How this burningly bad set has remained under wraps for so long is beyond us, but thanks to the folks at Honest Jon's, it's been brought to the much needed light of day! An excellent set collecting work from throughout the career of Cedric Im Brooks, spanning a wide assortment of styles, but all with a deep spiritual approach that Brooks gathered from time spent in his youth in Philadelphia, where he fell under the influence of Sun Ra, almost joining the Arkestra before returning home to Jamaica. The set jumps from heavy, dark roots and Nyabhingi influenced reggae, including some nice dubbed out versions, to Jamaican jazz sides like his take on Horace Silver's classic "Song For My Father", to some tightly snapping disco influenced grooves and bouncing afrobeat rhythms that would make Fela proud! 19 tracks in all, including "Free Up Black Man", "Satta Massa Gana", "Jah Light It Right", "Lambs Bread Collie", "Salt Lane rock", "Rasta Lead On Version", "Sly Mongoose", "Africa", "Collie Version", "Rebirth" and "Sabebe". LP, Vinyl record album

A record from the mid 70s, but one that's got a very timeless vibe – as the grooves link together earlier rocksteady soul with more righteous roots reggae currents – all to provide a spectacular setting for the tenor of Cedric Im Brooks! As with some of Brooks' other 70s material, there's a very enigmatic vibe to the record – almost as if it dropped out of the skies without many ties to the scene around it – although we can say that the whole thing definitely has the nice edge you'd expect from handling by the legendary Studio One label! There's some great organ work on the album, unfortunately uncredited – and titles include "Glory To Sound", "Give Rasta Glory", "Walking Through", "Free Man", "Smiley", and "Why Can't I". LP, Vinyl record album

A set that's heavy on roots reggae numbers, but which also maybe predates some of the more mainstream work in the field – especially some of the more easygoing tracks that were playing bit in American dorm rooms at the end of the 70s! Instead, these are cuts from a scene where the message in the music was plenty crucial, especially amidst the early 70s turmoil in Jamaica – where Studio One was close to the streets, and able to capture the moment with the same sort of brilliance and sharpness they brought to earlier generations of rocksteady and ska! The instrumentation is great, as some of the older players evolve into more spiritual modes – and titles include "Jah Righteous Plan" by Willie Williams, "Run Babylon" by Larry Marshall, "Babylon Rock" by Vin Gordon, "Behold The Land" by Joseph Hill, "Tenor On Call" by Tommy McCook, "Sun Is Shining" by Winston Matthews, "Satta" by Cedric Im Brooks, "Message Of Old" by Ken Boothe & Joe Higgs, "Sleeping Trees" by The Saints, and "Small Garden" by Zoot Sims. LP, Vinyl record album

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! LP, Vinyl record album

The great Harold Butler handles both acoustic piano and keyboards here – in a lineup that also features Cedric Im Brooks on alto, tenor, and flute! There's a nicely jazzy vibe to the album at times – with more trumpet, trombone, percussion, and guitar. LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing record, and one of the most spiritual, righteous sets to ever come from Jamaica in the 70s – and that's saying a heck of a lot, given that scene at the time! The vibe here is really rootsy, and almost more spiritual jazz than reggae – with lots of spare percussion from Count Ossie and crew, under spoken passages by Brother Samuel Clayton and Ras Jose – all set to these spare but powerful arrangements from Cedric Im Brooks, who plays some great tenor and flute on the record too! Brooks' performance gives some jazzy currents to the music, and ties it to American underground work of the time – but the message in the vocals is very Jamaican overall, exactly what you'd expect from the "mystic revelation of Rastafari"! Titles include "Bongo Man", "Mabrat", "Four Hundred Years", "Groundation", "Oh Carolina", "Ethiopian Serenade", and "Way Back Home". LP, Vinyl record album

Funky nuggets from one of the greatest reggae labels of all time – a really wonderful collection that gets at some of the more hard-hitting material from Kingston powerhouse Studio One Records! Given the way that Studio One helped bridge the worlds of soul during the years of Jamaican ska and rocksteady, the funk is no surprise – and the package features both remakes of American funky numbers and plenty of homegrown cuts, all served up by some of the giants from the scene at the time. Titles include "Sidewalk Doctor" by Pablove Black, "007" by Soul Brothers, "Love Jah" by Sound Dimension, "Do Your Thing" by Leroy Sibbles, "Idleberg" by Cedric Im Brooks, "African Descendants" by Alton Ellis, "Reggae Feet" by Lloyd Williams, "Hang Em High" by Jackie Mittoo, "Beat Down Babylon" by Prince Frances, "Funky Broadway" by Delroy Wilson, "It's A Shame" by Alton Ellis, "Melting Pot" by Underground Vegetables, "Music Answer" by The Sharks, and a surprising remake of "Shaft" by the unlikely Cedric Im Brooks. LP, Vinyl record album

A legendary Jamaican group finally get their time in the spotlight – as Sound Dimension backed up plenty of artists in the glory days of Studio One – singers who include Alton Ellis, The Heptones, Horace Andy, and dozens of others – while also getting the chance to cut some killer instrumental work on their own! The lineup is the stuff of legends – Ernest Ranglin on guitar, Jackie Mittoo on Hammond, Cedric Brooks on reeds, and Vin Gordon on trombone – plus other musicians who really help keep things soulful throughout, and make the music here a blinding set of instrumentals from the late ska years into early reggae rhythms! Titles include "Soul Shake", "The Thing", "Holy Moses", "Hail Don D", "Full Up", "Love Land", "Bitter Blood", "Baby Face", and "Man Pon Spot". LP, Vinyl record album

A very different album than usual from the great tenorist Nat Birchall – a set that's no less soulful than his other records, but in a completely different way! The album's a collaboration with producer Al Breadwinner – and has this approach that feels like a lost Jamaican instrumental session from the start of the 70s – as if Nat's playing the role of saxophonist Tommy McCook over some nicely laidback Kingston-styled rhythms! Birchall solos on tenor on most tracks, but also blows a bit of melodica too – and even handles a bit of organ and percussion too – all swept up in a dubby mix handled by Breadwinner, who contributes drums, guitars, and keyboards. There's a bit of trumpet and trombone on the set too, plus baritone sax from Stally – and the quality of the record is excellent, every bit up to the range of the Jamaican legends listed as inspiration on the cover – a lineup that includes McCook, Lee Perry, Augustus Pablo, and Cedric Brooks. Titles include "In The Hills", "Ancient Wisdom", "Youth Iron Rock", "Freedom Style", "Amlak Dub", "Hail Don D Jr", and "Igziabeher". (Jazz, Reggae) LP, Vinyl record album