1. Africa Unite
2. Concrete Jungle
3. No More Trouble
4. War
5. Babylon System
6. Forever Lovin’ Jah
7. Crazy Baldheads
8. Chant Down Babylon
9. Simmer Down
10. Trench Town
11. Three Little Birds
12. Selam
Monty Alexander – Piano, melodica
Hassan Shakur – Bass
Herlin Riley – Drums
Othniel Lewis - Keyboard
Wendel Ferraro, Wayne Armond, Panchago Christian
– Guitar, vocals
Glenroy Browne, Courtney Panton – Electric bass
Rolando Alphanso Wilson – Reggae drums
Loris Lawrence – Percussion
Delfeayo Marsalis - Trombone
Dean Fraser – Saxophone
Dwight Richards – Trumpet
Luciano – Vocals
Ural Gordon – Rumba box, vocals
Vincent Hines – Banjo, vocals
Born
and bred in Jamaica but emigrating to the
USA in his teens, Monty Alexander has been
an important pioneer in blending jazz with
Caribbean rhythms – especially reggae. Like
his 1999 album, Stir It Up, this new
CD is a tribute to Bob Marley, reggae’s most
notable exponent. It was recorded at Marley’s
own Tuff Gong studios in Kingston and includes
American musicians as well as men who played
with Marley.
The
result is a stimulating mixture of styles,
managing the difficult feat of merging jazz
(with its predominant four-four rhythm) into
reggae (with its emphasis on the third beat
in the bar). Monty provides the main jazz
voice, nowhere more so than on the opening
track, Africa Unite, where the piano
is set against a background of African-style
guitars, heavy bass and reggae drums. The
title-track is heightened by Luciano’s passionate
vocal ("Where is the love to be found?").
Delfeayo Marsalis’s loping trombone is the
main jazz ingredient in No More Trouble
and Crazy Baldheads. Trench Town has
a superb solo from Monty, who switches to
melodica for Three Little Birds, which
is in mento style featuring the banjo of Vincent
Hines. The recording quality is good, rightly
emphasising the bass and percussion, although
this occasionally becomes oppressive.
This
album contains a wondrously eclectic mixture
conjured up by the incomparable magician,
Monty Alexander.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Telarc CD
83635
