The Many Moods of Sly, Robbie & the Taxi Gang

Performer: Sly & Robbie
Producer: Sly & Robbie
Distributor: (Independently by Label)

Notes: Sly & Robbie: Sly Dunbar (drums); Robbie Shakespeare (bass). Additional personnel: The Taxi Gang. MANY MOODS OF SLY, ROBBIE AND THE TAXI GANG, a 1991 album, shows off the powerhouse rhythm section and production team in a familiar setting, leading sessions for various singers under the guise of their own Taxi Records imprint. After letting Taxi idle for most of the '80s, Sly and Robbie reactivated the imprint in the early '90s. What's most interesting about hearing the new Taxi material after the dancehall-electronic revolution of the mid '80s is how much the dancehall artists copped, consciously or not, from Sly and Robbie's original Taxi singles! All the elements are there, including the way that Robbie Shakespeare's bass is used as a melodic lead instrument and the seamless melding of electronic and live percussion that is Sly Dunbar's sonic trademark. While sounding utterly contemporary, tracks like the opening instrumental "Unmetered Taxi" and the atmospheric "Outlaw Josey Wales" also sound like they could have come off of any of the duo's previous Taxi releases. Therein lies their charm.

Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare are not only the most renowned rhythm section in reggae, they're among the most celebrated groovemeisters in all of pop music. The Kingston pair starting playing together in the mid-1970s, when reggae was really hitting its stride, and they quickly became in-demand session players. In Jamaica they graced the recordings of countless artists, from Lee "Scratch" Perry to Peter Tosh. After Sly & Robbie's fame spread to the US and UK in the '80s, they were recruited by Bob Dylan, Grace Jones and other pop/rock stars. The duo's own project Taxi, featuring various guest vocalists, was a reggae crossover success that displayed Dunbar and Shakespeare's growing technological facility as well as their vaunted rhythmic prowess.

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