Roots mp3s: Jimmy Cliff & Joe Higgs Live in '75
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Projo Subterranean Homepage NewsBottom-up journalism from the pros: News, tech and culture by Sheila Lennon |
Jimmy Cliff & Joe Higgs, Live in Ann Arbor, Mich., Nov 11, 1975, from BigO, Singapore. Jimmy Cliff calls Joe Higgs, the "Father of Reggae." According to Higgs' website (www.joehiggs.com), Higgs was hugely influential in the birth of ska, rock steady and reggae forms of Jamaican music, and was widely respected as a composer, arranger, and performer, but perhaps most of all as a teacher. Among those he tutored were Bob Marley, Derrick Harriott, Peter Tosh, Bob Andy, The Wailing Souls and Bunny Wailer. The first disc starts with the five minute Drum Song, a sweet jazzy warmup that says "We're starting, people..." and sets the tone for a concert that feels as laid back as Jamaica. It's not the best recording -- Higgs is poorly miked on his first tune -- but there's a kindness throughout, with gentle percussion and Cliff's voice young and clear. A soulful, nearly nine-minute Many Rivers Too Cross is a highlight, as is the more upbeat Going Mad. The second set will be available Saturday. Jimmy Cliff holds a sweet spot in my own history: I wrote a review of the movie The Harder They Come in 1978 for the very first issue of The NewPaper, which you may now know as The Providence Phoenix. |
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