Mittoo, Jackie – The Keyboard King at Studio One [2xLP IMPORT] – New LP

Soul Jazz Records’ seminal 2xLP release “Jackie Mittoo – The Keyboard King at Studio One” is now available in a classic black vinyl pressing plus download code. Jackie Mittoo is one of the defining figureheads of reggae music! From forming The Skatalites, at age 15, alongside Don Drummond, Roland Alphonso, Tommy McCook and others, to his work as writer, arranger, producer at Studio One records during the sixties, writing and playing for artists such as Alton Ellis, Ken Boothe, Marcia Griffiths and The Heptones (to name a few), to his career as a solo artist as well as leader of bands such as The Soul Brothers, Soul Vendors and The Sound Dimension, Jackie Mittoo is at the heart of reggae music. He was one of the instigators of Ska, Rocksteady and Reggae. In the seventies, DJ music and Dancehall were based upon classic rhythms of the sixties, many using the instrumental tracks that Jackie Mittoo created at Studio One at this time. This compilation features the work of Jackie Mittoo at Studio One. It features music recorded as a solo artist (as opposed to the numerous singers that he accompanied). Most of these are taken from his recordings in the mid-sixties where he was recording on an almost daily basis at Studio One's Brentford Road studios, developing the funky reggae sound that was his trademark. Jackie Mittoo is as much an icon of Reggae as he is to fans of Funk music. He is without doubt the funkiest keyboard player ever to come out of Jamaica! Reviews: " The coolest man who ever lived" THE GUARDIAN ***** | “Named by MOJO as one of the 100 cult heroes of all time, this is a lovingly curated compilation" THE INDEPENDENT

 

 

Jackie was born March 3rd 1948 in Brown's Town, in the Parish of St. Ann, Jamaica and died December 16th 1990 at Wellesley Hospital, Toronto, Canada. He first began playing professionally at the age of thirteen with various bands such as The Rivals and The Sheiks and it was around this time that he started hanging out at Federal Studios and playing with the cream of Jamaican's musicians who from June, 1964 would become known as the Skatalites. In 1959 Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd was recording artists at Federal Studios when he came into contact with Jackie Mittoo. Dodd was so impressed that he asked Jackie to run the sessions at his new studio at 13 Brentford Road in Kingston when it opened in 1963. Mittoo and Dodd recorded thousands of tunes throughout the Sixties. When The Skatalites split Dodd formed a new studio band The Soul Brothers under Roland Alphonso's direction, Alphonso was responsible for the horn arrangements whilst Jackie wrote the music. Jackie went on to lead the session musicians changing their name to The Soul Vendors and later to Sound Dimension. Jackie wasn't just the leader he was a creator as well, giving the bass player his lines, writing the chords for the guitarist, playing keyboards himself as well as arranging the recordings. The artists recorded during this period included Ken Boothe, Bob Andy, Alton Ellis, The Wailers, The Heptones, Marcia Griffiths, John Holt, Slim Smith, Delroy Wilson and many, many others as well as recording superb instrumental music. This body of music is not only the foundation of reggae, constantly being covered and versioned, but an incredible artistic and creative achievement in it's own right.