Ernest Ranglin
Encyclopedia
Ernest Ranglin O.D.
(born 19 June 1932, Manchester, Jamaica) is a Jamaican guitar
ist and composer. Best known for his session work at the famed Studio One, Ranglin helped give birth to the ska
genre in the late 1950s. Some credit Ranglin with the invention of the core style of guitar play (sometimes known as "scratching") found in nearly all ska music.
Ranglin played on many classic Jamaican recordings, performing with artists such as Theophilus Beckford
, Jimmy Cliff
, Monty Alexander
, Prince Buster
, The Skatalites
, Bob Marley
and Eric Dean's Orchestra. He has also explored other styles of music, notably blending jazz
, mento
and reggae
.
. After watching them play, he practiced on their instruments, and stood in for one of them when they failed to turn up for a recording session, impressing his other uncle so much that he was given the instrument for his seventh birthday. He built his own guitar using a sardine can and wires, before progressing to a real one. He moved with his family to Kingston
, where he was educated at Providence, Kingston Senior School, and Bodin College. While still in his teens, he began performing live, locally and in the Bahamas, often with the young Monty Alexander
. Charlie Christian
was an early influence. Aged 15, he joined the Val Bennett
band, and went on to play with the Eric Deans band and Count Boysie. By the early 1950s, Ranglin had become a proficient jazz guitarist and toured overseas.
In the 1950s Ranglin recorded plenty mento
(traditional Jamaican music style), including the fine 1958 album by Denzil Laing and the Wrigglers, At the Arawak Hotel on which his early, outstanding jazz guitar is featured. Some of these rare and significant 1950s mento records, his earliest recordings, were reissued in 2010 on the Jamaica - Mento 1951-1958 album .
Chris Blackwell
produced a Ranglin single, which was one of the first releases on Blackwell's R&B label in the late 1950s. A live album split between Ranglin and Bermudian pianist Lance Hayward was among the first recordings released by Blackwell. Around 1956, Ranglin had also joined Cluett Johnson's studio band Clue J and the Blues Blasters, recording several tracks for Coxsone Dodd
at Studio One, including Theophilus Beckford
's hits "Easy Snapping" and "Jack and Jill Shuffle" as well as "Shuffling Jug," regarded as some of the first Jamaican rhythm and blues records. In 1962, the James Bond
film Dr. No
was filmed in Jamaica. While Byron Lee & the Dragonaires
appeared in the film, the soundtrack recordings were actually made by Ranglin. In 1964, Ranglin played guitar on singer Millie Small
's "My Boy Lollipop
", the first Jamaican song to achieve international success.
Ranglin recorded two jazz albums in the mid-1960s for the Merritone record label
- Wranglin (1964) and Reflections (1965), also working for Duke Reid
as a musical director at the Treasure Isle recording studio during this period.
He began attracting international notice in 1964 when he traveled to London, England to perform at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club
. He became the venue's resident guitarist for nine months, backing numerous guest artists and appearing in a recording of a Sonny Stitt
/Dick Morrissey
jam session in 1966. He made several solo records for Island Records, as well as collaborating with Prince Buster
. He returned to session work, arranging songs such as the Melodians' "Rivers of Babylon" and playing guitar leads in the Wailers' "It Hurts to Be Alone".
During the late 1960s and the 1970s, Ranglin was much in demand as a studio musician and arranger, working with top Jamaican producers such as Dodd, Lee "Scratch" Perry, and Clancy Eccles
. He also toured with Jimmy Cliff
in the 1970s. In the late 70s, he re-teamed with his friend Monty Alexander to record Latin-Caribbean infused jazz for Pablo Records
.
In 1973 he was awarded the Order of Distinction
from the Jamaican Government for his contributions to music. He moved to Florida
in the late 1970s, where he performed at jazz festivals and continued to record occasionally. He signed to Chris Blackwell's newly-formed Palm Pictures label to issue 1998's In Search of the Lost Riddim. The albums E.B. @ Noon and Modern Answers to Old Problems followed two years later. In 1998 Ranglin performed with Spearhead
for the Red Hot Organization
's compilation album Red Hot + Rhapsody. Grooving was released in early 2001. In 2002, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree from the University of the West Indies
for his outstanding contribution to the development of music in Jamaica. In 2006, he was the subject of a documentary covering his career - Roots Of Reggae: The Ernest Ranglin Story, produced and written by Arthur Gorson. In 2008, he was inducted into the Jamaican Music Hall of Fame by the Jamaica Association of Vintage Artistes and Affiliates (JAVAA).
