Studio One Soul 2
August 8th 2006 11:40
Soul Jazz records have for some time now been putting out CDs of the old Studio One back catalogue, even while the great Coxsone Dodd, the man behind the Jamaican institution, was alive. The releases continue and one recent release is Studio One Soul 2.
For no reason I can think of I have avoided Soul Jazz releases. Trojan seems a standard in my home and although I have enjoyed the Dynamite series on Soul Jazz, I really haven’t given the label the chance I should have. Perhaps there was actually a reason. I did think they were more expensive than other comps of a similar nature, but there isn’t actually any truth in that.
On to the release though. Curtis Mayfield’s influence on Jamaican music is obvious on this release having penned six of the eighteen tracks. My favourite of these tracks would have to be The Heptones doing Choice of Colours. This is one prolific vocal group I seem to not give enough credit to. This track is backed up by a dub of a Jackie Mittoo keyboard driven instrumental of the same song.
Some of these less common tracks I enjoyed quite a lot. Prince Jazzbo’s cut of Dawn Penn’s version of You Don’t Love Me isn’t the type of tune I really get into, but I did on this occasion. Likewise, I found Dub Specialist’s Darker Block interesting particularly the bass in combination with the intermittent horn line and percussion.
If I’d wanted an album of stompers I may have been disappointed with this album because it is an album of predominantly laid back rocksteady and reggae, which suits my current mood. These songs suit bedroom listening and if I was a little more excited, I may look for something else to put on, but all in all a good album with excellent liner notes. Although it is reggae, I felt as though I was expanding my tastes with this album.
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