This album is part of an Arts Council funded project concerning Jamaican music and Volume 1 suggests there is more to come, which will be very welcome if this CD is anything to go by.
I'm not really sure if the music is appropriate for a jazz blog as the main 'feel' of the music is the entrancing 12, 12 12 of the ska beat from drum and bass, rather than the 1234 swing of jazz. However Watkiss is a co-founder of the Jazz Warriors and his musical credentials are wide, including pop, reggae and funk as well as enumerable mentions in these pages including guest appearances with Sheila Jordan at Sage Gateshead in 2009. And there are many jazz-like elements included in the music, such as short instrumental solos, and what sounds like improvised singing over fascinating instrumentation.
The songs were not familiar to me, but they apparently show the origins and development of Jamaican music and culture, concerning the life and times of the island's most inspirational figures. I would have loved more guidance about the meanings behind the lyrics. Many were love songs such as If I Don't Have You; Curly Locks is an amusing song about lovers who have different hairstyles, curly and dreadlocks; Night Nurse is a rather naughty saucy song asking the nurse's help, with the trombone sounding sexy, then playing a laughing sort of tone.
The final track, Red, Gold & Green, is a powerful song which appears to be celebrating Jamaica and the song is rounded off with the horns moving off into the Caribbean sunset. I'm not familiar with the names of the songwriters, Gregory Isaacs, Bobby Melody, Delroy Wilson and others. The instrumentation is skilled, all played over the ska/reggae beat, and I especially enjoyed the lively horns. The musicians assembled by Watkiss for this album are all celebrated UK jazz, pop, reggae and funk legends, such as multi-instrumentalist Orphy Robinson MBE, revered trumpeter Byron Wallen (recently at Gosforth Civic Theatre) and Jamaican saxophonist Ray Carless.
Cleveland
Watkiss MBE is a winner of the 2021 Ivors Composer Award for Innovation. His
impact and legacy covers a broad spectrum of musical genres and he performs
regularly at leading venues in the UK and internationally. He is a drum and
bass vocalist and MC who has residencies at some of the world's biggest and
best dance music events. He has worked with many other musical organisations,
including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Dusseldorf Symphony Orchestra, the Northern Sinfonia, Wynton Marsalis, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder and many more. There is an important
UK tour associated with this CD which begins on March 26 this year
with the album launch at Canary Wharf, but unfortunately there are no events up
north. See www.clevelandwatkiss.co.uk.
If I Don't Have You; Curly Locks; Joy In The Morning; What Is Man; Cool Operator; Babylon Too Rough; Only A Smile; Humanity; Night Nurse; Red, Gold & Green
Ann Alex
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