The Best of Johnny King
(King Charles Productions)
It took a while, but finally calypsonian Johnny King found the time to release his greatest hits. They are worth the wait. King, who burst on the scene in 1984, mixes old and new hits on this set like a bartender mixes drinks. The result is just as intoxicating. Hits like Wet Me Down and Nature’s Plan are here, and King’s unpretentious down-home voice is as familiar as an old friend. Certainly one of the best for the year, a safety net even from the jam-and-wine calypsos. (ES)
Land of Love
Marcia Griffiths (Germain Records PHCD 2045)
Bob Marley was Bob Marley, of course, and you have the impression that if he had come out singing to the world with only his guitar he would still have been a hit. But part of the wonder of the music that Bob left is those tightly-wrought heavenly harmonies sung by the I-Trees in the background — Rita Marley, Judy Mowatt and Marcia Griffiths, all of whom emerged, to greater or lesser degree, as solo artists after Bob died. Griffiths on Land Of Love is testimony to the fine singing company that Bob kept when he was alive. While in Children Of Zion Griffiths makes a statement about racial solidarity, the rest of the album is deeply personal, although it speaks the universal language of love. In Woman, Griffith dismisses the notion, so prevalent among the male Caribbean young, that women are only about the material, and asks where would a man be without a good woman by his side. Trite, perhaps, but Griffiths is a tried and tested performer and she injects this song with a lilt that is all her own. Land Of Love is an easy listening album, and the music, led by the redoubtable Sly Dunbar, sparkles like the Caribbean Sea, each song a sonorous wave until Griffiths reaches her climax with a scintillating cover of the pop hit Shame, Shame, Shame that, sung in live performance, is bound to take the audience by storm. (KS)
Lovers Rock, Volume 4
Various artists (Penthouse Records PHCD 2048)
Superband Chalice, musicians Sly (Dunbar) and Robbie (Shakespeare) and producer Donovan Germain make this is a collectors’ compilation. Featuring Penthouse stars Buju Banton and Wayne Wonder, reggae icons Marcia Griffiths, Junior Tucker and the late Garnett Silk, plus contemporary singer Richie Stephens, Lovers Rock combines soothing irie “rockers” (Beres Hammond and his Queen and Lady) with the upbeat skank rhythm of Vanessa (Thriller U) and the lyrically strong Wanna Be Loved (Buju Banton). Twiggy’s remake of Mariah Carey’s Can’t Let Go is a fitting finale to the reggae romantic’s seduction CD. (NM)
Kaiso Potpourri
Explainer (Kismet Records)
Explainer’s 1997 Carnival CD featured songs by some of soca and calypso’s best performers. Party Time, by Austin “SuperBlue” Lyons, is a melodic tribute to Carnival dance music, anchored by screaming rock guitar and bouncy bass lines. How Yuh Feeling, by Winsford DeVines, who has written some of the most humorous calypsos of the last 20 years, is a 70s-style soca party song with a zouk flavour. Carnival Fever is an uptempo tribute to the mas’ by Winston Henry (Explainer). Out of Control, by Sedley Joseph, the Penguin, was one of the most powerful commentaries for Carnival 1997. Most of the songs on this 11-track album feature soft melodies and poignant lyrics. This is an easy listening CD which evokes the days when calypsos could be listened to and pondered. (DJ)
Got It Going On
IV Play (Love Hit Music)
This first outing by the ambitious young Barbadian group IV Play perks with talent. It moves away from standard Caribbean rhythms towards original easy listening R&B tunes, with romantic or conscious lyrics, nicely rendered arrangements and strong rhythms. Seven of the eight tracks were written by group members, most of whom are under 25. The popular hit Love Will Never Let You Down is an impressive cut composed and sung by 21-year-old Toni Norville, a catchy, flowing melody with some nice chant by Peter Ram that blends well without being overbearing. Philip Forrester’s Today’s Inspirational Song provides variety with nice choral work and conscious lyrics in a pop idiom. In Good Lovin, by Shane Forrester and Nicholas Baptiste, the sax sounds of Arturo Tappin ripple through and emphasise the sultry feel. Friends Forever (Toni and Shane) is a joyous, upbeat song that celebrates life in words, rhythm and chant. The band has undergone some changes — a new name (4 D People) and additional members — in preparation for a North America tour. This is a group to watch. (RK)
Baje Roots
Various artists (Lethal Studios LSCD 012)
