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

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". Includes bonus tracks "Iron Rock Dub" and "Igziabeher Dub". (Jazz, Reggae) CD

Features bonus disc of remixes! CD

A really great book if you're digging for reggae records – one that features hundreds of listings of albums, both classic and hard to find – each with a small color image of the cover, dates and labels in English, and a small review in Japanese! You've probably seen this format for other Japanese disc guides on jazz, funk, or soul – and this volume brings that same approach to reggae records, tracing the music from the start of the 60s onwards – in chapters on The Ska Era, Rocksteady Era, Early Reggae, Roots Rock, Early Dancehall, Digital Dancehall, Neo Roots, Modern & Hybrid Era, and Reggae Revival. The book is softcover, over 300 pages, and has full color images throughout – and even if you can't read the Japanese text, you can likely use Google on your phone to make a translation. (Books, Reggae) Book

Excellent! An astounding 4CD set covering 15 years worth of fine Jamaican music, stopping at all the relevant points for novices, but digging deeply enough to unearth some nice hard to get bits for the initiated. The first disc in the set, Train To Skaville, represents an 8 year block during the formative years of the 60s, starting out with some Mento cuts, then a couple of nice Jamaican R& B numbers on through a nice batch of Ska. Disc 2, Do The Reggay, focus on the transition to Rocksteady and early reggae from 1968 to 1970, as the tempos started to get a little more laidback, and the dawn of the 70s gets highlighted with disc 3, Black & White: Reggae Rising. Disc 4, The Time Has Come, brings it all together collecting a tremendous batch of roots rock. 90 tracks in all, the set includes Derrick Morgan "Fat Man", Stranger Cole "Rough & Tough", Don Drummond & Tommy McCook "Music Is My Occupation", Roland Alphonso & The Soul Brothers "Phoenix City", Desmond Dekker & The Aces "Rudy Got Soul", Keith & Tex "Stop That Train", Toots & The Maytals "Do The Reggay", Lee Perry People Funny Boy", the Untouchables "Tighten Up", the Pioneers "Longshot Kick The Bucket", Gregory Isaacs "Don't Let Me Suffer", Harry J Allstars "The Liquidator", Niney "Blood & Fire", Ken Parker "Groovin Out On Life", Bob Marley & The Wailers "Small Axe", Horace Andy "I Fell Good All Over", Junior Byles "A Place Called Africa", Zap Pow "This Is Reggae Music", Slim Smith "The Time Has Come", Big Youth "S90 Skank", Burning Spear "Marcus Garvey", and way too many more to list here! CD

A record that's not only a landmark in Jamaican music – but also a set that was to reggae what Curtis Mayfield's Superfly was to 70s soul! In other words, the set not only raised the bar for all the competition, it also ended up in a lot more record collections than most of them too – maybe in part because it was a soundtrack, as was Superfly – but also because it has this global power that makes it a defining album of the genre! Jimmy Cliff is obviously the mainman here, but there's help from other key players in the growing reggae scene – and titles include Jimmy's classic "You Can Get It If You Really Want", in two versions – plus two takes on "The Harder They Come", "Many Rivers To Cross", and "Sitting In Limbo" – plus "Sweet & Dandy" and "Pressure Drop" by The Maytals, "007" by Desmond Dekker, "Johnny Too Bad" by The Slicers, "Draw Your Brakes" by Scotty, and "Rivers Of Babylon" by The Melodians. In addition, you get another disc of bonus material, much of it recorded in the crucial years before the film's release, giving you a wonderful portrait of the Jamaican music scene at the time, a dozen and a half of the finest rocksteady and reggae jams of the day, including Desmond Dekker's "Israelites", The Ethiopians "Reggae Hit The Town", Dave & Ansel Collins "Double Barrel", Jimmy Cliff's "Let Your Yeah Be Yeah" and "Wonderful World, Beautiful People", The Maytals' "Do The Reggay" and "54-46 (That's My Number)", The Melodians "It's My Delight" and Eric Donaldson's "Cherry Oh Baby". 30 tracks in all on this awesome 2 disc set, packaged up nicely with notes by Dave Katz, photos from the film and full lyrics and track notations! CD

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