Reggae — All Formats  

Killer funky organ – and 100% Dynamite! Jackie Mittoo is one of the all-time great organists – as essential to Jamaica as Booker T was to Memphis, or Jimmy McGriff was to New York. He's legendary these days as the player who completely transformed the Hammond sound with his unique Jamaican instrumental style during his early years with the Skatalites, and on his later solo recordings for Studio One. This set's probably the first time Mittoo's work has been properly packaged and remastered – and the folks at Soul Jazz have done an amazing job of selecting just the right tracks for such a project. The whole thing wails along with a stone rocksteady groove – with plenty of nice drum parts and funky rhythm bits underneath Jackie's soulful organ. If you dug the label's 100% Dynamite series, you'll really dig this one – and the whole thing's very much in the same vein. Tracks include "Drum Song", "Reggae Rock", "Hot Tamale", "Killer Diller", "Black Organ", "Stereo Freeze", "Wall Street", "Darker Shade Of Black", "Juice Box", and "Killer Diller".

Killer funky organ – and 100% Dynamite! Jackie Mittoo is one of the all-time great organists – as essential to Jamaica as Booker T was to Memphis, or Jimmy McGriff was to New York. He's legendary these days as the player who completely transformed the Hammond sound with his unique Jamaican instrumental style during his early years with the Skatalites, and on his later solo recordings for Studio One. This set's probably the first time Mittoo's work has been properly packaged and remastered – and the folks at Soul Jazz have done an amazing job of selecting just the right tracks for such a project. The whole thing wails along with a stone rocksteady groove – with plenty of nice drum parts and funky rhythm bits underneath Jackie's soulful organ. If you dug the label's 100% Dynamite series, you'll really dig this one – and the whole thing's very much in the same vein. Tracks include "Drum Song", "Reggae Rock", "Hot Tamale", "Killer Diller", "Black Organ", "Stereo Freeze", "Wall Street", "Darker Shade Of Black", "Juice Box", and "Killer Diller".

We give up! Just when we thought the gravy train had stopped running, the last train to skaville pulls into the station with 16 jaunty numbers fusing ska and rocksteady with a healthy dose of Jamaican soul at the hands of Jackie Mittoo and the Soul Brothers under the guidance of Coxsone Dodd! After the Skatalites busted up in the mid 60s, Dodd set about assembling a new house band, bringing Mittoo and a number of the original members of the Skatalites, including Lloyd Brevett and Roland Alphonso, together with some of the new, younger talent, and the fine folks at Soul Jazz have assembled a mighty, mighty set of their finest moments. But as Coxsone says in the liner notes, let's "Cut the chatter and spin the platter"! Includes "James Bond", "Voodoo Moon", "Chicken & Booze", "Hpney Pot", "Mr Flint", "Dr Ring Ding", "Got My Boogaloo", "Home Made", "Sufferer's Choice" and "Hot & Cold".

Classic Studio instrumentals from the hottest house band in the history of Jamaican music! Alongside the Skatalites the Sound Dimension were responsible for crafting the tunes and rhythms that emanated from Coxsone Dodd's Studio One label from the very dawning of the reggae age, and what better group could you ask for, featuring Jackie Mittoo, Ernest Ranglin, Leroy Sibbles, Horsemouth Wallace, Vin Gordon and Cedric Brooks? Guaranteed to blow your mind, this set features the finest selection of Jamaican instrumental R&B around, with jaunty, easy skanking numbers with a nice dose of loping funk sprinkled throughout. 16 tracks in all, including "Heavy Beat", "Federated Backdrop", "Baby Face", "Love Land", "Full Up", "Upsetters Dream", "The Thing", "My Heart In Rhythm", "Man Pon Spot", "Holy Moses", and "Soul Shake"

Here's the real deal – a totally cool collection of all-classic Jamaican ska tracks from the mid 60s – with no revival cuts, no remakes – just the core original grooves! The quality of the work here is tremendous – a rocking, romping approach to soul music that really shows the Jamaican sound starting to fall into place – often handled by singers and musicians who'd break even bigger in the later reggae years, but who have a raw brilliance here that's even more compelling! The track list is wonderful – and the set is a hell of a deal at this price – with tracks that include "One Eyed Jacks" by Jimmy Cliff, "JFK's Memory" by Don Drummond, "The Sun Rises In The East" by Dotty & Bonnie, "Catch A Fire" by Baba Brooks & His Band, "Do You Keep On Dreaming" by The Cherry Pies, "Choo Choo Ska" by Llans Thewell & The Celestials, "Parro Saw The Light" by Lloyd Clarke, "The Jerk" by Derrick Harriott, and "Dragon Weapon" by The Skatalites.

