yang of forces that would pull another musician to a side where he is most comfortable instead pushes Tess to stay in that zone where there is something for both the cerebral listener and the jazz-educated as well as the more pop-oriented crowd. Eternal themes cascade through his sound: a broken heart, a song to feel good to, but always with a twist that keeps the mix idiosyncratic, surprising, and fresh.
IN THE MIX NOW.
His recent single, 'Where We End,' featuring Surfer Girl, is at once reggae and blues, dancehall and jazz. It relays one side of a story of a breakup, and it becomes clear by the end that there is no response to the call. A break from convention that structurally conveys the finality of the heartbreak. Little details come together in a song that is easy and pleasant to the ears, while being deceptively complex in its formulation and messaging. More contradictions easily resolved.
THE MAN BEHIND THE MUSIC:
Joshua Meeks. Tess describes himself as a serial hobbyist and enjoys calisthenics and jiu-jitsu, reading chess books and learning the guitar. He finds that the more balance he encourages in his personal life and practice, the better the mixture of his music gets and the more he becomes his own first instrument. Tessellated describes his creative process as a form of synesthesia, translating what he sees as colourful visual tapestries into melody, humming what he sees and making of it a complex soundboard.
Tess grew up in Kingston, Jamaica. Even as a child, Tessellated was always playing music. Whatever instruments were available, whether drums or piano or later saxophone or guitar, he'd entertain family at gatherings. As a result, no one ever discouraged him from pursuing his creativity or really had reason to doubt his drive or his potential. The main obstacle to his career was never overcoming external forces or the pervasive badmind that plagues the land. Instead, it has been a spiritual struggle to separate the intrinsic joy of creation from the drudgery of work. Betrayals over money early on soured him to the industry, but he's ensured in time to carve out that sacred environment in himself where the purity of the process remains and nothing can dissuade either him or his message.
WHAT COMES NEXT.
Inspired by Quincy Jones's ability to navigate the contradiction of minimalism and overproduction, and Walshy Fire's nuanced exploratory soundscapes and Jamaican authenticity, we look forward to more and more lessons in the Tao from Tessellated. His upcoming album, set to be released this year, is promised to be more dancehall leaning than his earlier work, and the excitement is palpable. What alchemical recipe will he provide the people with this time?