Ringbang takes a back seat for the Bajans to jam a bit of Jamaica’s dancehall on this set. Twelve tracks deep, Baje Roots doesn’t boast Shabba Ranks or Buju Banton. But will you settle for Shakey Ranks and Taylor Banton? Ceasefire by Njeri and Shakey Ranks is the opener; the youth is urged to drop the gun and spread love. Enter Peter Ram with the same sentiment, not to mention the same bassline, on God In My Heart. And await and enjoy the title track, as delivered by Ram and Patra-soundalike Natalie Burke (of Weakness For Sweetness fame). The song dangles from the classic hookline Mama said there’d be days like this. Also listen for the Sanchez clone Webley as his butter-smooth voice drips all over Genie, not to mention calypsonian Ras Iley’s Beware of the Beast. (ES)
Caribbean Party Rhythms 2
Various artists (Rituals CO2097)
The hottest hits of Trinidad Carnival are on this disc, whether your taste is soca, ragga soca or steelpan. From Ajala’s jump-up-on-one-spot jam Bring the Rhythm Down and Pan Instrumental’s ragga (yes, ragga steelpan) Maturity, this set does nothing but kick, slam and shout. Sorry, it doesn’t bite! And when you think you’ve heard it all–3 Canal’s hip hop rapso Blue, Andre Tanker’s surprisingly funky Show Your Emotion and Sharlene Boodram’s peppery Phoulourie–the Bajans come out to play with songs like Coalishun’s melting Ice Cream and 1996 Bajan Road March champ Allison Hinds heart-pumping Raggamuffin. Certainty one of your collection. (ES)
Still Crazy After 25 Years
Crazy (JW Productions)
Soca’s most lovable lunatics produced a 1997 Carnival album which covers social commentary, party music, chutney and club mixes on an eight-track CD arranged by Leston Paul and produced by Julian Williams. Liars features a rhythmic melodic rap and a searing synthesiser, Jump and Mash Up and House On Fire flare with punchy brass lines. Jammania, a chutney number which begins with an Indian chant, is sung in Hindi and English–Crazy, a light hearted soca targeted at children, is one of the few Carnival songs ever written specifically for kids. For sheer personality, Crazy, who has become one of the most popular performers outside of Trinidad, is hard to match. (DJ)
Dance Hall Hits Vol. 8
Various artists (Germain Records)
And that’s what you get: dub or dance hall hits that have been popular not only in Jamaica but in the wider Caribbean where the genre shares with soca the loyalty of the party crowd. This is music mixed with different moods, and while it makes for pleasurable listening it is aimed for the dance hall or the fete venue. By no stretch of the imagination, though, can this be labelled a light and frothy album. No CD can that contains the likes of Garnett Silk’s Who is Like Selassie? or Ras Shiloh’s Child Of A Slave or two of Buju Banton, Lion Rules and Immigration Law. What adds value to this album is that apart from the integrity of the songs themselves it gives a newcomer to the form an example of reggae’s range; if, that is, we view dance hall not as an entity unto itself but as reggae’s latest incarnation. Promoted here are both “conscious” and love lyrics; musically the album moves from the smoothness of a Garnett Silk to the gruff emoting of a Buju with the songs and sounds of Twiggi, Jahmali and Frankie Paul cruising along the curve somewhere between. Don’t be surprised if you find the kids are playing this more often than you. (KS)
Collector’ series: Singers Vol. 1
Various artists (Germain Records PHCD 2052)
Seldom has an album been more pointedly named. Released in the context of the jam of Jamaican dance hall, in which voice and melody take second place to rhythm and urgency, this compilation CD spotlights singing in the traditional, even conventional vogue. Call it groove reggae, which is what you would expect from an album that features Beres Hammond, Marcia Griffiths, Dennis Brown, Nadine Sutherland, Sanchez, Richie Stephens, Jack Radics, Wayne Wonder, Frankie Paul, Pliers, Garnett Silk, Nana McLean and Pam Hall. Don’t expect to find here any burning conscious lyrics or, Jah forbid! any slack talk. What you get is what you hear and what you hear is head-bobbing, feet-tapping love songs that will appeal to the young, yes, but which will also appeal to all those who are in love, have loved once or dream of loving once again. Everybody will have their own favourites here depending on their own life’s experiences or the current level of turmoil in their heart, but Marcia Griffiths comes up trumps with All I need Is Love, Beres Hammond with After The Fight and Pliers of early Murder She Wrote fame with You’re Not Alone. This is an album for that romantic twosome complete with fine wine and candlelight. But it is also for those who have loved and lost and need some music while they drown their sorrows in a glass of good Caribbean rum. (KS)
