The Gladiators - Studio One Singles

Yeah, its starting to be a little too chilly in Brooklyn for this kinda stuff, but the sun is shining today so why not?

This record started its life as a bootleg but finally found legitimate release, which was spruced up to include usage of the master tapes and expanded with singles and dubs. All told, a solid 20 years is covered in this collection.

The Gladiators - Rearrange and Happy Man a.k.a. Portrait Of A Believer 12"
from Studio One Singles, which Amazon has on CD and as an MP3 download

Jah Lloyd: Final Judgement

What a bad ass record cover, no?

Damn...

So what do you know about this record? Probably more than I do, which is only a wee bit more than I did when I started writing this piece...from the image I found of the back cover it is clear the album was recorded at King Tubby's in or around 1974, with Tubby himself at the dials...another snippet I found described the record as, "Collection of rare mid 70’s DJ singles"...ok...then I came across an obituary of Jah Lloyd, whose real name was Pat Francis...I could only access this preview of the obit without a registration, which I did not want to enter a credit card for...

"PAT FRANCIS was a fine singer and DJ who recorded under various aliases - Jah Lloyd, Jah Lion and Jah Ali - which reflected his Rastafarian beliefs. The original vinyl version of Colombia Colly, the album he cut as Jah Lion in 1976 for the producer Lee Perry, changes hands for pounds 70 and is a steady seller on CD, while his 1970s Jah Lloyd dub collections (Herb Dub, Final Judgement) are sought after by aficionados the world over...Born in 1947 in St Catherine, Jamaica, Francis had a rather unhappy childhood. His mother died when he was eight and he was subsequently brought up by his farming..."

And that is where the free preview trails off...

Can't say it isn't intriguing.

Then I remembered to throw my two Hail Mary's...wikipedia (nothin') and All Music Guide - score!

"Jamaica's Pat Francis recorded under a lot of names during the 1970s, including Jah Lion, Jah Lloyd and Black Lion of Judah, and given that his musical creations frequently centered on drug-related themes, he was sort of an early character blueprint for the flamboyant urban rappers of the late 1990s. In the mid-1960s he was a member of the Mediators, and he later scored hits with topical material like "Soldier Round the Corner," "Know Yourself Blackman" and "Killer Flour" for producer Rupie Edwards. Never afraid to reinvent himself, Francis turned toaster and DJ for tracks like "Black Snowfall" and "World Class." He tasted critical success as Jah Lion when he recorded the marvelous Columbia Colly album with producer Lee "Scratch" Perry at Perry's legendary Black Ark studio, including a striking version of the Little Willie John classic, "Fever." He became Jah Lloyd in 1978, signing a record deal with Front Line, and although songs like "Jah Lion" and "Cocaine" tried hard, they stirred up little public interest. Francis turned to production work as the 1970s ended, becoming Jah Lion again as the 1980s beckoned, and although he stayed active behind the scenes, his major recording work was behind him. Pat Francis was only 52 when he was killed in Kingston on June 12, 1999."

But of course none of this has anything to do with the record itself, which has a nice roots feel, plenty of toasting and even a couple of decent dubs.

Going with what I love best, that is what I will post today, a couple of the dubs...Enjoy.

Jah Lloyd: Rock Dub and London Dub
from Final Judgement

Gaudi & Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: Dub Qawwali

I have real mixed feelings about this record, and not on puritanical grounds like the official reviewer at Amazon does, I am just not sure I like it!

It is hard not to be entranced by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's voice or to be impressed by how well his vocals seem to mesh with the electronic and dub musical pieces...my issue is that a lot of it just seems sort of...lightweight.

That said, there are a couple of deep tracks and since it is my preference to focus on the positive, especially concerning a record that attempts to accomplish so much, those are the tracks I am making available today...

Anyway, see for yourself and let me know what you think.

Gaudi & Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: Jab Teri Dhun Main Raha Karte and Dil Da Rog Muka Ja Mahi
from Dub Qawwali

Earl Sixteen: Soldier of Jah Army

Here is a record that I cannot seem to find much info on...Maybe if I was more familiar with Earl Sixteen beyond just some basic biographic info I could piece it together...It is definitely a compilation...possible containing some Roots Radics backing tracks and Mikey Dread productions...?

All in all, seventeen tracks, ranging from most of Earl's early hits like "Malcolm X" and "Freedom", various dubs and other tracks.

If you know anything about this record, please share...I can't seem to find it commercially available anywhere but I will hold back from posting the whole thing here and instead focus on a few dubs...

