“Ernest Ranglin is now 93 years old, but these recordings come from the very beginning of his long, and varied, recording career. He was there right at the beginning of the record business in his native Jamaica, playing jazz, R’n’B and mento, the island’s calypso-like folk form. This set from the French label presents all these facets of his talent.
It contains all of his very first LP from 1961, the second album ever released by the Island label, later home of Bob Marley and many rock groups. It is a jazz album, with his fluid and sometimes extremely rapid jazz-picking backed by just bass and drums - in places he sounds like Kenny Burrell, a big favourite of Otis Rush. The mento titles also include a Jamaican version of ‘Bloodshot Eyes’, drawing on blues shouter Wynonie Harris’s 1951 hit version of what was originally a country song. It was a very popular recording on the island in the 50s.
Then there are the blues and R’n’B titles of singer/ pianist Theophilus Beckford, whose loose blues shuffles owe a lot to US bluesman Rosco Gordon; it is not a sound that is heard very often. Ernest’s guitar breaks are extremely impressive on these titles, the brassy blues instrumental ‘Silky’ by Clue J. & The Blues Blasters, and a couple of titles by vocalist Azie Lawrence. The album may not be all blues, but plenty of blues numbers are included and Ernest’s guitar work is wonderful throughout. “
By Norman DARWEN – TWOJ BLUES (POLAND)
