Mikey General (Photo: Joseph Wellington)

THOUGH it took place 23 years ago, Mikey General remembers the moment he considers the turning point in his career as if it were yesterday. While working in the warehouse section of a wine factory in London, he says he told a co-worker of his plans to return to Jamaica and take up singing full time.

"He said, 'mate 25 years from now you'll still be here'. It jerk mi, mi jus' tek mi leave same time, resign and tek mi music serious," said the burly General.

At 40 years-old, Mikey General is still taking the music seriously. So much so that last year he took time off from touring with longtime colleague, Luciano, to complete work on Exalt Jah, his latest album which was released in the United States and England in June.

"I wanted to get a firmer footing after years of working with Luciano. I love him and admire him but I see the need for me to grow," General explained.

Produced by General and Luciano, Exalt Jah is one of two albums the roots singer completed during his break from the road. The other, Joy, was produced by Dean Fraser, who has worked on previous albums by both artistes; Joy is scheduled to be released later this year by VP Records.

Exalt Jah also features the Firehouse Crew, Luciano's longtime recording and touring band. Which pushes one to ask: why use Luciano's musicians when the objective is to move out of his shadow?

"I wanted to go for a different sound but yuh still have to use certain ingredients, I would bring in a new hornsman but don't change the sound too much," he said. "Because I wanted the foundation to be strong I used strong people."

Exalt Jah is Mikey General's sixth album and is distributed in the United Kingdom by Redbridge Records and by Miami's Stone Tiger Entertainment in the US. The UK version has 18 songs while the American edition has three less.

That strategy, says Mikey General, is geared at giving his longtime fans in the UK a little extra. He was born there as Michael Taylor in the community of Harlesden in 1963, but returned to Jamaica two years later because his parents feared a violent backlash against immigrants in light of member of parliament Enoch Powell's call to the British government to halt immigration from the Caribbean.

Growing up in the Valentine Gardens area of Kingston, he hung around sound systems and was singing with several of them while attending St George's College. It was while he was at STGC that he recorded his first song, Roots Mi Roots, in 1980 at Channel One, backed by the legendary Soul Syndicate Band.

Returning to England two years later, he continued to sing with sound systems such as Coxsone, Viking and Saxon. He also recorded two albums, Sound Boy Burial, a combination with singer Andrew Paul for London's Fashion Records, and the self-produced Fresh Again. When he came back to Jamaica after three years, he says he was "well seasoned" and began recording for singer Sugar Minott's Youthman Productions and Phillip "Fattis" Burrell.

Though he had far more songs under his belt, it was not until General met an up-and-coming Luciano in the early 1990s that his career took off. "Wi met at (producer) Castro Brown's New Name studio, him come fi do six 'special' fi Saxon," Mikey General recalled. "Because mi know Saxon from England, mi sey him mus' good fi dem want six song from him."

At the time, Luciano had a minor hit in the UK with Shake It Up Tonight, produced by Freddie McGregor's Big Ship Records. The two became quick friends and were members of Burrell's Xterminator Crew which also included Shadow Man, Jesse Jendau and ultimately, Sizzla.

In 1994, when Luciano's sensational Where There is Life album was picked up by Chris Blackwell's new Island Jamaica Records, they toured Europe and North America, the first of many overseas treks.

For promotion of Exalt Jah, Mikey General will link again with his old friend for a series of North American dates, starting July 23 in Portland, Oregon.

Up close with Heineken Green Synergy finalists

Merritone looks to the future

Beenie Man arrives late for function to honour athletes; apologises