Search - Augustus Pablo :: Pablo Meets Mr. Bassie: Original Rockers Vol. 2

MORE PABLO FROM HIS GOLDEN AGE

Jasper | New England | 07/17/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Pablo Meets Mr. Bassie: Original Rockers Vol. 2" is more great Augustus Pablo from his classic 1970s period, and is well worth enhancing your music collection with. Here Pablo works his magic in an instrumental, sometimes lightly dubby environment. The tone of these works is similar to the heady, dense nature of Pablo's other classic LPs including, of course, the original "Original Rockers." "555 Crown Street," for example, is an absolutely phenomenal melodica instrumental, the rhythm of which is dubbed up as "555 Dub Street" on the "King Tubby's Meets Rockers Uptown" LP. Hearing the full, rich melodica cut of this rhythm is a thrilling, even revelatory experience, and "555 Crown Street" is up there with "Cassava Piece" and others of Pablo's finest works; one only wishes it were about three times as long. "Rocker's Rock" is another tasty melodica slow-skank which is a melodica version of "Rocker's Dub" from the classic "Original Rockers" album. "Pablo Satta" is an acknowledged Pablo classic on the famous "Satta Massa Gana" rhythm, and while it appears on some other sets, this is the clearest issue of it I've yet heard. "Power Of The Trinity" nicely juxtaposes pensive, moody tones with lightly skanking percussion. Aside from his always killer melodica, Pablo indulges us with some xylophone, most notably on the gentle "Golden Seal" and the dubby "West Abyssinia." Pablo also rocks some nasty clavinet on the funky "Havendale Rock."



Another thing I enjoy about "Meets Mr. Bassie" is how it retains that mystical 70s roots feel, rather than being inundated with drum machines and synthesizers as Pablo's music, and Jamaican music as a whole, would become from the late 70s/early 80s on. "Meets Mr. Bassie" was the same length as any other Pablo LP back in the day, but we have since become accustomed to extra CD tracks, which, sadly, Shanachie did not include any of here. As a result, the 1/2 hour length may seem short, but be aware that this disc is a solid listen straiight through, and whilst every track is not as brilliant as the ones I've mentioned above, it's unlikely there'll be anyhting you'll want to skip. As far as I'm concerned, for a nice listening session, where I'm closely paying attention to the music, 30-40 minutes is ideal anyway. Sound quality on this disc is pretty good, and excellent by Shanachie standards.



If you've got the Augustus Pablo basics, "King Tubby's Meets Rockers Uptown," "Original Rockers," "East of the River Nile," and Pressure Sound's amazing "El Rocker's," and you're still itching for more, you can't go wrong with "Pablo Meets Mr. Bassie." Some other competitive choices, assuming you've already dug the four cornerstones listed above, would include Trojan's compilation "Skanking With Pablo" and Pablo's early LP, "This Is Augustus Pablo." Both of the last two discs present different facets of Pablo's creativity, "Skanking With Pablo" being looser and lighter, and "This Is..." being simpler and cleaner. As far as "Meets Mr. Bassie" goes, it is more in keeping with the dense, haunting character of the first four titles I mentioned.



In the final analysis, Augustus Pablo was a fascinating musician, and a true musical visionary; "Meets Mr. Bassie" is simply further proof of his genius.



4 1/2 stars."