I have a little reggae collection going, nothing serious (I'm not going to let it get out of hand like my jazz collection), but I like to add something to it now and then.
Recently, I added "The Best of Don Drummond" from Studio One and I am mentioning it here because it's basically a nifty reggae-inflected jazz CD. Nothing strange about that. Drummond, a trombonist, originally made his name playing jazz before becoming a ska-style reggae pioneer.
Some of the tracks on the all-instrumental disk sound like they could have come from the Gigi Gryce and Donald Byrd Jazz Lab groups, with a reggae beat added under them, and there's some Dizzy Gillespie big band-sounding stuff as well. The sound is good but not great, not poppy and scratchy (not even Itchy and Scratchy) but a tad muddy in places with abrupt endings where the recorder just gets turned off. Still, it's plenty listenable and an enjoyable bunch of music for both jazz and reggae fans.
Try some Jackie Mittoo; he plays a mean organ.
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