Ossie Scott/The Moonlighters - Memories Vol 4 ; Taurus - Musicism Vinyl LPl

 



Ossie Scott and the Moonlighters - Memories Volume 4 ; Taurus Musicism - Undated Canadian Vinyl LP

This is a recent addition to my vinyl collection and something I'm very happy to have.

Ossie Scott was a Jamaican sax player, working mainly in the fields of jazz and reggae. 

He apparently began his career playing big band jazz before joining Byron Lee and the Dragonnaires. This was the springboard for a solo career with he combined with work as a busy session musician.

The Memories series of LPs is something of an enigma. The plan seems to have been to issue 12 albums, each named, for no obvious reason, after a different sign of the zodiac.

The Moonlighters was a collective name for a group of Jamaican session musicians. While Ossie and the Moonlighters all had impeccable reggae credentials, the Memories albums that I have heard are firmly entrenched in the world of jazz. 

This is probably my favourite of the Memories albums so far (I have two others), partly because some of the tunes covered are very familiar to me (Blueberry Hill; CC Rider; Since I Met You Baby; One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer).

While Ossie does not appear on every track, this allows some of the others to expand  their role, most notably guitarist Lennox Gordon. 

The keyboard players are brothers Harold and Leslie Butler, Tyrone Downie and Freddy Butler. Bass players are Mikey Chung and Dalton Brownie, and the drummers are Junior Douglas and Nelson Miller.

All are clearly very comfortable playing jazz, and I would suspect most were very familiar with the songs in question long before the album was recorded. 

The music does not attempt to push the boundaries or engage in musical experimentation, neither does it look back to the early days of jazz. It is not easy listening, but it is certainly not uneasy listening !

 Albums made up entirely of instrumentals are not for everyone, but I would recommend this to anyone with jazzy ears.









Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gerald Verner - The Grim Joker (Kindle Edition)

Image
  Gerald Verner - The Grim Joker - Kindle Edition  Robert Budd Mystery Number 1 Gerald Verner was one of a number of pen-names used by John Robert Stuart Pringle (31 Jan 1897-16 Sep 1980). Other names used by the multipseudonymous Mr Pringle include Derwent Steele, Donald Stuart and Nigel Vane. First published in 1936, this is the first of quite a lengthy series of books featuring central character Supt Robert Budd.  I would say it is intelligently plotted, written in an engaging style and is likely to satisfy all but the most demanding of afficionados of detective fiction of that era.  Budd is an interesting and, mostly, engaging character. Known as `Rosebud` by his subordinates due to his interest in gardening, he is obese and cultivates a sleepy demeanour which hides an incisive mind.  His tendency to be abrasively rude to any Officer who he perceives as negligent, even when this does not seem to actually be the case, will not sit well with the modern reader ...
Read more

Ghost Sign - Neville`s Garage - Nottinghamshire - North Notts

Image
This ghost sign appears on the side of a private house on the road between Langley Mill and Eastwood (North Nottinghamshire).  It`s size and position means it is very apparent to motorist driving along that road, but sadly it`s not so easy to get a decent picture of it. As you might be able to tell, it advertises a business called Nevilles` Garage, which it describes as being, IIRC, a mile further along the road.  I`ve only come across one other photo of it, which was posted on Flickr by someone called Claire, who had the good sense to take her shot from the other side of the road at a time when there was little traffic about.  It is captioned `Neville`s Garage, Eastwood` . It would be interesting to know whether the eponymous Neville lived there at some point and saw a chance to plug his business, or whether he perhaps paid someone to have his sign on the outside of their home.  If anyone knows, get in touch. 
Read more