Homage to the HEROES
published:
Tuesday | July 22, 2008
One of Jamaica's and the world's most accomplished musicians, Earl 'Chinna' Smith at his home in St Andrew Park, St Andrew, on Tuesday, July 15. His credits appear on the album sleeves of more than 500 albums and he has worked with some of the biggest names in the music business. - photo by Robert Lalah
FOUR YEARS ago, Nicolas Maslowski and his business partner Roman Germa thought it would be cool to pay homage to their reggae heroes by recording them in an acoustic setting.
Their wish came through three years ago with the Inna De Yard series. It has turned out to be a sleeper hit in their native France, England and Japan where the acoustic albums have been released by the duo's Makasounds Records.
Inna De Yard is a collaboration with veteran session guitarist Earl 'Chinna' Smith. The albums have helped revive interest in the careers of roots-reggae performers like singer Kiddus-I and The Congos.
The 'unplugged' sessions, recorded at Smith's St Andrew home, have also yielded albums from Smith, Junior Murvin, Linval Thompson and The Viceroys. The most recent effort was with The Mighty Diamonds, the classic vocal trio which still has a strong reputation as a touring act.
Biggest buyers
Maslowski, 33, told The Gleaner that the albums have done well for his company in France, England and Japan. He said the biggest buyers are fans of classic roots-reggae.
"These are good songs recorded differently and some people like to re-discover songs they love, but with the same power," Maslowski told The Gleaner last week.
To date, Smith's album has sold the most, clocking 9,000 copies; next is the Kiddus-I set with just over 6,000 in sales. These are respectable numbers for music, some of which was heard only in the reggae underground 30 years ago.
The new records have done well for Kiddus-I (real name Frank Dowding), a singer-songwriter best known for his role in the 1978 low-budget film, Rockers. In the past two years, he has performed songs from his Inna De Yard set throughout Europe and the United States West Coast.
True stalwarts
Smith, who accompanied Kiddus-I on those shows, is one of reggae's true stalwarts. During the 1970s, he recorded or toured with the greats of roots-reggae including Marley, Dennis Brown, Jacob Miller and Bunny Wailer.
On August 5, he will celebrate his 53rd birthday with a live telecast via the Internet, with a concert featuring acts from the Inna De Yard series.
Maslowski and Germa started Makasounds just over six years ago. Their first release was the album Diary of The Silent Years by singer Winston McAnuff; besides Inna De Yard, the label has released albums by Derrick Harriott, Leroy Smart, The Meditations and Hugh Mundell.
Chinna and Idrens Volume II, the next of the Inna De Yard recordings, is scheduled to be released in October.
- Howard Campbell
Earl 'Chinna' Smith was once musical director for Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers. He played on the group's three Grammy-winning albums.
Junior Murvin is best known for the hit song, Police and Thieves, which made the British national charts in 1976. It was also covered by The Clash.
Linval Thompson is credited as producer for Freddie McGregor's breakthrough Big Ship album.
The Viceroys' biggest hit is Ya Ho, recorded at Channel One during the 1970s.
The Congos' Row Fisherman, produced by Lee 'Scratch' Perry, is regarded as one of reggae's great vocal performances.
