The Light Of Saba – The Magical Light Of Saba

Me ha volado literalmente la cabeza. No me explico cómo me llevó tanto tiempo descubrir este disco. Un tesoro todavía medio escondido.

This collection is a secret weapon and a total adventure! Mr. Cedric was a unique instrumental voice in reggae, equally influenced by the original Uptown rockers hitting it big in the first wave ska scene as the ‘new thing’ Sun Ra and Pharaoh Sanders were pushing in the States. But simply saying he was ‘influenced by’ doesn’t properly disclose the fact that he was a respective member of those scenes—and then some. He played with everybody. Coxsone Dodd and the Studio One boys, Baba Brooks, Ernest Ranglin, Leon Thomas, Jackie Mittoo, Philly jazz heads, and a host of rhumba/Afro-Cuban players from across the Caribbean. He studied under Olatunji and learned how to do BIG drums in a way none of the roots rockers were doing at that time or since. Legends, all.

He saw the way Sun Ra and Fela Kuti put together these live-in collectives and made music that was communal rather than egotistical; capable of transmuting messages from across the oceans and even beyond our earthly realm. So he went back to Jamaica and started his own little Arkestra. A lot of the recordings on this album came from that. And you can feel it! Enormous energy! Powerful riddims! Some of the baddest tunes and some of the heaviest percussion you’re liable to hear on any reggae album. If you're familiar with the ‘holy grail’ status of this group (their self-titled LP ebay’d for a cool $600 as recently as 2012), let me tell you that it is well-founded. Punching ska, pumping dub, sensual rocksteady, spiritual Rastafarian divinations, and quick-footed jazzforms can all be found here. The Honest Jon’s reissue is probably the closest I’ll get to the real thing, but no worries here, as the package is a beaut and the sound is heroic. Big ups!

-Euphonics

Cedric Im Brooks* & The Light Of Saba ‎– The Magical Light Of Saba, truly magical indeed