Black Uhuru: Sinsemilla

As has been related here before, a highlight concert experience for this blogger was the incredible double-bill in summer 1984 of Black Uhuru and King Sunny Ade and one of the most enduring memories was the powerful throb from the stage through the concrete floor and up into the plastic seats from the bass of the incomparable Robbie Shakespeare ("Basspeare"), who was locked in tight with his "Riddim Twins" partner, drummer Sly Dunbar ("Drumbar") as Black Uhuru showed why it was the greatest reggae act in the aftermath of Bob Marley's death a few years earlier.

Shakespeare's death three weeks ago at age 68 following kidney surgery is a huge loss, but, fortunately, his body of work over decades with the session ensembles The Revolutionaries and The Aggrovators, Black Uhuru, with Dunbar through their Taxi Productions work, and in many sessions including several with the great Peter Tosh, Bob Dylan's Infidels and other records, Culture's masterpiece Two Sevens Clash, Yoko Ono, Mick Jagger, Joan Armatrading and many others, remains to enjoy and appreciate.

Sinsemilla was released by Island Records in July 1980 and is a phenomenal record with Shakespeare and Dunbar working with singer Michael Rose to create eight tracks that are all strong.  Rose's keening vocals, socially conscious lyrics, the backing vocals of Derrick Simpson and Rose (Puma Jones didn't show for the session, so the lead singer jumped in,) the contributions of lead guitarist "Duggie" Bryan, the rhythm guitar of "Ranchie" McLean, keyboards from Ansell Collins and percussion by "Sticky" Thompson, and, of course, the brilliant work of the rhythem section are work together seamlessly for an album that retains its high quality from start to finish.

The opening tracks "Happiness" and "World is Africa," along with "No Loafing (Sit and Wonder)," and the title tracks are standouts, but, again, the cohesiveness of the album, which was carried through with the amazing follow-up, Red, previously featured on this blog, is very impressive.  Reggae is a genre that puts the rhythm section front and center and Robbie Shakespeare was virtually without peer in his long career--long may he be recognized for his stellar body of work.