Jackie Mittoo's Soul

Evening 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.

Mittoo did record after the break up of that all star line up, though. Most commonly the keyboardist was found in the company of a group he dubbed the Soul Vendors. And as luck would have it, the band and its revolving cast would usually sport at least a few Skatalites in its ranks - occasionally Ernest Ranglin on guitar and Lloyd Brevett plying the upright bass. These players would back not just Mittoo, but whoever Coxsonne Dodd desired to have that early rock steady feeling on their singles. The organist's first studio effort after his late '60s live disc, is actually a compilation, though, entitled Evening Time.

Due to the aforementioned problems with track and the like, this effort ends up rehashing some past glories. "Hot Shot" had certainly appeared elsewhere by the time that Evening Time was released. But that issue aside, the disc sports some interesting settings for Mittoo to unloose his echoed solos. Seeing as the album comes relatively early in Jamaican musics' evolution towards reggae, the slowed down rhythms were most likely still fresh to these players - and especially the Skatalites alumni. A number of tracks are accompanied by hand drumming and although Count Ossie pioneered this instrumentation a while before these tracks were set down to tape, the approach hadn't spread throughout the medium by this date in the '60s.

That aside, there's still a heaping of American soul influence all over this disc. The Booker T and the MG's cover, "Hip Hug Her," while making as much sense as any cover ever attempted by a Jamaican player, ends up sounding pretty much like a retread. The bridge is a bit different than the original, but Mittoo is able to exactly replicate the tone of Booker T's organ.

Considering later works from the keyboard player would suffer from inconsistency, the songs here should be treasured a bit more dearly. Every song on here is a winner even if fans have heard a version prior. As Mittoo moved closer towards the '80s and lived in Toronto amongst an engorged Jamaican diaspora, albums like Hot Blood, while still sporting a good deal of fire suffered a bit from the cheese factor.

It would have been Mittoo's 61^st birthday this past March. And even though he past away almost twenty years ago, Evening Time is a musical statement that he should be proud to be remembered for.