ジャマイカ出身で、The Skatalitesの最年少メンバーとして、その後Studio Oneの音楽的屋台骨を支えた鍵盤奏者、Jackie Mittoo（1948–1990）が残した名演が集結。『Reggae Magic』は、Studio One黄金期にあたる1967〜1974年のオリジナル音源を中心に、名曲とレア音源を2枚組LPで厳選収録した作品だ。

Mittooはオルガンを主軸に、ジャズやソウル、ロックステディの要素を自在に溶け込ませた演奏でレゲエに新たな骨格を与えた人物。Studio Oneだけで数百曲に関わり、サウンドに不可欠な存在だった。『Reggae Magic』はそんな彼の才能と歴史的価値を改めて伝える。

「Melody Maker」「Ghetto Organ」「Toronto Express」などの人気曲から、The Soul VendorsやSkatalitesとの共演、さらにはErnest Ranglin参加曲まで網羅。レゲエ黎明期の創造力と豊かな音色が立ち上がる。

Soul Jazzのリリースとしては、前作『The Keyboard King At Studio One』で示された高いクオリティを踏襲するもので、Mittooの柔軟なリズム構築と芸術性に再び光をあてる一枚として仕立てられている

A1. Jackie Mittoo - Melody Maker
A2. The Soul Vendors - Full Range
A3. Jackie Mittoo - Ghetto Organ
A4. Jackie Mittoo - Toronto Express
B1. Jackie Mittoo - Black Out
B2. Jackie Mittoo - Fireball Rock
B3. Jackie Mittoo - Tropic Island
B4. Jackie Mittoo - Sure Soul
B5. Jackie Mittoo - Taste Of Soul
C1. Jackie Mittoo & Sound Dimension - Soul Stew
C2. Jackie Mittoo - Reggae Magic
C3. Jackie Mittoo & Ernest Ranglin - West Of The Sun
C4. The Skatalites - Hanging Tree
D1. Jackie Mittoo - Peenie Wallie
D2. Sound Dimension - Walk Don't Run
D3. Jackie Mittoo & The Soul Vendors - Ba Ba Boom
D4. Jackie Mittoo - Dark Of The Moon
D5. Jackie Mittoo - Full Charge

Jackie Mittoo’s ‘Reggae Magic’ is a new collection from the great Jackie Mittoo. The album features a mixture of classic tunes and rarities from the period 1967-74, when Mittoo was at the height of his musical powers.

 Mittoo’s solo career began after the end of The Skatalites in 1965. He began pushing new musical boundaries, creating a uniquely identifiable organ-led funky reggae sound that owed as much to Booker T and The MGs, Jimmy Smith, Stax and Motown as to the post-ska and emergent rocksteady island rhythms of Kingston, Jamaica.

His solo work at the legendary Studio One spanned seven albums and hundreds of singles. Aside from producer and founder Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd, it’s hard to think of anyone more central to the sound and success of Studio One than Mittoo; keyboard player extraordinaire, songwriter, arranger, musician, truly the Keyboard King at Studio One.

 Jackie Mittoo had been the youngest founding member of The Skatalites (at age 16), probably the most important group in Jamaican music. After they split, he became leader of the three pivotal groups at Studio One – The Soul Brothers, The Soul Vendors and Sound Dimension. He also became musical director for Studio One, helping create countless hits for singers Ken Boothe, Bob Andy, The Wailers, John Holt, Delroy Wilson and more – unforgettable tunes like Alton Ellis’ ‘I’m Still in Love with You’, Marcia Griffiths’ ‘Feel Like Jumping’, The Heptones’ ‘Baby Why’ and others.

Between 1965 and 1968, many of the tunes created at Studio One can be attributed to Mittoo – timeless instrumental tracks, recorded either under his own name or those of The Soul Brothers, Soul Vendors and Sound Dimension, that have become the basis for literally 1000s and 1000s of Jamaican songs over many decades, giving the music an unsurpassed longevity.

The endurance of his music was as a direct result of significant developments in Jamaican music in the 1970s, namely the creation of three important new styles: Dub, Deejay and Dancehall. In the early 1970s Mittoo’s instrumental tracks were used as the musical source for a series of classic Studio One dub albums. At the same time Deejays at Studio One, including Dillinger, Prince Jazzbo and Dennis Alcapone, began toasting over these same popular rhythms to create their own new songs.

In the mid-70s, a new generation of Studio One singers and deejays, including Sugar Minott, Freddie McGregor, Johnny Osbourne, Michigan & Smiley and others, began once again creating new melodies over these original instrumentals, signalling the birth of a new Jamaican style that became known as ‘dancehall’. As dancehall swept across the island, rival producers copied these now classic rhythms.

These original Jackie Mittoo-driven tunes spread like a virus throughout Jamaican music; be they the instrumental cuts to tunes such as Alton Ellis’ ‘Mad Mad’ , ‘I’m Just A Guy’, Larry Marshall’s ‘Mean Girl’, Slim Smith’s ‘Rougher Yet’, and instrumentals such as Mittoo’s classic ‘Hot Milk’ or ‘One Step Beyond’, The Sound Dimension’s ‘Real Rock’, ‘Heavy Rock’, ‘Full Up’, ‘Drum Song’, ‘Rockfort Rock’ … and the list goes on. These tracks became a constant soundtrack to the island, emitting from the ever-present sound of speaker boxes strung up around dancehalls.

This recycling travelled even farther afield; The Sound Dimension’s instrumental ‘Real Rock’, updated by Willie Williams on his classic ‘Armageddon Time’ was in turn covered by The Clash. Lily Allen sampled Mittoo’s debut solo single ‘Free Soul’ for number one hit ‘Smile’; Dawn Penn’s ‘You Don’t Love Me (No, No, No)’, accompanied by The Soul Vendors, was revived by Penn and producers Steely & Cleevie in 1994, since covered by Rihanna, Ghostface Killah, Stephen Marley, Damian Marley and Beyonce.

And so it goes; an endless time-leaping, continent-hopping diasporic musical map of the world with all roads essentially leading back to one man – Jackie Mittoo.