A great set of purely classic level Studio One material – great stuff from the early 60s onward to around 1980 – and unfailingly amazing all the way through! Studio One opened up in the fall of '63, and soon after, the best of the best of Jamaican music greats of the time were wanting to record there for Coxsone Dodd. The set features the unstoppable rhythms of The Skatalites and timeless greatness from The Heptones, Maytals, Horace Andy, Lone Ranger, Freddy McKay, Wailing Souls, Willie Williams, Marcia Griffiths, Dub Specialist, Doreen Schaeffer, Ernest Ranglin and many more. 18 tracks in all: "Ball Of Fire" and "Fidel Castro" by The Skatalites, "I'm Your Man" by The Heptones, "Watch Your Step" by Freedy McKay, "Mr Music" by Pablove Black, "Sitting With Stupid" by Dub Specialist, "Let Me Hold You Tight" by Marcia Griffins, "Treat Me Bad" by The Maytals, "Everything She Want" by Lone Ranger and more.

A sprawling set that commemorates the Reggae Golden Jubilee– one that's beautifully put together by VP – and featuring 100 pivotal tracks from the early 60s to the late 00s! Selector Mr. Seaga does a pretty terrific job on the tracklist – which focuses as much on tracks that proved to be among the most trailblazing as it does on big hits. It touches on the styles and subgenres from throughout reggae's history – from ska, to rocksteady, reggae, dub, deejay, dancehall and beyond – with bellwether material by Theophilus Beckford, Higgs & Wilson, Skatalites, U-Roy, Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff, Yellowman, Third World, Dennis Brown, Maxi Priest, Sugar Minott, Beres Hammond, Sizzla, Shaggy and many, many more. "Dumplins" by Byron Lee & The Dragonaires, "They Got To Go" by Prince Buster, "Bring Home" by Justin Hines & The Dominoes, "Rough And Tough" by Stranger Cole, "Hypocrite" by The Heptones, "Occupation" by Don Drummond & The Skatalites, "Wear You To The Ball" by U-Roy & The Paragons, "The A Fi Get A Beatin'" by Peter Tosh, "Police And Thieves" by Junior Murvin, "Right Time" by Mighty Diamonds, "Uptown Ranking" by Althea & Donna, "Over Me" by Yellowman, "Pass The Dutchie" by Musical Youth, "Try Jah Love" by Third World, "Wild World" by Maxie Priest, "One Blood" by Junior Reid, "Murder She Wrote" by Chaka Demus & Pliers, "Putting Up Resistance", by Beres Hammond, "You Don't Love Me (No No No)" by Dawn Penn, "Untold Stories" by Buju Banton, "Black Woman And Child" by Sizzla, "Gimme The Light" by Sean Paul, "Pon De River, Pon De Bank" by Elephant Man, "Welcome To Jamrock" by Damian "Jr Gong" Marley, "The Harder They Come" by Jimmy Cliff and more.

More burning instrumentals from Coxsone Dodd and his mighty crew at Studio One! Soul Jazz has already established Dodd and Studio One as a near household name in bad, bold island grooves, and this set of fiery instrumentals keeps up the pressure, with 16 burning numbers! All flavors of Jamaican soul get represented here, from spacey, mellow grooves at the hands of Jackie Mittoo, to mellow snapping clavinet numbers from Pablove Black, deep roots from Cedric Brooks or jaunty ska numbers from the Soul Vendors and the Skatalites. As usual, the packaging is in the deluxe vein that has graced previous chapters in the series, and this set includes "Gumbay Jump" by the Dub Specialist, "A Big Car" by Jackie Mittoo, "Joe Grazer" and "Sidewalk Doctor" by VinGordon, "Sound Almighty" by the Soul Defenders, "Black Wax" by Pablove Black, Dick Tracy" by the Skatalites, "Cousin Joe Pt 1" by Sugar Belly, and "Black Is Black" by Im & David, plus many more!

A fantastic early reggae hit – and a classic bit of rocksteady that never grows old! Desmond was one of the first artists to really crack the global charts, and this American pressing of "Israelites" is more than proof of his popularity – as well as a great little tune!

