My name is Marissa Lelogeais. I was
born with Cerebral Palsy, and I'm
visually impaired, but I went on to
pursue my dream of graduating from
Berklee College Music, and I went on to
start an inclusive reggae band called
The Merry Rockers. The Merry Rockers are all
a bunch of very happy and very talented
musicians. And we're all friends, which is
awesome. Matt Jensen who is a professor
at Berklee College of Music, accepted me
into his Bob Marley class, which is a by
audition only class.
So about 10 years ago, this young woman came to the
audition with Cerebral Palsy, and a
massive heart. Her vibe was just so
tremendous. And so I let her into the
class. Throughout the course of the class
of course, she became maybe more obsessed
with Bob Marley than I had been.
So last year Matt in his colleague Maroghini did
this trip called Inside Reggae, and it
was for people that really wanted to
know the culture and history of Reggae.
While I was there, I met Alicia Williams
from the Bob Marley Foundation and said
listen, my band is gonna play at Bob
Marley's 75th birthday!
I'm standing at 56 Hope Road which is Bob
Marley's house. In his beautiful
garden, and it feels like Christmas. Like
it's that kind of excitement and joy.
I think we're ready to hit in less than an
hour and it's super exciting.
Tubby Love here. We're on our way to Jamaica. With the Merry Rockers.
To rock merilly at Bob Marleey's 75th birthday party.
This is, Reggae royalty here, now, up at Pinnacle here.
The birth place of Rastafari right here.
The story of how I took to
the drum is very interesting.
With cerebral palsy, the synapses don't
connect your brain to your body.
People have it all kinds of places, their
legs, their hands, their speech.
So one of the places I had it is in my hands. So
for me to play a chordal instrument such
as piano or guitar, is very difficult,
because my fingers are unable to move
like this. but I can...
For the past two and
a half years I've been taking djembe
lessons, which has really helped with the
brain to body coordination.
let's go learn.
Actually I rented a shop in the front.
That was about 78, 79.
Me and Gregory Isaacs together.
We had Cash and Carry.
Me Gregory Issacs and Dennis Brown. And then Bunny Wailer came in after.
Big names in Reggae up here...
I'm not dreaming right now right, Sly is gonna listen to our music.
Wait, oh I'm not dreaming.
This is real this is real oh my god!
It sounds great.
Oh thank
you, it was written from the heart.
It can be a blessing and a curse
but most of the time it's such a
blessing, because I do not care who or
what stands in my way. I will try and try
and try to achieve that happy end goal
that I have.
If Bob Marley can touch so many people
with his music, maybe I can change lives
and slash stereotypes. Because people
with disabilities are
stereotyped against, and music is the one
area of my life, where I'm not
handicapped. Where I'm on an equal
playing field with everybody.
We just went to Bunny Wailer's home.
It's unfortunate that we didn't see
him. And we got Mar and the band to sing
a song while he stayed inside, right at
his window and could hear, and his
comments was that she was very good, and
the band was good.
Greetings Bunny Wailer. This is Matt
Jensen. I'm from Boston. I teach at a
music school up there called Berklee
College of Music, and I teach a class
that's based on your music and Bob's and
Peter's music. So we want to thank you
and we hope that you are strong in your
health, we're gonna sing for you a song
by Mar, and we are called the Merry
Rockers.
 
Chinna's yard is probably the most epic
hang and jam session that I've ever had.
Chinna is a guitar player that played with Bob
Marley, played with many legends.
And he's just an incredible musician and person
and there's a very warm friendly vibe there in the yard.
We just played some
music with him, we just ran through a
bunch of tunes, and the music felt really
good. Different singers Jamaican and
otherwise that were singing. And to be
with the architects of this music is just unreal.
At 10:30 AM, the studio will be ignited by a special
guest Marissa lelogeais, Mar
Who has Cerebral Palsy and is visually impaired. She is part of a band called the Merry Rockers!
That's what you call Rocker's, rockers and a crockers
right here on Roots FM 96.1 on the
FM band and, you're probably wondering what a goin on? It is indeed Reggae month!...
It was absolutely wonderful.
I'm really indebted to you guys.
This has made my day, my month, my year actually.
And as I said you know what the mind can
conceive and believe, it we can truly
achieve. That's what Mar and her team has
proved to me. I like to say she's Jamazing
her energy is infectious, and she really
makes a difference when she comes in to an environment.
You just feel powered up. She has that
energy and she passes it on.
I must say again, I'm so grateful for her
and the team and I'm looking forward to seeing her
perform at the Bob Marley museum for Bob Marley's
75th anniversary tomorrow!
Coming to Jamaica. Now in the studio Working with Sizzla. Like...
Vibes, vibes, vibes. Yeah so that
just happened.
Family
One universal language. Music. To be in,
and to be welcomed, and to be honored,
and to be seen. It's a big deal, and it's because
of music.
Orville, please take us to 56 Hope Road. We're going to play at Bob's house.
No problem, no problem mon.
The question is in
20 years of me teaching my class and Bob Marley,
did I ever think that would be
playing at Bob Marley's house with one
of my students? No! And what an honor it
is to do it with The Merry Rockers here
in Kingston Jamaica. On Bob's 75th
birthday earth strong Bob 75 years.
Can't wait to play. Let's do it. Got my keyboard,
got my banana, gotta lock the door.
 
 
 
 
How you doin 56 Hope Road!?
The experience of being up there with my
friends and with Matt was... oh I will
remember to remember that experience for
the rest of my life. The one thing that I
will say about this trip and the way
that it's changed me
and in particular reggae music has
helped me do this a lot more, to be able
to fuse my music and my life story and
not be self-conscious about that.
Because initially I was very self-conscious
about doing that, because I wanted the
music to be the predominant factor
rather than the alter abilities, or the
disabilities. And through learning about
Bob and what he did, I said "Well, when I
make music or do recording especially
when I play live I want the people that
are listening to the very rockers to
feel pure joy and feel inspired."
My hope is that school kids from the
disabled schools that we play, my wish is
that one of those kids goes home and
says "Mom, Dad, I just saw this band today
with this girl. She made me realize that
I can achieve my dreams as well."
That's at the core what I hope the
listeners gain when they hear The Merry Rockers.
 
