PLAYTIME REGGAE

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Review written by Sébastien Jobart on Thursday, October 13th 2005 - 9 657 views For those who still doubted the American heritage in Jamaican music, the second volume of "Playtime Reggae" illustrates it beautifully. Behind the pretty vintage sleeve lies an irresistible tracklisting that navigates between rocksteady and early reggae stuffed with soul. Covers of American standards abound. Among them, Lloyd Charmers slips into Barry White's shoes with I’m gonna love you a little bit more, even borrowing his love moans. BB Seaton brilliantly takes on the Persuaders' hit Thin line between love and hate, while Matumbi cover the Temptations' Law of the Land, with purely soul arrangements. The prolific decade of 1967-1977 chosen for this second volume allows many classics to be found, such as Phyliss Dillon's Picture on the wall, the Heptones' Meaning of Life, and Slim Smith's Sitting in the park. Bob Andy soars over the dizzying Life, with its essential lyrics, which starts at full speed with a smashing bass entry. The purely musical side of the period is represented by trumpeter Johnny Dizzy Moore and the Soul Syndicate (Riot), guitarist Mickey Chung (Breezing) and pianist Gladstone Anderson (under the name Glady) with Lyn Taitt & the Jets (Chances). All splash their talent over these exemplary instrumentals. It is hard to find fault with the fine work of Hi & Fly, who usually stand out with definitive compilations between funk, jazz and soul. Not so far from its home turf, the French label does not miss its mark, and the successes follow one another on this journey back in time, to the era when the little island blended styles with a disconcerting naturalness. (Please note that the CD we received had an incorrect tracklisting. The corrected version is the one shown.)

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