This is the debut release from the Amerijah production company and was recorded at the legendary Tuff Gong studios in Kingston.

Sandra ‘Miss Sanju’ Morton is the lady behind this release, having wrote, arranged and produced all the tracks on the album. Accompanying her are Ian ‘Beezy’ Coleman, Wilburn ‘Squidly’ Cole, Uzziah ‘Sticky’ Thompson and the legendary saxophonist Dean Fraser, who I understand is featured on every track playing piano, keyboards and also percussion. Also featured are two up-and-coming Jamaican artists, singer Loxy Odessy and DJ I Priest.

The album opens with arguably its best cut, ‘Dove Wing Rhythm’, which features a wonderful musical ‘conversation’ between trombone and guitar, over a bouncy, mellow yet uplifting riddim. From here you get several versions of the ‘Dove Wing Rhythm’. Next is a vocal track entitled ‘Leads to Treasure Beach’ sung by Loxy Odessy. Unfortunately I am unable to fully appreciate his vocal style, no matter how many times I spin the tune I’m left with the impression that his signing somewhat lacks and requires a degree of fine tuning. ‘Love Fada God’ follows featuring I-Priest who sings in the ‘sing-jay’ style. This is a pleasant cut, the mellow riddim complementing the slightly rougher vocal style. Two more Dove Wing Rhythms follow one featuring Loxy Odessy and the other featuring Miss Sanji herself.

The album then takes an ‘interesting’ turn with the song ‘Disease’ and a set of different tunes on the ‘Learn to Love Rhythm’. The opening of this riddim will have you wanting more, with a rock style guitar build up and a jazzy sounding sax, however it all seems to go a little wrong from here on in. The rock influence begins to take the forefront with all the ‘Learn to Love Rhythm’ tracks building to a horrible cheesy 80’s European rock style chorus, with high pitched screaming guitar solos. I understand the need to experiment and re-invent but this just doesn’t work on any level.

Several other Riddims follow, with the ‘Brotherman Rhythm’ being a more traditional reggae style with gospel and soul influences. An interesting and entertaining cut is ‘Ska Bada’ a highly original track which makes fantastic use of the accordion. This is followed by one of my favorite tracks ‘Crocodile’ featuring I-Priest, who showcases some of his best vocal skills. This has a real South American flavour, a wicked carnival tune which will have you dancing. This track blends into ‘In the Land of Jamaica’ with the same up-tempo carnival riddim entitled ‘JA Rhythm’. The album ends with a version of this superb riddim.

I’ve listened to the release many times in an attempt to fully understand its concept and it would seem that its intention is to blend or re-invent reggae with more contemporary influences. On some levels it works, on others it doesn’t. Disappointingly, many of the tracks are very ‘bass-light’ and several are simply wishy washy.

There are many influences on this release; American, European and South American. However on too many occasions these influences saturate the music and leave you wanting.

Review by Jumpup

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