When the “Excursions in Soul, Reggae, Funk & Dub' by Soul Sugar, it was love at first sight. I was enthusiastic about the velvety retro sound, the sounds of the Hammond organ reminiscent of Jackie Mittoo and the very unorthodox arrangements for reggae - and of course the sounds from the other genres mentioned in the title. However, I refrained from writing a review at the time. But now it is mandatory, because (since December) there is an official one Dub-version of the great album before, Soul Sugar: "Excursions in Dub" (Gee Recordings).
I have to backtrack a little. Behind Soul Sugar is a "collaborative collective" at the center of which is the Frenchman Guillaume Metenier. He studied with jazz organ legend Dr. Lonny Smith and dedicated his first steps entirely to the Hammond funk of the 1960s and 70s. In the meantime he has drifted more and more towards reggae and now produces a mix & match sound between Studio One and Jackie Mittoo on the one hand and Jimmy Smith and Jimmy McGriff, i.e. jazz, funk and soul, on the other. Just how close Guillaume Metenier is to reggae can be seen from the cast list for the two albums mentioned. There Sly & Robbie, Blundetto and Roberto Sanchez are part of the party - and in addition to Slikk Tim and Thomas Naim, of course, Metenier himself, who is responsible for the organ solos under his now familiar alias Booker Gee. A fantastic album, now in its reincarnation as Dubversion is increased again. And that even in a very tangible sense, because it contains two more titles than the original. One of them is Jahno's "Peace Treaty", a brilliant reworking of the Jackie Mittoo version he recorded for Bunny Lee in the mid-1970s. the DubBy the way, s were mixed by the musicians themselves - which is obvious, because Sanchez, Blundetto and Janho are experienced Dub-Producers. In terms of sound, the original and Dubversion, by the way, close to each other. the Dub-Masters didn't reinvent their own templates at all. The mixes are more classically restrained. Usually only the solos are a bit shortened. Only the "Matumbee" remix by Blundetto differs significantly from the original due to its reduction. For me that's absolutely okay, since the original can hardly be topped anyway.
One Response to Soul Sugar: Excursions in Dub"
That's another disc that you and I have to hear more often. On the first run, I don't notice how the spark jumps over right away. The bass melodies, even Sly and Robbie's, are mostly too "alien" for me and I have trouble "swallowing" at first. But somehow the disc also manages to make me want to listen to it more often, and then my horizon of taste expands with each listen and the acoustic "flavors" unfold, the ones with delicious Dubspices can be refined. Is a really nice one DubDisc and also the "original" (let's disregard the Studio One classics I know) is really very good. But hey! Hello, it's me, the lemmi (who imagines that nothing escapes him) and so I have to say, the "Axumites Dub" my favouriteDub could have been for the moment, if so, if not Luke Skywalker with his SpaceJet
would still shoot wildly through your area. Apparently he still hasn't realized that Star Wars is long over and that we humans, especially me, don't feel like going to war. It's a pity, but it reminds me a bit of Gildo Horn ……………….
“Beep beep beep, I love you” ……………………….. lemmi