Ranglin's fusion of jazz and reggae was continued by his nephew, Gary Crosby
, who formed the group Jazz Jamaica
in 1991.
With The Skatalites
:
With Monty Alexander
:
Order of distinction
The Order of Distinction in Jamaica is the fifth in order of precedence of the Orders of Societies of Honour, which were instituted by an Act of Parliament – The National Honours and Awards Act.The Motto of the Order is "Distinction Through Service"....
(born 19 June 1932, Manchester, Jamaica) is a Jamaican guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist and composer. Best known for his session work at the famed Studio One, Ranglin helped give birth to the ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
genre in the late 1950s. Some credit Ranglin with the invention of the core style of guitar play (sometimes known as "scratching") found in nearly all ska music.
Ranglin played on many classic Jamaican recordings, performing with artists such as Theophilus Beckford
Theophilus Beckford
Theophilus Beckford , also known by the nickname "Snappin'", was a Jamaican pianist who was one of the pioneers of indigenous Jamaican music.-Biography:...
, Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff, OM is a Jamaican musician, singer and actor. He is the only currently living musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievement in the arts and sciences...
, Monty Alexander
Monty Alexander
Monty Alexander is a jazz pianist and melodica player. His playing has a strong Caribbean influence and swinging feeling, but he has also been influenced by Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, Wynton Kelly, and Ahmad Jamal.-Biography:Alexander discovered the piano at the age of 4, taking classical music...
, Prince Buster
Prince Buster
Cecil Bustamente Campbell, O.D. , better known as Prince Buster, and also known by his Muslim name Muhammed Yusef Ali, is a musician from Kingston, Jamaica. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of ska and rocksteady music...
, The Skatalites
The Skatalites
The Skatalites are a ska band from Jamaica. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, and recorded many of their best known songs in the period, including "Guns of Navarone". They also played on records by Prince Buster and backed many other Jamaican artists who recorded during that period...
, Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
and Eric Dean's Orchestra. He has also explored other styles of music, notably blending jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, mento
Mento
Mento is a style of Jamaican folk music that predates and has greatly influenced ska and reggae music. It has its roots in calypso and other Jamaican folk music. Mento typically features acoustic instruments, such as acoustic guitar, banjo, hand drums, and the rhumba box — a large mbira in the...
and reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
.
Biography
As a child, Ranglin had two uncles who played guitar and ukuleleUkulele
The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
. After watching them play, he practiced on their instruments, and stood in for one of them when they failed to turn up for a recording session, impressing his other uncle so much that he was given the instrument for his seventh birthday. He built his own guitar using a sardine can and wires, before progressing to a real one. He moved with his family to Kingston
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
, where he was educated at Providence, Kingston Senior School, and Bodin College. While still in his teens, he began performing live, locally and in the Bahamas, often with the young Monty Alexander
Monty Alexander
Monty Alexander is a jazz pianist and melodica player. His playing has a strong Caribbean influence and swinging feeling, but he has also been influenced by Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, Wynton Kelly, and Ahmad Jamal.-Biography:Alexander discovered the piano at the age of 4, taking classical music...
. Charlie Christian
Charlie Christian
Charles Henry "Charlie" Christian was an American swing and jazz guitarist.Christian was an important early performer on the electric guitar, and is cited as a key figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz. He gained national exposure as a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet and Orchestra...
was an early influence. Aged 15, he joined the Val Bennett
Val Bennett
Val Bennett was a Jamaican tenor saxophonist and jazz and roots reggae musician who began his career in the 1940s. He made a number of releases on the Island Records and Crab Records labels.-Biography:...
band, and went on to play with the Eric Deans band and Count Boysie. By the early 1950s, Ranglin had become a proficient jazz guitarist and toured overseas.
