This Is Crucial Reggae

Performer: Sly & Robbie
Producer: Bunny Lee; Sly; Robbie; Lowell "Sly" Dunbar; Linval Thompson; Mad Professor; Robbie Shakespeare; Laurence Cane-Honeysett (Compilation)
Distributor: Fontana Distribution

Notes: One of the longest-running partnerships in music history, the duo of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare has collectively shaped the course of reggae music and beyond--affecting numerous currents in electronica, R&B, and hip-hop. Before they had a hand in innovating modern dancehall in the 1990s (shaping indelible hits like "Murder She Wrote" and "Bam Bam"), they presided over the golden era of roots reggae during the late '70s to the early '80s. THIS IS CRUCIAL REGGAE is a collection of instrumental dubs highlighting a few of their key innovations from that era. Replacing the prevalent "one-drop" style of timekeeping with the more leaden, groove-heavy "rockers" rhythm, their new style ushered in crossover success previously unimagined by Jamaican artists. A track like "Revolution Dub," with its thick, bass-heavy groove, prefigures hip hop's Spartan production values by several years. Other tracks anticipate the electronic effects utilized by electronica artists, as in the dramatic filter sweeps of "Stepping out a Space." THIS IS CRUCIAL REGGAE is a fine primer on the pioneering musicianship and inventive spirit of a reggae powerhouse.

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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