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Rare recordings on Shanachie box set show the genius of Augustus Pablo
Friday, August 01, 2008
International recording company, Shanachie Entertainment, has just released the first CD/DVD combination box set on renowned Jamaican musician, Augustus Pablo.
The Mystic World Of Augustus Pablo: The Rockers Story provides an indept analysis of the artiste via a CD/DVD combination.
The box set is billed as The Mystic World Of Augustus Pablo: The Rockers Story. It has a comprehensive four CD set plus a DVD of video footage along with a 20-page booklet including extensive commentary from writers in Jamaica, England and America and many rare photos. As such it provides a definitive portrait of one of the most extraordinary musical artistes ever to grace the world scene.
The four CDs in The Rockers Story cover the gamut of Pablo's artistry, moving from instrumental works to dubs to vocal productions. Disc one, Classic Rockers, focuses on many of the key recordings which established his reputation in the early to mid-1970s, including such classics as East Of The River Nile and King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown, as well as his ground-breaking productions of such major vocalists as Jacob Miller, Hugh Mundell and Leroy Sibbles of The Heptones. Disc 2, Roots Rockers, presents a selection of deep roots reggae, showing off his ability on clavinet and xylophone as well as his trademark melodica. Such relatively obscure but talented singers as Earl Sixteen, Delroy Williams, Paul Blackman and Norris Reid come to the fore here as well as his collaborations with Lee 'Scratch' Perry and Vivian 'Yabby You' Jackson.
Disc three, New Style Rockers, traces the evolution of Pablo's music into the 1980s and later into the "digital" era, while Disc four, Rockers Rarities, presents his first released recording and a selection of tracks highly sought-after by collectors, some previously only available on vinyl.
The DVD disc presents the first official release of video footage of Augustus Pablo in concert performance, featuring one song each from his 1986 Japan Splash appearance and from PitSplash, another Japanese festival.
These are followed by extraordinary, previously unreleased footage shot in Jamaica by Jerry Stein and Jeff Roth, producers of the documentary Word Sound Power. These segments capture Pablo and Hugh Mundell in a leafy glade by a river, Pablo playing guitar and melodica and Mundell singing prayerful, chant-like songs. A short interview segment with Pablo follows.
The booklet features commentary by Lol Bell-Brown, Herbie Miller and Randall Grass. It booklet includes many never-before-seen photos of Pablo as well as artistes he worked with such as King Tubby, Hugh Mundell, Jacob Miller, Jr. Delgado, and others. The box cover photo is a luminous portrait of Pablo by noted photographer Kate Simon.
Augustus Pablo won worldwide acclaim as a reggae artiste, credited as being one of the great architects of dub music and creator of two of the greatest reggae albums ever created: King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown and East Of The River Nile. While his dub creations are among the greatest ever produced, Pablo's talents as a composer of melodies,
as an accomplished instrumentalist and as an inspired producer of some of the most profound music ever created, were expressed on both his own recordings and his productions of other artists, especially singers. As a New York Times critic noted: "Pablo is more than a gifted instrumentalist; he is a masterful pop composer whose recordings are possessed by a reflective, almost mystical sadness." Ironically, despite this recognition, only a relatively small portion of Pablo's artistic achievement is widely known. The reason for this is simple: few people who heard the music of the reclusive Pablo ever saw him in concert. Also many of his finest productions were issued in small quantities and have only been intermittently available.
Friday, August 01, 2008
International recording company, Shanachie Entertainment, has just released the first CD/DVD combination box set on renowned Jamaican musician, Augustus Pablo.
The Mystic World Of Augustus Pablo: The Rockers Story provides an indept analysis of the artiste via a CD/DVD combination.The box set is billed as The Mystic World Of Augustus Pablo: The Rockers Story. It has a comprehensive four CD set plus a DVD of video footage along with a 20-page booklet including extensive commentary from writers in Jamaica, England and America and many rare photos. As such it provides a definitive portrait of one of the most extraordinary musical artistes ever to grace the world scene.
The four CDs in The Rockers Story cover the gamut of Pablo's artistry, moving from instrumental works to dubs to vocal productions. Disc one, Classic Rockers, focuses on many of the key recordings which established his reputation in the early to mid-1970s, including such classics as East Of The River Nile and King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown, as well as his ground-breaking productions of such major vocalists as Jacob Miller, Hugh Mundell and Leroy Sibbles of The Heptones. Disc 2, Roots Rockers, presents a selection of deep roots reggae, showing off his ability on clavinet and xylophone as well as his trademark melodica. Such relatively obscure but talented singers as Earl Sixteen, Delroy Williams, Paul Blackman and Norris Reid come to the fore here as well as his collaborations with Lee 'Scratch' Perry and Vivian 'Yabby You' Jackson.
Disc three, New Style Rockers, traces the evolution of Pablo's music into the 1980s and later into the "digital" era, while Disc four, Rockers Rarities, presents his first released recording and a selection of tracks highly sought-after by collectors, some previously only available on vinyl.
The DVD disc presents the first official release of video footage of Augustus Pablo in concert performance, featuring one song each from his 1986 Japan Splash appearance and from PitSplash, another Japanese festival.
These are followed by extraordinary, previously unreleased footage shot in Jamaica by Jerry Stein and Jeff Roth, producers of the documentary Word Sound Power. These segments capture Pablo and Hugh Mundell in a leafy glade by a river, Pablo playing guitar and melodica and Mundell singing prayerful, chant-like songs. A short interview segment with Pablo follows.
The booklet features commentary by Lol Bell-Brown, Herbie Miller and Randall Grass. It booklet includes many never-before-seen photos of Pablo as well as artistes he worked with such as King Tubby, Hugh Mundell, Jacob Miller, Jr. Delgado, and others. The box cover photo is a luminous portrait of Pablo by noted photographer Kate Simon.
Augustus Pablo won worldwide acclaim as a reggae artiste, credited as being one of the great architects of dub music and creator of two of the greatest reggae albums ever created: King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown and East Of The River Nile. While his dub creations are among the greatest ever produced, Pablo's talents as a composer of melodies,
as an accomplished instrumentalist and as an inspired producer of some of the most profound music ever created, were expressed on both his own recordings and his productions of other artists, especially singers. As a New York Times critic noted: "Pablo is more than a gifted instrumentalist; he is a masterful pop composer whose recordings are possessed by a reflective, almost mystical sadness." Ironically, despite this recognition, only a relatively small portion of Pablo's artistic achievement is widely known. The reason for this is simple: few people who heard the music of the reclusive Pablo ever saw him in concert. Also many of his finest productions were issued in small quantities and have only been intermittently available.
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