Firmly Planted (Altarsound Music, 2007)
*GUEST REVIEW*
This is Solomon Jabby's third album and his first since relocating from Atlanta to Southern California. His stomping ground isn't the only thing that's changed; his sound has, too. Where his first two (Rootical Revelations and Zion Gates, both very good, by the way) were predominantly instrumental and heavily dubwise affairs, Firmly Planted is straight-ahead roots reggae with vocals aplenty. And while Jabby's a multi-instrumentalist who played everything on the previous pair of discs, he's sought outside help for this one. What's stayed the same is his knack for making reggae that captures a classic Jamaican feel. His dub-oriented releases did so via the use of vintage equipment and production techniques borrowed lovingly from trailblazers like King Tubby and Lee Perry, and this first full vocal outing of Jabby's is similarly rich with pre-dancehall greatness on its own respective terms. Jabby wields considerable skill on many instruments, though he sticks to guitars, bass, percussion and melodica here. It's in the vocal department that new ground is truly broken, since those of us who were already Solomon Jabby fans knew him to be a master of do-it-yourself dub. Those previous discs did include brief vocal passages, though nowthat he's emerging as a singer as well as a player of instruments, Jabby displays a vocal style that to me sounds like equal parts Yabby You, Pablo Moses, and Willi Williams. It's unpolished but perfectly suited to this type of reggae: pure meditative roots heavy on spiritual themes. Jabby, you see, is a Christian who incorporates his beliefs into his art. Thankfully, he's not interested in any mere Jesus-is-awesome banality, choosing instead to craft songs with Biblically-based lyrics as thoughtful and picturesque as the riddims and arrangements are deep and satisfying. These pieces may well remind you of early Congos or peak works of the vocalists mentioned above or even some of the singers that Augustus Pablo had a hand in producing, but don't conclude that Solomon Jabby is just an imitator. He's a guy who knows the power of the roots and how to give them his own mighty spin.
- Tom Orr |
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