na: cedric im brooks
Stop the presses! Big new arrival for reggae fans today that I somehow missed until just now: Cedric Im Brooks & the Divine Light, From Mento to Reggae to Third World Music. Cedric is a master, and the bulk of his catalog is the real deal music — maximum dread for fans of that true, dank, mystic reggae. This compilation is a lot lighter than the stuff found on the Honest Jon’s comp Cedric Im Brooks & the Light of Saba (also known by its alternate title: The Greatest Record Ever Made), but it’s still a fine demonstration of Cedric’s virtuosity.
A little back story: Cedric used to be the saxophone player in The Skatalites, but his solo work veered off into the mystic, incorporating elements of jazz and Rastafarian worship music (his version of the Satta Massa Gana, included on this compilation, is my favorite by far). Check out what he does to the standard “Let’s Do Rock Steady”: Alton Ellis’s version is light and spry and full of randy energy, but Cedric’s sounds like a hymn: it’s massively slowed down, veers a little in-and-out-of-tune, but it’s got a haunting quality about it that’s hard to resist.
Like I said, this isn’t quite prime Brooks: his other records are a lot more mysterious and a lot spookier. But for that first taste, this is a great place to start.
Thanks for the pointer, the samples sound very cool!
Thanks for the recommendation, Joe. It’s a very good disc. Also very different from the roots reggae I’ve got from, for instance, the Blood & Fire and Wackies labels. More Calypso-y, maybe? Also a significantly lighter and brighter feel, which makes me curious about Brooks’ other, “more mysterious and . . . spookier” work.
Yeah, do yourself a favor and hunt down Cedric Im Brooks & the Light of Saba>. The cover has a green border and a fierce-looking lion of the tribe of Judah on it. It came out on Honest Jon’s a few years ago. It is all kinds of awesome — the closest thing I can think to compare it to is being plunged underwater, baptism-style.
Cedric Im Brooks & The Light Of Saba is here now.