In the 1950s Ranglin recorded plenty mento
Mento
Mento is a style of Jamaican folk music that predates and has greatly influenced ska and reggae music. It has its roots in calypso and other Jamaican folk music. Mento typically features acoustic instruments, such as acoustic guitar, banjo, hand drums, and the rhumba box — a large mbira in the...
(traditional Jamaican music style), including the fine 1958 album by Denzil Laing and the Wrigglers, At the Arawak Hotel on which his early, outstanding jazz guitar is featured. Some of these rare and significant 1950s mento records, his earliest recordings, were reissued in 2010 on the Jamaica - Mento 1951-1958 album .
Chris Blackwell
Chris Blackwell
Christopher Percy Gordon "Chris" Blackwell is a British record producer and businessman, who was the founder of Island Records, acknowledged as the most successful and groundbreaking independent record company in history. Blackwell has been a music industry mogul for over fifty years...
produced a Ranglin single, which was one of the first releases on Blackwell's R&B label in the late 1950s. A live album split between Ranglin and Bermudian pianist Lance Hayward was among the first recordings released by Blackwell. Around 1956, Ranglin had also joined Cluett Johnson's studio band Clue J and the Blues Blasters, recording several tracks for Coxsone Dodd
Coxsone Dodd
Clement Seymour "Sir Coxsone" Dodd, CD was a Jamaican record producer who was influential in the development of ska and reggae in the 1950s, 1960s and beyond...
at Studio One, including Theophilus Beckford
Theophilus Beckford
Theophilus Beckford , also known by the nickname "Snappin'", was a Jamaican pianist who was one of the pioneers of indigenous Jamaican music.-Biography:...
's hits "Easy Snapping" and "Jack and Jill Shuffle" as well as "Shuffling Jug," regarded as some of the first Jamaican rhythm and blues records. In 1962, the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film Dr. No
Dr. No (film)
Dr. No is a 1962 spy film, starring Sean Connery; it is the first James Bond film. Based on the 1958 Ian Fleming novel of the same name, it was adapted by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, and Berkely Mather and was directed by Terence Young. The film was produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R...
was filmed in Jamaica. While Byron Lee & the Dragonaires
Byron Lee & the Dragonaires
Byron Lee and the Dragonaires are a Jamaican ska, calypso and soca band. The band played a crucial pioneering role in bringing Caribbean music to the world...
appeared in the film, the soundtrack recordings were actually made by Ranglin. In 1964, Ranglin played guitar on singer Millie Small
Millie (singer)
Millie is a Jamaican singer-songwriter, often known as "Little Millie Small", and in the United States as "Millie Small", and is best known as the singer of the 1964 hit, "My Boy Lollipop".-Career:...
's "My Boy Lollipop
My Boy Lollipop
"My Boy Lollipop" is a song written in the mid-1950s by Robert Spencer of the doo-wop group The Cadillacs, and usually credited to Spencer, Morris Levy, and Johnny Roberts. It was first recorded in New York in 1956 by Barbie Gaye...
", the first Jamaican song to achieve international success.
Ranglin recorded two jazz albums in the mid-1960s for the Merritone record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
- Wranglin (1964) and Reflections (1965), also working for Duke Reid
Duke Reid
Treasure Isle re-directs here. For the game, see Treasure Isle .Arthur "Duke" Reid, CD was a Jamaican record producer, DJ and label owner....
as a musical director at the Treasure Isle recording studio during this period.
He began attracting international notice in 1964 when he traveled to London, England to perform at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club
Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club
Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club is a jazz club which has operated in London since 1959.The club opened on 30 October 1959 in a basement at 39 Gerrard Street in London's Soho district. It was managed by musicians Ronnie Scott and Pete King. In 1965 it moved to a larger venue nearby at 47 Frith Street...
. He became the venue's resident guitarist for nine months, backing numerous guest artists and appearing in a recording of a Sonny Stitt
Sonny Stitt
Edward "Sonny" Stitt was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. He was also one of the best-documented saxophonists of his generation, recording over 100 albums in his lifetime...
