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█░▒▒█ Real Kings & Soldiers Presents █▒▒░█
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▄██▀█▌ Artist : Monty Alexander Ft Ernest Ranglin ▐█▀██▄
▐█▀░░▐▌ Title : Rocksteady ▐▌░░▀█▌
█▓░▒▒▓▌ Label : Telarc ▐▓▒▒░▓█
▐█▓▒▒▓▌ Genre : Reggae ▐▓▒▒▓█▌
▐█▓▒▓▌ Str.date : 00/00/2004 ▐▓▒▓█▌
▐█▒▓▌ Rip.date : 01/12/2005 ▐▓▒█▌
▐▓▓▌ Source : CD ▐▓▓▌
▐█▒▓▌ Supplier : Real Kings & Soldiers Family ▐▓▒█▌
▐█▓▒▓▌ Encoder : LAME ▐▓▒▓█▌
▐█▓▒▒▓▌ Duration : 57:38 ▐▓▒▒▓█▌
█▓░▒▒▓▌ Tracks : 12 ▐▓▒▒░▓█
▐█▄░▒▓▌ Quality : 44100Hz, Joint Stereo (VBR) ▐▓▒░▄█▌
▀██▒█▌ Size : 82.9 Mb ▐█▒██▀
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▐█▓██▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▄▌ Track List ▐▄▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀██▓█▌
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▐▒▌ Tr Track Title Time ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ 1 Monty Alexander Ft Ernest Ranglin - Double Barrel 4:55 ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ 2 Monty Alexander Ft Ernest Ranglin - Confucius 4:44 ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ 3 Monty Alexander Ft Ernest Ranglin - Stalag 17 4:25 ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ 4 Monty Alexander Ft Ernest Ranglin - Marcus Garvey 4:33 ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ 5 Monty Alexander Ft Ernest Ranglin - Nightwork 5:21 ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ 6 Monty Alexander Ft Ernest Ranglin - East Of The 5:15 ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ River Nile ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ 7 Monty Alexander Ft Ernest Ranglin - Israelites 4:16 ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ 8 Monty Alexander Ft Ernest Ranglin - Row Fisherman 4:52 ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ 9 Monty Alexander Ft Ernest Ranglin - Freedom Street 4:37 ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ 10 Monty Alexander Ft Ernest Ranglin - Pressure Drop 4:56 ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ 11 Monty Alexander Ft Ernest Ranglin - At The Feast 5:42 ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ 12 Monty Alexander Ft Ernest Ranglin - Redemption Song 3:55 ▐▒▌
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██▓██▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▄▌ Release Notes ▐▄▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀██▓██
▐▓█▀ ▀▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▀ ▀█▓▌
▐▒▌ ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Internally Already Described As Treasure... ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Now For You To Decide... ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Enjoy This Wikkid Release! ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ By grafting the traditions of American jazz to his ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ authentic Jamaican roots, pianist Monty Alexander has spent ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ a lifetime exploring the rich depths of musical and cultural ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ diversity. In a career that spans more than four decades, he ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ has performed and/or recorded with artists from every corner ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ of the musical universe: Frank Sinatra, Ray Brown, Dizzy ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Quincy Jones, Ernest Ranglin, Sly ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare and many more. ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Through it all, he continues to draw inspiration from the ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ great icons of American music and popular culture. "All ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ these people came from struggling circumstances, " he says. ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ "They didn't go to music school. They came from the street. ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Nat Cole, Sinatra, Louis Armstrong - they all had to hustle ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ to get where they got. It's that story of people who can ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ grow up in America or come to America and achieve something ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ just because they have this great attitude and they have the ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ talent to go with it, and they reach for something and they ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ get it." ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ In many ways, Alexander has lived that same story. Born and ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ raised in Kingston, Jamaica, he took his first piano lessons ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ at age six. As a youngster, he was often invited to sit in ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ with the bands of prominent musicians working in Jamaican ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ nightclubs and hotels. During his teen years, he enjoyed, ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ among others, the performances of Louis Armstrong and Nat ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ "King" Cole at the Carib Theater in Jamaica . The shades of ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ joyful gospel music in these artists' performances had a ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ profound and lasting effect on Alexander's own style. He ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ eventually formed a band called "Monty and the Cyclones, " ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ which landed several songs on the Jamaican music charts ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ between 1958 to 1960. ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Alexander came to the United States in the end of 1961. Less ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ than two years later, he'd landed a gig with Art Mooney's ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ orchestra in Las Vegas, where he caught the eye of New York ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ City club owner Jilly Rizzo and his friend, Frank Sinatra. ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Rizzo hired the young pianist to work in his club, where he ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ accompanied many well-known performers, including Sinatra. ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ He also met Milt Jackson, who hired Monty to work with him, ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ and eventually introduced him to bassist Ray Brown (with ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ whom he subsequently recorded and performed on many ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ occasions). One introduction led to another, and before long ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ he was working with Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, and Sonny ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Rollins. ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ In the past decade alone, Alexander has maintained an ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ especially busy schedule with multiple projects spanning ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ multiple genres and styles. In 1991, he assisted Natalie ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Cole in crafting a tribute album to her father, Nat "King" ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Cole (the album, Unforgettable, won seven Grammy awards). In ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ 1993, he had performed at Carnegie Hall in a tribute to the ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ great jazz pianist Erroll Garner. ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ A regular fixture at the Montreux Jazz Festival since 1976, ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ he performed at the Swiss festival in 1993 and 1994 with ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ opera singer Barbara Hendricks in a program of Duke ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Ellington compositions. He was back in Montreux in 1995, ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ this time with his all-Jamaican reggae group where he ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ recorded a live album for Island Records, Yard Movement . ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ In August 1996, Alexander performed George Gershwin's ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ "Rhapsody in Blue" with a full symphony orchestra directed ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ by Bobby McFerrin at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland . ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ By the end of that same year, he had recorded nearly sixty ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ CDs under his own name, and was frequently performing at ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ leading festivals and music venues worldwide. ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Alexander joined the Telarc label with the 1999 release of ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Stir It Up, an album that combined acoustic jazz and ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Jamaican reggae rhythm sections to interpret the music of ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ the great Bob Marley. He was joined in he studio by the ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Jamaican reggae rhythm section known as Gumption. Gumption ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ interfaced rhythmically with the jazz rhythm section, which ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ included drummer Troy Davis and bassist Hassan Shakur. ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Telarc labelmate Steve Turre guested on trombone and conch ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ shells. ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Stir It Up marked the beginning of a prolific period for ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Alexander on Telarc - one that continues to this day. In ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ 2000, he released Monty Meets Sly and Robbie, an album ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ featuring Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare - reggae's most ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ respected and experienced rhythm section. This summit ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ meeting of multi-talented and multi-faceted players results ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ in a vibrant combination of classic soul tunes, funky jazz ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ and hardcore grooves. ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Goin' Yard, released in 2001, was recorded live at ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Manchester Craftsmen's Guild in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Goin' Yard united Alexander with a six-piece band of Jamaica ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ 's finest musicians, including special guest hand drummer ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Robert Thomas Jr. ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Alexander's My America, released in 2002, includes guest ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ appearances by guitarist John Pizzarelli and vocalists ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Freddy Cole and Kevin Mahogany. The following year, he ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ teamed up with his jazz trio - including bassist Hassan ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Shakur and drummer Mark Taylor - for the first time in five ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ years for Impressions in Blue. The album is a celebration of ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ the bluesier side of jazz, with eleven tracks that include ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ favorites from the great American songbook, as well as few ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ selections of more exotic origin. ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Alexander revisits his roots with Rocksteady, a ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ collaborative album with reggae guitarist Ernest Ranglin ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ scheduled for release on Telarc in April 2004. The album is ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ a tribute to the ska movement that flourished in Jamaica 's ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Studio One (the island version of Motown) in the late '60s ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ and early '70s and eventually spread throughout the world. ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Rocksteady revisits a time and place in which Alexander and ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Ranglin were two young guns, loaded with talent and in the ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ midst of a sweeping musical movement. ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Separate and apart from being the best musician he can be, ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ Alexander's most important objective - whether his vehicle ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ is reggae or jazz or soul, small combo or symphony - is to ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ express the joy of music to all within earshot, regardless ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ of prevailing differences in taste or culture. "My goal is ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ to uplift, " says Alexander. "The piano, to me, is a vehicle ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ for connecting to other human beings. I'm very open to all ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ forms of music. I'm not a bebop musician, I'm not a calypso ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ musician, I'm not a reggae musician. I'm a musician who ▐▒▌
▐▒▌ loves it all. ▐▒▌
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