The Basement Rug

I had hoped to put together a New Year’s Eve podcast, but alas, I am heading off to work (I know, I know) for the night, and I haven’t had time to put anything together. I have been cleaning a closet though and came across some reggae LP’s, so I thought I should at least offer a couple of single track posts before heading out the door.

“Feel Like Jumping” is from Marcia Griffiths’ 1978 album “Naturally”. 

The following info is from wikipedia.org:

Marcia Griffiths (born Marcia Llyneth Griffiths, 23 November 1949, Kingston, Jamaica) also called the “Queen of Reggae” is Jamaica’s most famous, successful female singer. Griffiths started her career in 1964. From 1970 to 1974 she worked together with Bob Andy in the group Bob and Marcia, on the Harry J label. Between 1974 and 1981 she was a member of the I-Threes, a background group, which supported Bob Marley & the Wailers. Her song “Electric Boogie” made the Electric Slide, a line dance, an international dance craze.

Ere be sam dub fir ja New Year’s Eve party! This is Round 5 of “I Came, I Saw, I Conquered”, from the Channel One label from 1980 (produced in 1978). The following is from wikipedia.org:

Set up in 1975 as the house band of the Channel One Studios owned by Joseph Hoo Kim (following Skin, Flesh and Bones), The Revolutionaries with Sly Dunbar on drums and Robbie Shakespeare on bass have created the new “rockers” style that would change the whole Jamaican sound (from the roots reggae to the dub) and be imitated in all other productions. Beside Sly and Robbie, many musicians played in the band: Betram “Ranchie” McLean, Radcliffe “Dougie” Bryan on guitar, Ossie Hibbert, Errol “Tarzan” Nelson, Robert Lyn or Ansel Collins on keyboards, Uziah “Count Sticky” Thompson, Noel “Scully” Simms on percussion, Tommy McCook, Herman Marquis on saxophone, Bobby Ellis on trumpet and Vin Gordon on trombone. The band played on numerous dub albums and recorded as a backing band for artists like B.B. Seaton, Black Uhuru, Culture, Prince Alla, Leroy Smart, Gregory Isaacs, John Holt, The Heptones, I-Roy, Tappa Zukie, Trinity, U-Brown, Errol Scorcher, Serge Gainsbourg among others.

Safari Trumpet has got to be one of the best party songs of all time. Dies ist ungefähr ebenso käsiger als leichter Zuhören erhält, aber he ist es deshalb viel Spaß! Haben Sie einen Safe und Spaß Silvester! Have a safe and fun New Year’s Eve everyone!

On December 22nd I picked up an LP copy of “Night Train” by the Oscar Peterson Trio. On the morning of the 23rd I was working around the house, getting ready for Christmas with the family. I queued up the record and it really picked up my spirits. In the afternoon I went to visit with family.

 On Christmas Eve I heard that Oscar had died on the 23rd and I felt an instant sense of regret that I never got to see a performance by this amazing musician.

I worked on Christmas day and the 26th. When I got home on the 26th I tried to turn on my stereo, but the power-relay was fried, so I could not obtain output power, and therefore no sound. My amp is more than 19 years old and has never given me any problems. “Night Train” was the last record I played before my stereo “died”. Perhaps it is mourning Oscar, no? Oh well, I can always listen to Peterson on my computer until I get my amp fixed.

The following is from the Oscar Peterson website:

We would like to thank everyone who has sent their condolences, and the hundreds of you who sent e-mail messages. We appreciate it very much. There will be a public memorial service in the near future, and we will provide all the details right here once everything has been decided. For anyone who would like to make donations, we ask you to please make them to World Vision or Christian Children’s Fund in honour of Oscar Peterson. Thank you once again for all your love and support. May God Bless his Soul!

Just listening to this 1957 Verve LP from Holland right now and it is AH-MAZE-ING! The guitar work by Herb Ellis will just make your jaw drop and of course, per usual, Ray Brown is no slouch on the bass. For those who want to burn a CD, go to The Devil’s Jazz Pit and grab the original FLAC download. For those who are looking for something to add to their MP3 player, you can download my 320kbps conversion. Per The Devil’s Jazz Pit:

There is very little known about this rare issue from Verve (Holland). It is known that this was part of five-week stay in Vancouver where Peterson’s trio recorded these tracks. Some of these numbers have been issued under other LPs.

Track List:

1) Lester Leaps In
2) The Golden Striker
3) Topsy
4) Bye Bye Bluebird

I found this recording from the July 1981 Montreux Jazz Festival over at El Reza. According to the post there:

Nigerian Marketplace is a haunting composition by Peterson, which was orginally supposed to be part of an African suite. After the theme the trio really take off and Oscar is his usual brilliant self, both bluesy and funky, but actually its Neils Pedersons bass playing on this track that will really grab your attention.

Track List:

1) Nigerian Marketplace
2) Privave
3) Misty/Waltz for Debbie [Medley]
4) Nancy (With the Laughing Face)
5) Cakewalk
6) You Look Good to Me

Oscar Peterson (piano)
Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen (bass)
Terry Clark (drums)

This is a collection out of the UK (pressed in Germany) that I picked up last year.

Track List:

1) At Sundown
2) China Boy
3) East of the Sun
4) Fine and Dandy
5) Flying Home
6) Humoresque
7) I Surrender, Dear
8) If I Could Be With You One Hour
9) In A Little Spanish Town
10) Margie
11) My Blue Heaven
12) Oscar’s Boogie
13) Runnin’ Wild
14) The Sheik Of Araby
15) Sleepy Time Gal
16) Stairway To The Stars

Download ZIP of 320kbps MP3’s