KING WHO PRESENTS:
THE LATEST SOUNDS TO SEEK OUT
JACKIE MITTOO
THE KEYBOARD KING AT STUDIO ONE
this guy was the organ player for the legendary jamaican band the skatalites
after many starring roles on the hits of jamaica in the 50's, 60's and 70's jackie moved to toronto
the story i hear has him playing out the rest of his days in a holiday inn lounge by the airport
whoa
the photo on the cover of this album was taken at the kingston airport on the toronto departure day
he looks extremely young
but he had recorded tons and tons of songs by this time
you see he got his start in the studio around age 13
the music contained on this disc is smoking
reminds me of the reasons i love jazz organist shirley scott
(check out her awesome albums on verve)
heavy duty hammond b-3 organ sound with an amazing band backing him up
some other reggae music legends were in those bands
earnest ranglin, jah jerry, roland alphonso, lloyd brevett, don drummond and tommy mccook
the album here is mostly instrumental
one of the few vocal songs being the sappy 70's pop song summer breeze
you can almost feel it blowing through your mind
in keeping with the skatalites prowess every style of popular jamaican music is featured:
r 'n' b, ska, rocksteady, reggae, not to mention a little meters sounding funk
but these are not the dub versions
just straight up high society sound clash live to tape
all produced by the very famous coxsone dodd at studio one
from the pictures in the booklet you can tell that jackie was beyond suave
owning this will make you look and feel beyond suave too
everyone who comes over to your house will ask what you are playing
and they will be impressed
that is a promise
this 15 song compilation is on the universal sound label from the uk
the label is run by the folks at the sounds of the universe record store in london
and they also run the soul jazz label
the cd version has a slip cover over the jewel box
it also comes on double lp
should be about $18 which is a great price for an import
Review by Bruce McGuire
to see more graphics from this record go here
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