Browse by Artist: JEZZREEL

Artist:	JEZZREEL
Title:	All Depends On You/I Put My Trust
Label:	WACKIE'S (GERMANY)
Format:	12"
Price:	$10.00
Catalog #:	WACK 710EP

"All Depends On You" is an intimate, spare do-over of the Spiderman rhythm which Yellowman and Fathead were smashing at the time with Operation Eradication: eight-and-a-half-minutes of yearning and pleading, generously dosed with the vocal stylings of the original Night Nurse himself. "I Put My Trust" swaps religion for amorous devotion: musically, it is more characteristically Wackies, reverberating but crisp as a biscuit, stepping but spaced-out. Neither track appears on the LP, Great Jah Jah.

Artist:	JEZZREEL
Title:	Great Jah Jah
Label:	WACKIE'S (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.50
Catalog #:	WACK 790CD

Taking its name from Jezreel, the Biblical city founded by the tribe of Issachar, where God is said to have cursed Ahab for his greed, this singing duo's debut 1980 Wackies album is steeped in rasta spirituality. Clive Davis and Christopher Harvey step forward from the backing line -- on innumerable Sugar Minott sessions for example -- and into the company of the great JA vocal combos of the late seventies: as at home with Viceroys-style harmonies as with traditional Impressions- and doowop-derived flourishes; as comfortable riding Channel One-style steppers as with more laid-back, lover's grooves. Dug in behind them is drummer Jah Scotty's New Breed Band -- also known as the Reckless Breed -- falling between the Sylvester Brothers and Itopia as Wackies in-house crew. Included in the lineup this time are two of Lloyd Barnes' sons, Bob and Shaan. Appearing as Reggae Jerry, guitarist Jerry Harris is in top form, and as Jerry Hitster he contributes some startling keyboards (alongside Sylvesters' old-boy Roy Robertson), not least in the opening bars. Most of the rhythms are one-offs, though "Roman Soldiers" is the militant first outing of "Nature's Dub", and "Living In The Ghetto" is "Kicking Scott" from the same album. (On top, the sleeve features vintage reggae typesetting by Leslie A. Moore, LAM Graphics Int.) This is a showcase reissue, with all tracks extending into inventive dubs. Arrangements are by Lloyd Barnes and Jah Hamma, aka Prince Douglas, who also work the mixing desk.

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