/Dick Morrissey
Dick Morrissey
Richard Edwin "Dick" Morrissey was a British jazz musician and composer. He played the tenor sax, soprano sax and flute.- Background :...
jam session in 1966. He made several solo records for Island Records, as well as collaborating with Prince Buster
Prince Buster
Cecil Bustamente Campbell, O.D. , better known as Prince Buster, and also known by his Muslim name Muhammed Yusef Ali, is a musician from Kingston, Jamaica. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of ska and rocksteady music...
. He returned to session work, arranging songs such as the Melodians' "Rivers of Babylon" and playing guitar leads in the Wailers' "It Hurts to Be Alone".
During the late 1960s and the 1970s, Ranglin was much in demand as a studio musician and arranger, working with top Jamaican producers such as Dodd, Lee "Scratch" Perry, and Clancy Eccles
Clancy Eccles
Clancy Eccles was a Jamaican ska and reggae singer, songwriter, arranger, promoter, record producer and talent scout. Known mostly for his early reggae works, he brought a political dimension to this music...
. He also toured with Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff, OM is a Jamaican musician, singer and actor. He is the only currently living musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievement in the arts and sciences...
in the 1970s. In the late 70s, he re-teamed with his friend Monty Alexander to record Latin-Caribbean infused jazz for Pablo Records
Pablo Records
Pablo Records was a record label founded by Norman Granz in 1972, some ten years after he had sold his jazz labels to MGM Records....
.
In 1973 he was awarded the Order of Distinction
Order of distinction
The Order of Distinction in Jamaica is the fifth in order of precedence of the Orders of Societies of Honour, which were instituted by an Act of Parliament – The National Honours and Awards Act.The Motto of the Order is "Distinction Through Service"....
from the Jamaican Government for his contributions to music. He moved to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
in the late 1970s, where he performed at jazz festivals and continued to record occasionally. He signed to Chris Blackwell's newly-formed Palm Pictures label to issue 1998's In Search of the Lost Riddim. The albums E.B. @ Noon and Modern Answers to Old Problems followed two years later. In 1998 Ranglin performed with Spearhead
Spearhead
A spearhead is the sharpened tip of a spear.Spearhead may also refer to:-Armed conflict:* Armoured spearhead, a tactical formation* Spearhead, nickname of the U.S. 3rd Armored Division in the U.S...
for the Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization is a not-for-profit, 501 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture.Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilation albums, related television programs and media events to raise...
's compilation album Red Hot + Rhapsody. Grooving was released in early 2001. In 2002, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree from the University of the West Indies
University of the West Indies
The University of the West Indies , is an autonomous regional institution supported by and serving 17 English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica,...
for his outstanding contribution to the development of music in Jamaica. In 2006, he was the subject of a documentary covering his career - Roots Of Reggae: The Ernest Ranglin Story, produced and written by Arthur Gorson. In 2008, he was inducted into the Jamaican Music Hall of Fame by the Jamaica Association of Vintage Artistes and Affiliates (JAVAA).
Ranglin's fusion of jazz and reggae was continued by his nephew, Gary Crosby
Gary Crosby (bassist)
Gary Crosby OBE is a jazz double bassist, music arranger, educator and Executive Artistic Director of...
, who formed the group Jazz Jamaica
Jazz Jamaica
Jazz Jamaica is a jazz/reggae music group formed by musician Gary Crosby in London.-History:In 1991, inspired by the rhythms of traditional Jamaican music and the largely improvisational nature of jazz, original Jazz Warrior, jazz double bassist, and nephew of veteran Jamaican guitarist Ernest...
in 1991.
Studio albums
- Guitar in Ernest (1958) IslandIsland RecordsIsland Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
- Wranglin (1964) IslandIsland RecordsIsland Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
- Reflections (1964) IslandIsland RecordsIsland Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
- Guitar in Ernest (1964) Federal Records (different from 1958 Island version)
- The Exciting Ranglin (1966) Federal Records/RCA Victor
- Boss Reggae (1969) Federal Records
- Mr. Ranglin With Soul (196?) Federal Records/RCA Victor/Steady Records
- Softly With Ranglin (196?) Federal Records/Twilight Records/Merritone
- Today's Best (196?) Federal Records
- A Mod A Mod Ranglin (1970) Federal Records
- Ranglin Roots (1972)
- Ranglypso (1976) MPSMPS RecordsMPS Records was a German jazz record label founded in 1968. MPS stands for "Musik Produktion Schwarzwald" .-History:...
