Search - Don Drummond :: Memorial Album

NICE WAY TO REMEMBER DON DRUMMOND

Stuart Jefferson | San Diego,Ca | 09/11/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Two discs 75 and 71 minutes each approximately. The sound has been remastered to a good standard. There is an "openess"to this music which is very agreeable. The sound is pretty crisp for recordings from forty years ago. The booklet is in a fold-out form,with a good overview of this music and the era.



For those who aren't familiar with Drummond,he was a great (some said one of the world's greatest) trombonist,and is probably most well known for being a member of THE SKATALITES,one of the best (if not THE best) instrumental ska bands in Jamaican musical history. Along with Tommy McCook (sax) Drummond's horn style was one of the founding sounds during the ska era. Its well known that Drummond's ill temper (for which he took medication) got the better of him,and he killed his girlfriend in an argument. He was sentenced to spend time in a mental institution,in which he was found dead.



Upon Drummond's death,producer Duke Reid remixed a number of tracks featuring Drummond,most of them instrumentals. These tracks comprise the first dozen on this set,along with the original 1964 ska mixes of all twelve tracks,which can now be compared side by side. One of the vocal tracks is by Drummond's girlfriend ("Woman A Come"),which is sung slightly off key,but is interesting in light of what would later take place. The seemingly random choice of instrumentals on this first disc are up to the usual good standards that Duke Reid was known for. The instrumentals are the usual bouncy yet tight sound of the band when they blend together for that famous ska sound. The choices were made for a possible album release later,but no one knows for certain.



The second disc is comprised of the 1964 album "The Skatalite",plus thirteen more Duke Reid produced tracks from the same era. The tracks are credited to a number of groups-with names like Justin Hinds,Roland Alphonso,Tommy McCook,THE SKATALITES,THE DUKE REID BAND,and Stranger and Patsy featured. Some are instrumental while others have featured vocals.



Together,the music on this collection form an almost seamless whole. For those who like the early era of Jamaican ska music,this should be your next purchase. If you're new to this style of music,this would be a great introduction to Jamaican,and especially ska music,played by some of the best musicians from the classic era when this type of music was all the rage. I defy you to keep still when listening to these tracks recorded so long ago. For this music is a prime example of the Jamaican,ska,sound at its height."