May 2009

  • Dr. Alimantado: The Doctor Who was Born for a Purpose

    By cobwebsandstrange on 5/29/09 2:45pm
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    Rude and VitalRude and VitalVery few performers have controlled their destiny subsequent to that first twenty year period in which the Jamaican music scene captured the imagination of the international music community. Sly and Robbie have obviously done well for themselves - and probably made a good deal of loot supporting Sinead O'Connor a few years back. But Dr.

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  • Triston Palmer x Toyan

    By cobwebsandstrange on 5/28/09 11:17am
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    NiceNiceAs reggae, the culture around it and the Jamaican political landscape changed through the end of the '70s and into the '80s, performers, musicians and singers moved in one of two ways it seems. Either folks shifted from a conscious roots style into a carnal dance of excess or the over politicism of Bob Marley enveloped them thereby prompting people to become as outspoken as possible. Much in the same way the excess during the '70s and '80s in the States were in reaction to what predated those times during the protest laden '60s, the '80s in Jamaica was the same.

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  • Jackie Mittoo's Soul

    By cobwebsandstrange on 5/27/09 11:08pm
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    Evening TimeEvening TimeThe folks that made up Jamaican recording industry had enough of an idea as to how to in fact run a business, put out records and promote artists, but for some mystical reason it seems like tracking a proper discography - even for the most important of players proved too difficult a task. And really, there can't be too many more important figures in Jamaican music than Jackie Mittoo. The organist counted virtually every indispensible combo amongst his credits as an arranger and player. But even if that weren't the case, his time in the Skatalites should easily have ensured his legacy if he never recorded subsequent to the dissolution of the group.

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  • Derrick Harriot - "Lady Madonna"

    By cobwebsandstrange on 5/17/09 11:46pm
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    Off of Harriott's album The Undertaker, "Lady Madonna" isn't even the highlight of the disc...

  • Derrick Harriott: Skinheadism

    By cobwebsandstrange on 5/15/09 4:13pm
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    An UndertakingAn UndertakingIn continuing the discussion that I'm having with myself about skinheadism and reggae, ska and or rock steady, a mention of Derrick Harriott and the Crystalites is more than needed Again, while the contrived genre of skinhead reggae does have its own pretendo trappings, it's all really just a part of the larger swath of JA music. At no time - on the island at least, England was another story - were these folks devising tunes for baldies. Maybe rude boys - the JA equivalent to the latter British bred cultural phenomenon - but that's about it.

    Harriott, though, was as early a contributor to the JA music scene as any other. Beginning prior to the island's independence, the singer had cut a few singles with notable producers and on the strength of his organizational talents, began heading sessions and directing musicians.

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  • Clancy Eccles: Rock Steady, Tailor, Politico

    By cobwebsandstrange on 5/14/09 5:26pm
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    Brag nor BoastBrag nor BoastI've lamented the fact that a number of folks have been left out of the history of Jamaican music when examining the perspective of fans in passing of the reggae genre. But perhaps the most inexplicable personage who's notably absent from any history of JA music is Clancy Eccles. While he may have had a difficult go of making music his life, there are few folks that turned in such a string of striking singles with emotive and romantic qualities.

    Being the son of a single father, Eccles had it rough from the beginning - his mother left when he was ten years old. Eccles' father was able to provide for his young son, but this necessitated trips into Kingston to find sporadic work as a tailor.

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  • The Bleechers: Ram You Hard

    By cobwebsandstrange on 5/13/09 8:40pm
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    Skinners Love ItSkinners Love ItThe terminology defining and associated with the skinhead movement in England during the latter part of the '60s and the '70s, until RAC and the National Front turned everyone into morons, is convoluted to outsiders and even a bit suspect to those that kinda know what's what.

    The term skinhead reggae seems like a misnomer. Where there in fact skinheads pushing and pulling those ups and downs on the island of Jamaica when ska turned to rock steady turned to reggae? Nope. But the record buying population consuming these new sounds was, in part, attached to the skinhead revolt taking place in Britain.

    The sounds commonly associated with skinhead reggae are really just rock steady tunes sporting some heavy drumming and gritty organ solos. It's not necessarily void of horns, but the main proponent of the sound currently, the Aggrolites, don't sport a brass section. Again, defining an antiquated music through some subculture is probably defeating.