- Be What You Want to Be/From Kingston JA to Miami USA (1983) Konduko/Vista Sounds
- We Want to Party (1989) Rooney
- True Blue (1990) Rooney
- Play the Time Away (1996) Grove Records/Runn
- Below the Bassline (1996) Island Jamaica JazzIsland RecordsIsland Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
- Memories of Barber Mack (1997) Island Jamaica JazzIsland RecordsIsland Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
- Tribute to a Legend (1997) Kariang/K-Jazz
- In Search of the Lost Riddim (1998) Palm PicturesPalm PicturesPalm Pictures is a US-based entertainment company owned and run by Chris Blackwell. Palm Pictures produces, acquires and distributes innovative music and film projects with a particular focus on the DVD format...
- EB @ Noon (2000) Tropic
- Modern Answers to Old Problems (2000) TelarcTelarc International CorporationTelarc International Corporation is an independent record label, based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods...
- Grooving (2001) Blue Moon
- Gotcha! (2001) TelarcTelarc International CorporationTelarc International Corporation is an independent record label, based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods...
- Alextown (2005) Palm PicturesPalm PicturesPalm Pictures is a US-based entertainment company owned and run by Chris Blackwell. Palm Pictures produces, acquires and distributes innovative music and film projects with a particular focus on the DVD format...
- Surfin (2005) TelarcTelarc International CorporationTelarc International Corporation is an independent record label, based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods...
- Order of Distinction (2006) AIX RecordsAIX RecordsAIX Records is an independent record and media label based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 2001 by Dr Mark Waldrep, a professor of digital media arts at CSUDH, classically trained composer and audio engineer. The label was founded to take advantage of the new high definition, surround...
- Ranglin & Friends (2010) Dubtonic (download only)
Compilation albums and re-issues
- Jamaica - Mento 1951-1958 (2010) (Frémeaux et Associés)
- Ranglin Roots (1976) Water Lily
- Sounds & Power (1996) Studio One
- Soul D'Ern: Recorded Live at Ronnie Scott’s Club (1997) Jazz House (recorded live circa 1964)
- Now is the Time: The Legendary MPS Sessions (1999) MPSMPS RecordsMPS Records was a German jazz record label founded in 1968. MPS stands for "Musik Produktion Schwarzwald" .-History:...
/VerveVerve RecordsVerve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve... - Ultimate Ranglin Roots (2002) Tropic (remix/remaster of Ranglin Roots with additional songs)
- Ska Wey Dat (2003) TrojanTrojan RecordsTrojan Records is a British record label founded in 1968. It specialises in ska, rocksteady, reggae and dub music. The label currently operates under the Sanctuary Records Group. The name Trojan comes from the Croydon-built Trojan truck that was used as Duke Reid's sound system in Jamaica...
(reissue of EB @ Noon with bonus live disc) - Guitar in Ernest (2004) Dub StoreDub Store RecordsDub Store Records is a Japanese reggae record label specializing in Jamaican music reissues. The label is also known as Studio One Japanese official agency.-2005:...
(reissue of original 1965 Federal Records album)
Guest appearances
- With Monty NormanMonty NormanMonty Norman is a singer and film composer best known for being credited with composing the "James Bond Theme".-Biography:...
: Dr. No (soundtrack)Dr. No (soundtrack)Dr. No is the original soundtrack for the first James Bond film of the same name.Composer Monty Norman was selected by producer Albert R. Broccoli after Broccoli backed a musical of Norman's Belle or The Ballad of Dr. Crippen written by Wolf Mankowitz a frequent collaborator with Norman and an...
(1962) United Artists (wrongly credited to Byron Lee and the Dragonaires) - With Don DrummondDon DrummondDon Drummond was a Jamaican ska trombonist and composer. He was one of the original members of The Skatalites, and composed many of their tunes....
