Having in the past commented briefly on the reggae and ska scene in England, it would be appropriate then to include the contributions of Dennis Bovell. It seems as if his name isnâ??t all too readily known â?? but for good reason. For the majority of his recording career, he assumed a pseudonym.

Born in Barbados in 1953, Bovell and his family were a part of the mass emigration to England from the West Indies. In this moment, though, can be figured the basis for subsequent ska, reggae and skinhead movements. A great deal of the folks moving from the islands to England found themselves working in blue collar professions – factories and the like. As a result they were relegated to certain living in neighborhoods based upon economic stratification. That basically meant working class black folks lived next door to working class white folks. But seeing as West Indian culture was a defining part of these people’s lives, it came with them. And as a result, many working class English were exposed to reggae, ska and other more tangible aspects of island culture.

Bassist from the Clash, Paul Simonon, credits his style to this phenomenon. And even though, Mick Jones taught him the instrument, Simononâ??s upbringing around folks who listened to ska and reggae influenced his behind the beat style. And itâ??s in this aspect of that band that really served to set them apart from other groups occupying roughly the same territory.

Bovell, though, began his career in groups inspired by vocal trios from the islands. It wasnâ??t until he formed Matumbi â?? which means â??rebornâ?? in the Yoruba language â?? that the singer and guitarist slowed down the beat and turned more towards reggae music. Of course, even in this group Bovell went by the moniker Blackbeard. And to even further obscure things, his group recorded a spate of dub albums under the name 4^th Street Orchestra.

Even as the discourse related to whether something is authentic or not, much of the recordings from 4^th Street Orchestra were on an even field with anything from Jamaica. It wasnâ??t sparse like the Scientist or Lee Perry. In fact, Bovell sought out the assistance of Rico Rodriguez. Lending his name, a higher level of visibility and of course his talent and ability in arranging charts, the inclusion of Rodriquez served to enliven these dub tracks. But to further separate these recordings from their Jamaican counter parts, there is a devout following of melodic figures as opposed to the rhythmically focused Jamaican dubs. Itâ??s unfortunate, though, that these discs have pretty much been lost to time seeing as there arenâ??t really better examples of the medium coming from England.

So impressive were these works, that Linton Kwesi Johnson tapped Bovell to produce a number of his albums. With this level of notoriety came a great deal of other production work for the guitarist. And as odd as it sounds in addition to working with I-Roy, The Slits and Madness, Bovell also worked with the Thompson Twins and the Pop Group. Unfortunately, much his more artistically successful work â?? like the Pop Group and any stripped down dub â?? really doesnâ??t have too much commercial viability today. So, hunt down those 4^th Street Orchestra discs on the interwebs, or donâ??t hear them at all.