Earl Sixteen: Malcolm X Dub, Rastaman Dub, and If Life Is Dub
from Soldier of Jah Army

Dennis Bovell: Dub Master

Dennis Bovell is someone I only recently learned about but whose musical contributions I have probably been hearing for years. He has collaborated (as a producer, re-mixer, songwriter or musician) with artists as diverse as the Thompson Twins, the Slits, Steel Pulse, Bananarama, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Edwin Collins, Fela Kuti and others.

Dub Master is a very satisfying record. The worst I can say about it is that at times it is a little jarring to hear Bovell's lover's rock-style tracks next to some of his dub excursions...but to his credit that stuff is more often than not segued by jams like "Audio Active", jazzy, well-produced tracks that bridge the disparate styles.

In general I am partial to dub over lover's rock and since this is my blog that's what I am going to post today! Search this one out, though, it merits some heavy rotation.

Dennis Bovell: Cut After Cut, Strictly Dub, Mint Ah Music, Zombie Zomez, and Ah Weh
from Dub Master

Barrington Levy: In Dub - The Lost Mixes From King Tubby's Studio

A little over a year ago I was given a hard drive packed full of rare and out-of-print reggae records, 45s, 7-inches, etc. Most of the stuff was encoded from vinyl and many included cover art scans.

I am still making my way through it all.

It has taken me so long that not all of the items remain commercially unavailable. Many I have only seen as expensive imports. Even those readily available through a site like Amazon show little-to-no sales history.

This record seems to be available both as a pricey import but also for about half the import price through some specialty sites. I don't know how that works...Anyway, here are segments of what the label, Aurlux, has to say about the record:

"Towards the end of the 1970s, Jamaican music was changing dramatically -- the roots reggae era had seen the rise of dreadlocked harmony trios singing of sufferation, but by the start of 1979 a different sound transfixed the island as a whole new legion of fresh talent began rising out of Kingston's dancehalls...The most important and best admired vocalist to emerge from the dancehall movement was Barrington Levy, a cool crooner who sang of love, life, enjoyment and hardship in equal measure, and once Barrington hooked up with political 'enforcer' turned record producer Henry 'Junjo' Lawes, the dancehall style reached international prominence. Junjo had been working at Channel One studio with the Roots Radics...about two dozen of their fresh rhythms were voiced by Barrington at King Tubby's legendary studio in Waterhouse...The first dub album to surface from the Barrington Levy sessions was The Big Showdown,, released in 1980 by Greensleeves in the UK; The album has rightly been hailed as a classic, seen in retrospect as one of the last great dub albums of all time. What few realize is that Junjo issued a totally different companion album in Jamaica on Jah Guidance...It used the same sleeve and track listing as the Greensleeves disc but featured ten totally different Barrington Levy dubs, again mixed at King Tubby's studio. Although both discs featured dubs of the tracks 'Reggae Music,' 'Looking My Love' and 'Black Heart Man,' each mix on the Jah Guidance release is distinctly different from that of any other release ever issued; the mixes here are much sparser and rawer, aimed as they were at the Jamaican market. The original Jamaican dub mixes that appeared on the Jah Guidance album have remained an obscure and long sought after dub rarity, unavailable since its original Jamaican release, until now."

Enjoy.

Download
Barrington Levy: In Dub - The Lost Mixes From King Tubby's Studio
or Buy the import from Amazon

Burning Dervish Volume 12

84-degree weather in April will get you thinking and feeling a certain way about the music you want to jam to...

This most-recent compilation is a return of sorts to the African (Ethiopian, Moroccan and Jamaican)-themed mixes I was throwing together throughout '06. I have a few more partially-finished ones sitting in playlists I need to live with a while longer before springing them on you...hopefully this one will get you through a warm spring day and a lovely evening or two...

Let me know how it treats you.

Click here to download Burning Dervish Volume 12.

This compilation contains tracks from these records: Hopeton Lewis - 200% Dynamite!, Sound Dimension - Jamaica Soul Shake, Vol. 1, Bob Marley & the Wailers - Burnin', Bullwackie's All Stars, African Roots, Act 1, Bahta Gebre-Heywet - Ethiopiques, Vol. 8: Swinging Addis, Jimmy Cliff - Ultimate Collection, Easy Star All-Stars - Dub Side of the Moon, The Musical Intimidators - Trojan Dub Rarities Box, U-Roy - The Lost Album aka Right Time Rockers, Burning Spear - Live In Paris: Zenith '88, The Itals - Give Me Power!, Konono No. 1 - Congotronics, Don Carlos - Inna Dub Style: Rare Dubs 1979-1980, Takamba Super Onze - Festival in the Desert
These albums are all available in the Burning Dervish Amazon Store.