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  • Nitty Gritty inna Dancehall Stylee

    By cobwebsandstrange on 5/12/09 9:51pm
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    GrittyGrittyThe technological advances made towards the latter part of the twentieth century served to inform every genre of music - even folk musicians, like John Fahey, found some use for new fangled gadgets. But in Jamaica, the shift towards supremely electronic production began as early as in any other genre. As early as '77 or '78 one can hear the over indulgent synthesizers begin to crop up. And in dubs, the differences became even more pronounced.

    To fault the spate of producers working at the beginning of the '80s would be ridiculous, but as time progressed, the reliance upon ethereal and all too clearly forged sounds seemed to envelop the more organic dub combos from the previous decade. Of course, the Aggrovators and other groups closely associated with specific studios persisted, but again, their sound was drastically altered by the inclusion of these concocted sounds.

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  • John Holt: Like a Bolt

    By cobwebsandstrange on 5/12/09 4:11pm
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    Like a BoltLike a BoltIt seems odd to think that a great many singers from Jamaica began their careers on some sort of antiquated talent show circuit. Apparently, these contests were not only the springboard for new singers and performers, but well attended and even broadcast via radio waves across the island.

    John Holt got his start on a series of these contests, apparently racking up more wins than any other contestant up until that time. That success wouldn't immediately translate to chart success, though. Holt recorded a few solo singles and even a duet with Alton Ellis that did a brisk business. But it didn't seem as if Holt would be able to sustain a solo recording career.

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  • Sufferation: Cornel Campbell

    By cobwebsandstrange on 5/11/09 7:53pm
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    OriginalOriginalIt seems odd that some folks that had a pretty drastic impact in the charts on that island down there really never had any huge break through in other parts of the record buying world. Subject matter and a backing band were and are obviously important, but that still doesn't explain everything.

    Cornel Campbell is one of the folks that never really made it off the island - although he does still tour and has shared a stage with the Slackers amongst other new comers to the genre. But in attempting to figure out why Campbell never had the same popularity in the diaspora as in JA, the only element that might have caused consternation was his false setto. It wasn't any higher pitched than Junior Murvin's - perhaps less pervasive, but still....

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  • Delano Tucker - Gather Israelites (197x)

    By cobwebsandstrange on 5/7/09 11:19pm
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    DisperseDisperseIn every genre there are those singers who have an incredible talent that effortlessly drips off the tongue and onto wax - Sarah Vaughn perhaps in jazz. And by contrast there are those who's G-d given talent might not surpass too many people, but the emotional content of their work makes up for any shortcomings - Billie Holiday maybe. Still, there are folks who just can't sing - Sinatra. No really, he can't sing - and I still don't want to hear about his phrasing.

    In the reggae, dub and dancehall genres it's necessary to be a bit lenient in regards to those vocalists who on occasion decide to get chatty amidst some track. No one needs to be in key a hundred percent of the time. But sometimes singers just lack the ability to get anywhere close to where they need to be. Delano Tucker is one of these folks.

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  • Tommy McCook: Disco Rockers

    By cobwebsandstrange on 5/7/09 9:13pm
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    Disco RockersDisco RockersBorn in Cuba during the '30s when there may have been as many mafioso types as Cubans on the island, Tommy McCook moved to Jamaica and began attending the Alpha School for Boys. As so many of his classmates, concurrent to his attendance and subsequent to it, McCook developed an undeniable acumen for not just the saxophone, but for composition and music in very general sense.

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  • Stephen Marley rocks the Catalyst (Santa Cruz)

    By selecter on 5/5/09 5:28pm
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  • The Slackers: This Old Dog

    By cobwebsandstrange on 5/2/09 5:59pm
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    Here's a clip from the forthcoming Slackers' DVD. And oddly enough, at this point, this track could be considered a classic from their catalog.

  • Dudley Sibley: Run Boy Run

    By cobwebsandstrange on 5/2/09 5:34pm
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    Here's some Coxsonne Dodd production to brighten up a rainy day...

  • Westbound Train: Rollin' On

    By cobwebsandstrange on 5/1/09 9:54pm
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    Come and Get ItCome and Get ItBeing presented to a nationwide audience beginning in 2003 with Searching for a Melody, Westbound Train arrived replete with soulful vocals unmatched in ska since, perhaps, its inception nearly forty years earlier. Having properly trained musicians, who honed their craft at Berklee probably didn't hurt too much either. But as the band sought to expand its base outside of Boston, it found a likely companion in King Django who's seen fit to appear on a few of the band's albums.

    After another disc in 2005, Westbound Train took an immense step forward by signing to Epitaph subsidiary Hellcat Records and releasing Transitions - which could still be considered the group's definitive statement.

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