Below the Bassline in Bloomington, MN

Below the Bassline
is a successfully smooth integration of
traditional
reggae
and
jazz
: two music forms that may not immediately spring to mind when contemplating the flawless mixture of music styles. However, the collective featured in this album -- and
Ranglin
(a
ska
rhythm innovator) is a chief among them -- plays 55 minutes of island tree-swaying, soul-backed precision.
Ira Coleman
's bass playing is not the focus of this album, even though the title seems to suggest so. Nor does the focus of this album fall upon the popular
funk
fusion
(and yes, even
disco
) drummer
Idris Muhammad
. In fact, there is only one brief drum solo by
Muhammad
on
, and it is the first thing you hear.
opens up
"Congo Man Chant"
with a snare-laden solo whose rhythm quickly involves
Coleman
, who collaborate to play eight bars of a rapid but laid-back bassline.
Monty Alexander
jumps in with the piano and brings
Ernest
along with him as they determine what ends up being the refrain for a moving piano solo sandwiched between two adept
solos. There are two
rhythm selections on this album,
"Ball of Fire,"
on which
Roland Alphonso
plays saxophone, and
"Bourbon Street Skank,"
which features some of
's most dexterous playing (also heard on
"Nana's Chalk Pipe"
). The title track is immediately identifiable as
, with its organ stabs on the down side of the beat,
's gentle but consistent treatment of the hi-hats,
's lyrical playing on the guitar, and the overall slow, relaxed tempo and feel of the tune. It is an accurate capsule of
, another testament to the skill of the legendary
Ernest Ranglin
and the other musicians featured here. ~ Qa'id Jacobs