A Dispatch from the Future of Music...

Derek Beres from Global Beat Fusion reached out across MySpace yesterday after downloading my most recent compilation. In addition, to writing, blogging, teaching and practicing Yoga (amongst other things, it seems), Brother Derek spins some righteous mixes.

I'm still making my way through all of them but can heartily recommend the first one on his list and the first one I downloaded, Roots Down, a smooth mix of vintage Jamaican soul, funk and R&B.

Thanks for the music, Derek.

Burning Dervish Volume Five

Its taken a while but I've finally gotten a new mix together - even have cover art this time.

Lots of links below...those behind artist names go to their specific pages on emusic in case you want to listen to samples of other tracks from them...the links behind album names go to the corresponding page on amazon.

These tracks have come to me from so many sources...its a blast combing through this stuff every few weeks to see how it can be strung together to give us an hour or so of something chill. I hope it worked out.

Click here to download Volume Five until Sunday, November 19.

If you have any tracks or mixes you want to post here, leave a comment and let me know how to reach you - would be fun to put up what you put together.

• You I Love Dub, Wackies Rhythm Force, African Roots, Act 3
• La Rebellion, Orchestra Baobab, Pirates Choice
• This Land is for Everyone, The Abyssinians, Arise
• Gone A Country, Everton Blender, King Man
• We Need Love, Johnny Osbourne, Mojo: Studio One Selector
• Get Ready (12" Mix), Delroy Wilson, Darker Than Blue: Soul From Jamdown 1973-1980
• Follow Marcus Garvey, Burning Spear, Hail H.I.M.
• Fittest of the Fittest Dub, King Tubby, Dub Chill Out
• Mr. Joe (Mojo Rocksteady), Dub Specialist, 17 Dub Shots From Studio One
• Hotter Fire, The Observers, Trojan Dub Rarities Box
• Before Summer Rain, Sanjay Mishra, Blue Incantation
• A Wish, Hamza El Din, A Wish

Click here to download Volume Five until Sunday, November 19.

Burning Dervish Volume Three

Our latest mix, available for download until September 17...

• Marcus Dub (Follow Marcus Garvey), Burning Spear, Living Dub, Vol. 2


• Them Belly Full (But We Hungry), Bob Marley, Dreams of Freedom: Ambient Translations of Bob Marley in Dub


• Jah Calling, The Itals, Give Me Power!


• Know Fari, Bongo Herman & Eric 'Bingy Bunny' Lamont, Tighten Up: Trojan Reggae Classics 1968-74


• Embwa Belew, Muluqen Mellesse, Ethiopiques, Vol. 3: Golden Years Of Modern Ethiopian Music


• Mad Mad Mad, Alton Ellis, Get Ready for Rock Reggae Steady


• The Result, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Scratch the Upsetters Again


• Almaz Men Eda New, Mahmoud Ahmed, Ethiopiques, Vol. 6: Almaz


• Gofere/Antchi Hoye, Getatchew Mekurya, Ethiopiques, Vol. 14: Negus of Ethiopian Sax


• Downtown Rock, King Tubby Meets Larry Marshall, I Admire You (In Dub)


• Gubelye, Mulatu Astatqe, Ethiopiques, Vol. 10: Tezeta - Ethiopian Blues & Ballads


• You Don't Love Me (No No No), Dawn Penn, Studio One Rockers


• Tezeta, Nostalgia, Ethiopiques, Vol. 4: Ethio Jazz & Musique Instrumentale, 1969-1974


• Mediation In Dub, The Abyssinians, Declaration of Dub


• Live Injection, The Upsetters, 200% Dynamite!

Burning Dervish Volume Three available for download until Sunday, September 17, 2006 HERE.

Burning Dervish Vol Two

Our second compilation, available for download here.