, Tommy McCookTommy McCookTommy McCook was a Jamaican saxophonist. A founding member of The Skatalites, he also directed The Supersonics for Duke Reid, and backed many sessions for Bunny Lee or with The Revolutionaries at Channel One Studios in the 1970s.-Biography:McCook was born in Havana, Cuba, and moved to Jamaica in...
, et al.: Jazz Jamaica from the Workshop (1963) Studio OneStudio OneStudio One is one of Jamaica's most renowned record labels and recording studios, having been described as "the Motown of Jamaica." One online review of "Respect to Studio One" released by Heartbeat adds "Stax-Volt" to the American R&B comparison and describes Studio One's founder Clement... - With Millie Small: My Boy Lollipop (1964) IslandIsland RecordsIsland Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
- With The MelodiansThe MelodiansThe Melodians were a reggae band formed in the Greenwich Town area of Kingston, Jamaica in 1965, by Tony Brevett , Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton...
: Rivers of BabylonRivers of Babylon"Rivers of Babylon" is a rastafarian song written and recorded by Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton of the Jamaican reggae group The Melodians in 1970. The Melodians' original versions of the song appeared in the sound track to the 1972 movie The Harder They Come and the 1999 Nicolas Cage movie...
(1970) TrojanTrojan RecordsTrojan Records is a British record label founded in 1968. It specialises in ska, rocksteady, reggae and dub music. The label currently operates under the Sanctuary Records Group. The name Trojan comes from the Croydon-built Trojan truck that was used as Duke Reid's sound system in Jamaica... - With Jimmy CliffJimmy CliffJimmy Cliff, OM is a Jamaican musician, singer and actor. He is the only currently living musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievement in the arts and sciences...
: In Concert (1976) RepriseReprise RecordsReprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:... - With Charlie HunterCharlie Hunterfor the New Zealand racehorse trainer and driver see: Charlie HunterCharlie Hunter is an American guitarist, composer and bandleader....
& Chinna Smith: Earth Tones (2005) Nature Sounds
With The Skatalites
The Skatalites
The Skatalites are a ska band from Jamaica. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, and recorded many of their best known songs in the period, including "Guns of Navarone". They also played on records by Prince Buster and backed many other Jamaican artists who recorded during that period...
:
- Ska Boo-Da-Ba (1966) Top Deck
- African Roots/The Legendary Skatalites (1975/1976) United Artists
- Ball of Fire (1998) IslandIsland RecordsIsland Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
With Monty Alexander
Monty Alexander
Monty Alexander is a jazz pianist and melodica player. His playing has a strong Caribbean influence and swinging feeling, but he has also been influenced by Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, Wynton Kelly, and Ahmad Jamal.-Biography:Alexander discovered the piano at the age of 4, taking classical music...
:
- Rass! (1974) MPSMPS RecordsMPS Records was a German jazz record label founded in 1968. MPS stands for "Musik Produktion Schwarzwald" .-History:...
- Love and Sunshine (1975) MPSMPS RecordsMPS Records was a German jazz record label founded in 1968. MPS stands for "Musik Produktion Schwarzwald" .-History:...
- Unlimited Love (1976) MPSMPS RecordsMPS Records was a German jazz record label founded in 1968. MPS stands for "Musik Produktion Schwarzwald" .-History:...
- Cobilimbo (1977) MPSMPS RecordsMPS Records was a German jazz record label founded in 1968. MPS stands for "Musik Produktion Schwarzwald" .-History:...
- Estade (1979) MPSMPS RecordsMPS Records was a German jazz record label founded in 1968. MPS stands for "Musik Produktion Schwarzwald" .-History:...
- Just Friends (1980) MPSMPS RecordsMPS Records was a German jazz record label founded in 1968. MPS stands for "Musik Produktion Schwarzwald" .-History:...
- Monty Alexander — Ernest Ranglin (1981) MPSMPS RecordsMPS Records was a German jazz record label founded in 1968. MPS stands for "Musik Produktion Schwarzwald" .-History:...
- Rocksteady (2004) TelarcTelarc International CorporationTelarc International Corporation is an independent record label, based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods...