Monty Alexander • Monty Meets Sly And Robbie

Review by Rick Anderson

Jazz purists may turn up the nose at this jazz-reggae summit meeting, but that's their loss. It's not that they wouldn't have the right to be suspicious -- experiments in jazz-reggae fusion do not have a distinguished history. But the combination of Jamaican-born jazz pianist Monty Alexander and reggae godfathers Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare works beautifully here for a number of reasons: first of all, Alexander is a gifted melodist with an unerring sense of groove (not always a given with jazz players), and second of all, Sly and Robbie emancipated themselves long ago from reggae's rhythmic strictures, so there's lots of variety on this album. The grooves are never less than bone deep: on "Monty's Groove," Shakespeare's minimalist bassline and Dunbar's funky drumming propel Alexander into inspired (if a bit restrained) flights of improvisation, and "People Make the World Go 'Round" is a slow, dark dancehall workout that gives Alexander's piano lots of open space to work with. "Hot Milk," the album's closer, is a touching tribute to the late reggae organist Jackie Mittoo, on which Alexander plays mournful melodica over a modified rocksteady beat. There are times when you might wish Alexander would cut loose and wail a bit more, but this album is a delight from beginning to end.

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Reseña de Rick Anderson

Los puristas del jazz pueden aparecer en esta reunión cumbre de jazz-reggae, pero ellos se lo pierden. No es que no tengan derecho a sospechar, los experimentos de fusión jazz-reggae no tienen una historia distinguida. Pero la combinación del pianista de jazz nacido en Jamaica Monty Alexander y los padrinos de reggae Sly Dunbar y Robbie Shakespeare funciona muy bien aquí por varias razones: en primer lugar, Alexander es un melodista dotado con un sentido del ritmo infalible (que no siempre se da con los músicos de jazz), y en segundo lugar, Sly y Robbie se emanciparon hace mucho tiempo de las estenosis rítmicas del reggae, por lo que hay mucha variedad en este álbum. Los surcos nunca son menos que huesos profundos: en "Monty's Groove", la minimalista línea de bajo de Shakespeare y la funky batería de Dunbar impulsan a Alexander a vuelos inspirados (aunque un poco restringidos) de improvisación, y "People Make the World Go 'Round" es un lento y oscuro entrenamiento de sala de baile que da al piano de Alexander mucho espacio abierto para trabajar con él. "Hot Milk", el álbum más cercano, es un conmovedor tributo al fallecido organista de reggae Jackie Mittoo, en el que Alexander toca una melódica lúgubre sobre un ritmo de rocksteady modificado. Hay momentos en los que desearías que Alexander se soltara y llorara un poco más, pero este álbum es una delicia de principio a fin.

www.montyalexander.com ...

Tracklist
1 Chameleon 5:05
2 Monty's Groove 5:21
3 Soulful Strut 5:05
4 The In Crowd 5:13
5 Sidewinder 4:58
6 People Make The World Go 'Round 5:08
7 (Do The) Kool Step 4:24
8 Moanin' 5:03
9 Mercy, Mercy, Mercy 4:34
10 Hot Milk 5:50

Credits:
Bass – Robbie Shakespeare
Drums [Drum Fills] – Desmond Jones
Drums [Rhythm And Programming] – Sly Dunbar
Keyboards – Handel Tucker
Saxophone – Jay Davidson
Trumpet – Steve Jankowski
Piano, Melodica – Monty Alexander

Release Date: April 25, 2000
Duration: 51:19
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Bop, Hard Bop, Jazz Instrument, Piano Jazz
Recorded August and December 1999
Recorded At – Bridge Sound Studios




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