Search - Various Artists :: Gems From Treasure Isle

Gems From Treasure Isle

Stuart Jefferson | San Diego,Ca | 05/31/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Three discs. 58,47,49 min. each approximately. Sound is remastered. With all the box sets put out by Trojan,its nice to see something by one of the all-time great producers,Duke Reid. From the beginning of his Treasure Isle label to his massive Trojan sound system,these 54 tracks tell a convincing story of the roots of ska and rocksteady. Many of these titles will be familiar to anyone who has listened to reggae music for a while. Like a lot of reggae music,American soul and r&b had a real influence on Jamaican music. The producers and musicians would listen to American music and put their stamp on it. This music was recorded in the mid to late sixties,a prime time for both ska and the slower rocksteady. A look at the titles included will tell you all you need to know. Both familiar and relatively unknown songs sit side by side. This is the kind of set that doesn't hit you in the face on first listen. Rather it sneaks up on you. As I said,this isn't as well known as other sets and thats to bad,because there is plenty of good music in this collection. Music that "Duke" Reid produced with an iron hand-actually with a pistol in his belt. For people who like a smoother soul-r&b sound to their reggae."