A massive collection of ska instrumentals – all the real deal from the initial 60s start of the genre – and all pulled from the legendary Top Deck catalog! There's a crisp, raw edge to these tracks that nobody else was able to ever match again – a sinister vibe that comes from the bold production style, cool compressed rhythms, and soulful sax and trumpet solos that really make these numbers cook! Given that the set's all instrumental, the vibe here is a lot different than most ska revival work too – almost more in a 60s soul instrumental mode – with great traces to the inspiration of the genre. Titles include "Shot In The Dark" and "Determination" by Roland Alphonso, "China Town" and "China Clipper" by The Skatalites, "Scattered Lights" and "Red Is Danger" by Tommy McCook, "Warlock" by Jackie Mittoo, "Love In The Afternoon" by Don Drummond, "Live Wire" by Lyn Taitt & Jackie Mittoo, "Yogi Man" and "Red Is Danger" by Johnny Moore, "Shock Resistance" by Baba Brooks, "Lawless Street" by King Sporty & The Skatalites, and "Ti Pi Tin" by Raymond Harper.

Yet another value priced box pulling together some of the best from Trojan's huge catalogue of reggae classics. 50 rude boy classics here, heavy on the ska side, for your scooter run down to the shore! Way too many tracks to list here, but we're especially hip to the Skatalites' "Lucky Seven", Duke Reid's "Rude Boy", Laurel Aitken & The Soulmen's "Last Night", Tommy McCook's "Thunderball", The Zodiacs' "Renegade", Derrick Morgan's "Fat Man", and Lee Perry's "Kimble The Nimble".

One of the more far-reaching compilations in the Jazz Club series – reggae covers by jazz mainstays and more from late 60s onward, with a focus on great stuff from the 70s! All of the material was culled from the vast Universal vaults – and it's a pretty sweet set of jazzy reggae and reggae jazz, from artists as diverse as Ernest Ranglin, Bernard Pretty Purdie, The Skatalites, Bill Fraser, Deodato and Medeski, Martin & Wood! 14 tracks in all: "54-46 – (Was My Number)" by Ernest Ranglin, "Jammin'" by Monty Alexander, "I Can See Clearly Now" by Junior Mance, "Natty Never Get Weary" by Dean Fraser, "Rock Fort Rock" by Skatalites, "Montego Bay" by Pretty Purdie, "I Shot The Sheriff" by Deodato, "Walking On Sunshine" by Bill Summers, "Pressure Drop" by Brass Fraser and more.

Classic Studio instrumentals from the hottest house band in the history of Jamaican music! Alongside the Skatalites the Sound Dimension were responsible for crafting the tunes and rhythms that emanated from Coxsone Dodd's Studio One label from the very dawning of the reggae age, and what better group could you ask for, featuring Jackie Mittoo, Ernest Ranglin, Leroy Sibbles, Horsemouth Wallace, Vin Gordon and Cedric Brooks? Guaranteed to blow your mind, this set features the finest selection of Jamaican instrumental R&B around, with jaunty, easy skanking numbers with a nice dose of loping funk sprinkled throughout. 16 tracks in all, including "Heavy Beat", "Federated Backdrop", "Baby Face", "Love Land", "Full Up", "Upsetters Dream", "The Thing", "My Heart In Rhythm", "Man Pon Spot", "Holy Moses", and "Soul Shake"

It just doesn't stop! The heavyweight selectors at Soul Jazz brew up another chubby batch of blazing Studio One jams, delivering nothing but the classics this go 'round, just like the title says! Another chapter from Coxsone Dodd and crew showcasing the label and studio that laid the foundation for a huge swath of Jamaican music for generations to come, this set delivers 18 mighty, mighty reggae jams of all flavors, including the Skatalites "El Pussycat Ska", Sound Dimension "Rockfort Rock", the Heptones "Pretty Looks Isn't All", Lone Ranger "Automatic", Horace Andy "Fever", Burning Spear "Rocking time", Alton Ellis "I'm Just A Guy", Don Drummond "Confucious", Michigan & Smiley "Rub A Dub Style" and Johnny Osbourne "Sing Jay Stylee".

Ghetto, maybe, but it's most certainly prime era ska! Ghetto Ska is a stellar compilation of tracks from vaults of the Wirl & Federal Studios – backed by the Skatalites and featuring numbers by Theophilus Beckford, Frank Cosmo, Lloyd Clarke and others. The vocals are soulful and the shuffle rhythm in full effect here – heavy with numbers fronted by T Beckford. Includes "Don't Have A Ticket Don't Worry", "Seven Long Years" and more by T Beckford, "Come On My People" and "Brother Nathan" by Daniel Johnson, "Love Me Or Leave Me" by Lloyd Clarke, "On Your Knees" by Frank Cosmo, "Now You're Gone" by Shenley & Annette, "Streets Of Glory" by Basil Gabiddon and more.