i find it hard to believe that this guy has fallen under my radar for this long. one of the things i like about pandora is that it often exposes me to things i haven’t heard of. last sunday i was on my back deck chillin’ to my reggae station there (breddabushrat), when on comes this tune that sounded like a cross between the wailers and dave brubeck. i liked it so much i got off my adirondack and went in and found it on amazon and ordered it. if you are of a reggae mind but also dig bebop era jazz, then you should hop on this.

ernest is a veteran of the jamaican music scene. he cut his teeth in his teens in the fifties with big bands in jamaica emulating the ellington/goodman sound. he then started his own bands, incorporating the more contemporary influences of charlie parker and thelonius monk with the burgeoning rhythms emanating from the local sound systems on the island. chris blackwell discovered him in a hotel lounge in ocho rios, and he became the first signing at island records – a label that was to become ultimately pivotal in bringing the reggae sound worldwide. ernest became the house arranger for the label, and is a session musician on many of the records there, as well as being a key innovator in the ska movement in england. joe strummer cites him as one of his major influences.

this album was recorded in 1996, and features monty alexander on piano. monty also hails from jamaica, but became famous on a different route – moving to nyc and getting discovered by sinatra in a jazz dive in 1961. he is a very accomplished jazz pianist, but also stays true to his roots and has made numerous recordings of reggae influenced pieces, most notably with the legendary rhythm sections of sly and robbie. the overall album is a mix of rangling originals and covers of some reggae standards (’54-46 was my number’ from toots and the maytals, for instance).

just a treat to listen to.