AUGUSTUS PABLO PRESENTS ROCKERS INTERNATIONAL
Legendary
sounds from the great Augustus Pablo – the Rockers International selection of
some of his best music from his too-short career – both instrumental tracks
that feature his own haunting melodica solos, plus other performances with key
vocal collaborators at the time! Pablo helms the music throughout – sometimes
with the spooky, eerie quality of his own records – sometimes with a bit more
of a roots style, but one that's always filled with great little twists and
turns – if not melodica, then Augustus on organ or keyboards too. There's a huge
amount of tracks on this 2CD set – and titles include "The People Of This
World" by Sister Jam, "El Rockers Chapter Four" by Rockers All
Stars, "El Rockers Chapter One" by Jay Iny, "Three Men In A
Truck Back" by Delroy Williams, "Protect Them" by Norris Reid,
"Away With You Fussing & Fighting" by Junior Delgado, "False
Rasta" by Jacob Miller, "Black force" by Norris Reid, "1
Rutland Close" by Pablo All Stars, "Changing World" by Earl
Sixteen Daley, "Zion A Fe Lion" by Jah Levi, and the tracks
"King David's Melody", "El Rockers Chapter Three",
"Cool Melody", "Destiny", "Cassava Piece", and
"555 Crown Street" – all by Pablo himself! ~ Dusty Groove
JR. THOMAS & THE VOLCANOS - BEWARE
A contemporary
group from the Truth & Soul universe, but one who work in the best classic
style we love from the label – although at a level that takes us back to 70s
reggae, not funk or soul! The album's presented in glorious mono, which really
goes well with the old school Kingston-style production – no tricks, gimmicks,
or contemporary efforts to make things too overly complicated – just core
instrumentation from a really great combo behind the vocals of Junior Thomas –
who's got this soulful vocal approach that takes us back to Studio One legends
like Jackie Opel or Alton Ellis! In fact, the label could have easily presented
this as a lost classic, or unreleased tapes – and our hats are off to them for
doing to Jamaican sounds what they've been doing for years to American funk and
soul. Titles include "Get A Hold Of You", "Love Remedy", "Stop",
"Breaking Up", "Embraceable", "Burning Fire",
"Bumps In The Night", "Terrorize It", and "Color Me
Blue". ~ Dusty Groove
OPUS 5 -
TICKLE
These guys
just keep getting better and better with each new release – really finding a
way to draw on all the individual growth of their all-star members, while also
finding this fresh way to keep moving forward! There's a joyous, soaring sort
of vibe to the music that we sometimes don't hear in the solo release by some
of the individual players – a way of coming together that seems to set each
member on fire in the company of the other, as they hone a groove so unified,
it's hard to believe they don't work together all the time. Seamus Blake
provides tremendous tenor, and Alex Sipiagin is wonderful as always on trumpet
and flugelhorn – but extra thanks may well be due to the rhythm section, who
really set the whole thing spinning – mighty work from David Kikoski on piano
and Fender Rhodes, Boris Kozlov on bass, and Donald Edwards on drums. All group
members contribute strong original tracks for the date – and titles include
"Silver Pockets", "Tickle", "Murzake",
"Crack To The Crevice", and "Five Corners". ~ Dusty Groove
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