Artist:Ernest Ranglin
Song:Surfin'
Album:Live in Tokyo
Guitarist Ernest Ranglin is a very important figure in the development of Jamaican music. Though he occasionally recorded his own music like his signature song Surfin', for the most part he played guitar on hundreds of records. He was born June 19, 1932 in Manchester, Jamaica but he grew up in Kingston. His uncles played guitar. He played in local bands as a teen and that's where he met pianist Monty Alexander and they have been lifelong friends. In the 50s he played on many calypso and mento records. He worked for the Jamaican Broadcasting Corporation from 1958-65. And he started working with producer Coxsone Dodd. For the 1962 film Dr. No, Ranglin was asked to compose music for some of the Jamaican scenes. He played bass on many of Prince Buster's hits. And he arranged and played guitar on Millie Small's smash hit My Boy Lollipop. Ranglin worked for Duke Reid's Treasure Island as an A&R man. Then he got into jazz appearing at Ronnie Scott's in England. He has released jazz albums ever since. Ranglin worked as A&R and a session musician for producer Coxsone Dodd from 1965-72. Among other things he produced the 1967 classic Rivers of Babylon by The Melodians. He released Surfin' in 1971 and it is his signature song. In the 70s Ranglin toured with Jimmy Cliff. And in the 80s he got into playing jazz festivals usually with Alexander. This 2011 album was recorded live at the Blue Note in Tokyo with Monty Alexander on piano and Sly and Robbie on drums and bass. It is available as a digital download on Amazon as Jamaican Legends Live in Tokyo. It's also available on Bandcamp via a YouTube link. Here's Ernest Ranglin with Monty Alexander, Robbie Shakespeare and Sly Dunbar performing Surfin' at the Blue Note in Tokyo 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment