An Article on a couple Reggae Bassists

[Sounbwoy]

Most of the people listed in the article are folks most people who follow reggae should be familiar with. I can actually remember the first time I saw Boris Gardner. I had to be all of about 10 years old, and I remember a silver P-Bass he had at the time. Please also remember that we DO spell some words differently from folks here in the States.
Benjy Myaz is an excellent bassist, doing good things.

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/glean.../ent/ent1.html

[One Drop]

Thanks for that, Sounbwoy.

Boris gardiner is one of my favorites. His work on 'darker Shade of Black' alone is enough to merit inclusion in an all-time great reggae bass list.

Leroy Sibbles' beautifully muted style is also shamefully underrated: his line on 'Queen of the Minstrels' makes me shiver every time i hear it. He was also musical director at Studio One for a period in the late '60s, and of course his amazing voice with the Heptones, and as backing vocalist with a lot of Lee Perry stuff is stellar.

[Sounbwoy]

Originally Posted by One Drop

Thanks for that, Sounbwoy.
Leroy Sibbles' beautifully muted style is also shamefully underrated: his line on 'Queen of the Minstrels' makes me shiver every time i hear it. He was also musical director at Studio One for a period in the late '60s, and of course his amazing voice with the Heptones, and as backing vocalist with a lot of Lee Perry stuff is stellar.

Nuff respec', OneDrop. Mos definitely, Leroy is right up there with anyone out of Ja. The Minstrel bassline is also one of my favorite lines, and has even been sampled in a popular R&B song that's been getting a lot of play this summer (forget the song).
On a sadder note, wanna bet how much $$ Leroy will get from that??

[One Drop]

It's a sad fact but bubkas is the answer...

I saw him singing solo as 'The Heptones' two years ago; he did a lot of their classic stuff, and some other Studio One classics,with a really tight band, wonderful show. I definitely missed the harmonies but it was great to hear him live.

These following clips feature Lloyd Parkes with his We the People band backing up
Dennis Brown and U-Roy respectively, from the late '70s. He was just as often if note more so more often seen playing Precisions, for what it's worth. He was a member of the Revolutionaries with Sly before Robbie Shakespeare became his musical spar; I love his Channel One recordings from the era, especially on the Big Youth 'Dreadlocks Dread album:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMAmiK4ES6I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiDlRChgJj8

I have a great Documentary with a clip of The mighty Diamonds playing at a small club in JA with Parkes and the members of the Soul Syndicate playing 'Right Time'; it used to be up on youtube but it seems to have disappeared. Insanely tight band, really exciting performance.

[Sounbwoy]

Originally Posted by One Drop

It's a sad fact but bubkas is the answer...

I saw him singing solo as 'The Heptones' two years ago; he did a lot of their classic stuff, and some other Studio One classics,with a really tight band, wonderful show. I definitely missed the harmonies but it was great to hear him live.

These following clips feature Lloyd Parkes with his We the People band backing up
Dennis Brown and U-Roy respectively, from the late '70s. He was just as often if note more so more often seen playing Precisions, for what it's worth. He was a member of the Revolutionaries with Sly before Robbie Shakespeare became his musical spar; I love his Channel One recordings from the era, especially on the Big Youth 'Dreadlocks Dread album:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMAmiK4ES6I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiDlRChgJj8

I have a great Documentary with a clip of The mighty Diamonds playing at a small club in JA with Parkes and the members of the Soul Syndicate playing 'Right Time'; it used to be up on youtube but it seems to have disappeared. Insanely tight band, really exciting performance.

Donovan Carless, who used to sing with Syndicate lives in the area. Used to play pretty regularly for him for quite a while.On another note, one of the bands I play with (Jamrock Reggae Band) opened for "The Original Wailers" last week. Notice the name change. Fams is no longer playing with the group (for a while anyway). The Original Wailers is Junior Marvin on lead vox, Al Anderson and Wya (who wasn't at this show b/c of some travelling issue). Rohan Reid is playing bass, Erica Newell who sang with Ziggy is one of the backup vox, a very nice drummie named Papa, a guy named George on keys and a guy name Mitch on organ (yes, the organ AND the Leslie cabinet were there).
Was very weird to not see Fams, and yes, it does sound different, but in my mind, that isn't a bad thing. At least no one is running around and holding their head trying to be like Bob...