1. Popcorn, by Lee "Scratch" Perry, from Scratch the Upsetters Again


2. El Pussy Cat, by The Skatalites, from Stretching Out


3. Guajira Van, by No. 1 de No. 1, from World Psychedelic Classics 3: Love's a Real Thing


4. Lion, by Burning Spear, from Live


5. Rastafari Chariot, by The Itals, from Brutal Out Deh


6. Take Me Home Country Roads, by Toots & The Maytals, from Funky Kingston


7. Give Me Your Love, by Junior Marvin, from Darker Than Blue: Soul from Jamdown (1973-1980)


8. Yasdestal, by Mahmoud Ahmed, from Ethiopiques, Vol. 6: Almaz


9. Tezetaye Atchi Lidj, by Mulatu Astatqe, from Ethiopiques, Vol. 4: Ethio Jazz & Musique Instrumentale, 1969-1974


10. Bellyfull, by The Gladiators, from Dreadlocks The Time Is Now


11. Sit And Wonder, by Prince Buster, from 200% Dynamite!


12. Ma Ne Vale La Pena, by Augusto Martelli, from Black Sound From White People


13. Black Slavery Days, by Skulls, from Black Slavery Days


14. Mountain Time, by Ginger Baker, from Horses & Trees

Download Burning Dervish Vol Two until August 2nd here.

Burning Dervish Vol One

We're hoping to roll out 2 or 3 mixes a month as we comb through our trove of music...this first collection really speaks to where we've been at for the better part of 2006 - lots of music from the Middle East, Africa, the Carribean and South America. There will probably be several compilations along these lines, especially given 1. that we've recently stepped into about 16GB of rare reggae and dub MP3s and 2. our eMusic "saved for later" download list is jam-packed with jems they continue to surface from around the world...As with our individual MP3 posts the link to download Burning Dervish Vol One will expire seven days from this post going up...Enjoy and let us know what you think).

1. Maduba (Crisis Creation), DXT, from Reanimator: Black Market Science. DXT, essentially the inventor of turntablism, laying down futuristic, apocalyptic, electronic dub. Produced by Bill Laswell.


2. Telegram Dub (African Postman), Burning Spear, from Living Dub, Vol. 2, the dub companion to Spear's classic Hail H.I.M.. It's one's chocolate to the other's peanut butter...


3. Im Ninalou, DJ Cheb I Sabbah, from, La Kahena. A Sufi, a Jew and a Berber walked into a bar...


4. Allegro, Sanjay Mishra, from, Blue Incantation. We originally picked this record up to catch the three tracks Jerry Garcia contributed to in what turned out to be some of his last sessions and then shrugged the record off as new age fluff. Coming back to it many years later we were really sucked in by some of Mishra's melodic guitar playing. Turns out Jerry's parts are the weakest of the record...


5. Exodus, Bob Marley, from, Dreams of Freedom: Ambient Translations of Bob Marley in Dub, one of our "desert island discs" of the 1990s and one of the best examples of that era's output of "ambient dub". Exodus and The Heathen are the stand-out tracks.


6. Water No Get Enemy, Fela Kuti, from Expensive Shit. Jamming defiant funk from the Kalkuta Republic.


7. In These Times, Errol Walker, from Lee "Scratch" Perry's Arkology box set. There are a million ways to get into Scratch Perry given that he has produced literally countless reggae and dub sides, but this box set might be the best way. Lots of notes and info to send you on your way...This guys talent is impossible to measure or describe.


8. Dance Mediterrane, Simon Shaheen & Qantara, from Blue Flame. Shaheen has made more "authentic" records but the playing on this record really legitimizes the fusion style.


9. Jah Works, The Gladiators, from Dreadlocks, the Time Is Now . This is such a deep record. Some serious spirit runs through the entire enterprise...


10. Roll Jordan Roll, Wingless Angels from Wingless Angels. A Keith Richards side project in which he recorded some Nyabinghi sessions at his home in Jamaica, laid in the most perfect bass and guitar lines and produced a rootsy, acoustic, trance of a record. Almost makes you wish Keith would quit his day job to follow his own muse more often. Really.


11. Dem a Come, The Abyssinians, from Arise. Deep roots and equisite melodies make this record...


12. Herbsman Shuffle, King Stitt & Andy Capp, from Tighten Up: Trojan Reggae Classics 1968-74. This track is from a 2-disc "best of" the Trojan series of Tighten Up compilations. Bad-ass throughout with lots of gems. Herbsman is one of our key tracks.


13. Mela Mela, Mahmoud Ahmed, from Ethiopiques, Vol. 6: Almaz. As of this writing there are 21(!) volumes in this series of Ethiopian music spanning traditional, tribal sounding music to modern Ethiopian music, which, from the late-60s thru mid-70s was all about soul, jazz and mellow funk. It is a thrill to listen to most of this stuff and Mahmoud Ahmed is widely held to be the premier practitioner of the sound.

Download Burning Dervish Vol 1 here. Check out the albums these tracks are from here.