VA - Studio One Rocksteady: Rocksteady, Soul and Early Reggae at Studio One

Another solidly uplifting set from Soul Jazz—with conditions refusing to fully thaw and springtime continuing to tease us, yet more great early reggae such as that featured here certainly helps keep us out of the winter dumps whenever we throw it on here in the shop!

"If you want to get a sense of why rocksteady is spectacular, there's an easy way to experience it. Each Sunday, some time after midnight on Rae Street, between the aptly named Paradise Street and less perfectly named Walter Street, heaps of people of all ages will congregate in front of Brother Bunny and Sister Norma's Capricorn Inn for an oldies session, one that's been happening in Kingston since 1982...Sure, it may not be possible to jump on an airplane and get yourself to Rae Town in time for this Sunday’s dance, but you could do much worse than Soul Jazz’s excellent collection of Rocksteady, Soul and Early Reggae from Studio One. This is music from the mid-'60s—an in-between era for Jamaican music that is often characterized by Duke Reid's Treasure Isle label. But where Reid’s rocksteady really took its cue from US soul and R&B, Studio One was, as reggae historian and liner note writer Lloyd Bradley suggests, more experimental. And, perhaps, as can be heard from the often love-laden tunes showcased on Rocksteady, from Alton Ellis's 'Hurting Me' to 'Me and You' by Carlton and the Shoes, more soulful." - Pitchfork