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Reviews-David Hillyard and the Rocksteady 7
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Beat, Reviews-David Hillyard and the Rocksteady 7 >>
Bandleader, composer and saxophonist David Hillyard has done more to advance the mix of reggae and jazz with this new cd than any number of big names in jazz who have tinkered with the Jamaican sound. And in terms of anyone anywhere playing instrumental ska and reggae today, credit Hillyard and his band with cutting the competition. Mighty claims, I'll grant you, but Hillyard and associates are true musical revolutionaries, and their radical impulse to rethink Jamaican pop music begins with the opening track.
"Song of the United Front" is a revolutionary anthem from the Spanish Civil War, a tune previously recorded by jazz bassist Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra. Haden's big-band jazz version, available on Liberation Music Orchestra (Impulse CD MCAD-39125) is a rowdy and royally anarchistic slice of avant-garde jazz circa 1973. Hillyard transmutes the same catchy melody that caught Haden's ear a quarter of a century ago and alchemizes it into a type of skanking revolutionary ditty in a militant rockers style. It comes as a delightful shock to anyone who had heard Haden's version, but even without that knowledge, it is a tour de force of cross-cultural reggae at its best, a blend of Spanish folk melody and reggae rhythm, full of jazzy horns propelling the marital theme forward zestfully.
That is what the opening minutes reveal:horn men of extraordinary musical taste and invention. Hillyard studied with the late saxophonis Tommy McCook, yet never slavishly imitates his teacher. Trumpeter Rolf Langsjoen improvises brilliantly with Hillyard, as does the fiery trombonist in the Drummond style, Chris "Squantch" Sears. Their simpatico is richly evident on their cover of the Lee Perry-Bob Marley tune "Duppy Conqueror." Tough to translate Lee Perry's weirdness into concise and creative jazz solos, but these guys do exactly that. The exactingly tight rhythm section of percussionists Eddie Ocampo and Larry McDonald and bassist Sheldon Gregg create a sturdy foundation for the horn men, while guitarist David Hahn and keyboardist Vic Ruggiero fill the gaps when the horns aren't blazingly caryying the tunes.
The 11 tunes filling this hour-long recording cover a huge range of musical styles. "Baby" sounds like a ska romp worthy of the original incarnation of the Skatatlites. "Far East" sounds like a "free jazz" improvisation on the exotic theme of Duke Ellington's "Caravan". "Percussion Procession" has a bit of a Count Ossie "Grounation" groove going on. There's not a dull moment, and the band sounds like they loved every minute in the studio.
Musical revolutionaries, like their political counterparts, depend on audacious assertions of independence from the status quo. After hearing countless ska and reggae bands content to relive those glorious days of yesteryear, how refreshing to hear this band dare to blaze and blare their way to the future. Would that all revolutions sounded this fresh. -Norma Weinstein 06/01/03
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