No matter how advanced drum machine technology gets, reggae at its most genuine will always be characterized by at least one core element: a real live flesh-and-blood drums and bass team. Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare have been called the greatest such team in reggae, while their skills have carried them well beyond the reggae realm. It seems forever that they’ve been identified as a duo, but they’d both honed their respective chops prior to their first mid-’70s teaming. Dunbar had expanded the parameters of reggae drumming in sessions at Channel One studio. Shakespeare’s resume included work with Jack Ruby’s Black Disciples. After hearing and quickly coming to appreciate each other’s playing, they cemented a partnership that’s been 30 years long and is still strong.
Sly and Robbie’s near-perfect steadiness is embellished by their own characteristic touches, including Shakespeare’s subtly penetrating tones at key rhythmic moments and Dunbar’s on-and-off-the-beat [...]
Original post by Bonita Jamaica and software by Elliott Back
Syndicated for and Jamaica Tours