Has it escaped your attention the supreme irony of one of the world's greatest living writer-philosophers dedicating his energy to writing music journalism (vapid nonsense) about reggae compilations (junkily repackaged sub-mainstream nonsense). I swear to you, I is TOOOOO GUTTTTAHH!
You might recall somewhere in my pathetic, paranoid and self-engineered fight with Paul Meme that I gave some credence to the compiling and reissue work which Honest Jon's have been up to recently, which has almost eclipsed the artistry of Berlin Rhythm & Sound reissues of Wackies. The man behind the operation is Mark Ainley, but they've also roped in designers like Will Bankhead (Massive Attack) and got Von Oswald (Basic Channel) to do their re-mastering. Their Unity sounds compilation was stylish, an unlikey "london-centric" rake over the embers of that label's Sleng-Teng-era digitalisms, the true foundry of Jungle and point-zero for later SUAD/Ragga Twins stalwarts Peter Bouncer and Deman Rockers. Though maybe the tracks themselves didn't quite hold up. I missed the very interesting looking Lord Kitchener record (Van Dyke Parks held him in the same high esteem as Beethoven). Their Heart of The Congos Congoman 12" seemed a little pointless, the Carl Craig remix was so cautious and literal it added precisely nothing. But anyway, all good really so far (ha ha).
However I've got problems with their latest darling. They've built up quite a lot of froth up over their Light of Saba reissue. We've had 2 teaser EPs of material, the first of which featured their (uncharacteristic) masterpiece, Saba in Dub, which sounds like nothing more than a bit of peak-period anadigital Mouse on Mars so perfectly honed are it's sumptuos waveforms.I've had Steve C's rip of his Light of Saba Sabebe LP for some time now. Steve (the fiend) gets all toothy when he mentions it and starts drooling at the very thought of his owning this HOLY GRAIL of reggae. I however don't get it, I don't get it at all. To me The Light of Saba encapsulate nothing which I like about Reggae. I should explain:
The Light of Saba's sound is practically THE MISSING LINK between Community Jazz and reggae. What's Community Jazz Matt? Community Jazz is everything from Sun Ra downwards me old mucker. Community Jazz is Phil Cohran, Strata East, Leo Smith (who actually converted to Rastafarianism), Brother Ankh, Eddie Gale, Marion Brown, Julian Priester, some of the less bloody of BYG/Actuel's Parisian Collective mash-ups, etc. It's not really free jazz, tends to have a discreet groove lurking in the background. Indeed Kool and the Gang, some members of which washed up palying with Ra, occasionally got quite Community Jazz-ish. Musically it's the interface between Jazz-Funk and Free-Jazz.
Back in the day of Giles Peterson playing the Wag Club, when The Wire carried some (very un-)cool dance bop as it's concession to commericalism and Straight No Chaser had just started pimping Donald Byrd to student hipsters I believe some Community Jazz would have been on the playlist. For those chaps in fez's to frug to. Things like Pharaoh Sander's Prince of Peace would actually be danced to, and danced to IMAGINATIVELY. Almost makes you want to vomit, eh! Just as Acid House was melting us down into machine parts. Well actually its quite sweet innit. Athletic young men jumping four feet in the air, right hand clutching bowler hat to head etc.
And I bet you that THIS is the real reason why this Light of Saba LP is being reissued. Dudes have been stroking their chins for nearly a decade going MMMMM I wish Rob from Galliano would lend me his Light of Saba LP, I hear it's the missing link beween Community Jazz and Roots Reggae. And surprise surprise who release it in the end (in an elegantly packed double pack with RUBBISH cover art) but those beatniks in disguise at Honest Jons.
It wouldn't take long for me to put together a paranoid soul-boys-taking-over-the-rave-empire diatribe starring Kirk DeGiorgio with Honest Jon's as the Dark Star. So here goes: What else have they given us but James Lavelle, former counter employee! It's clear to me now that all these comps (especially the Unity one) are subtle tactical mission statements aimed at turning liberated ravers into beard-stroking beatniks. It's like they're saying to us (well me at least), "Aah but don't you see how your aims are at source those of the Beatnik! Peter 'Raving I'm Raving' Bouncer is in fact a rootsy soul man not an AvantYob at all."
What's good about Reggae? It's an endlessly recyled restless modernism. It's a synthesis of voodoo and cheap technology. It's got CHOONS. Not it's posture, not it's internationalism (works best always as infinite localism), not the impact of other musics on it, not it's perfectionism, not it's classicism. All of which are in abundance here. Though seriously I urge you to buy the record so that you may better understand what I'm dribbling on about here.
Posted by Woebot at April 21, 2003 06:28 PM