Tootsmaytals

Welcome to Toots and the Maytals official website Flip & Twist” Toots latest album released features Toots singing, R&B, funk, gospel, blues and country in his own inimitable Jamaican style. Toots the inventor of the word “reggae” was voted by Rolling Stone Magazine one of the 100 Greatest Singers when you hear “Flip & Twist” you will see why.

You might think Soul Jazz are spinning it a little with the persistent run of reggae re issued all boxed into neat little categories, but this time they're onto a winner with a collection of Jamaican music influenced by the American soul explosion in the early '70s. Indeed we get 'versions' of US hits from soul and funk acts such as Betty Wright, The Temptations, Al Green, The Stylistics, Bill Withers and the JBs alongside original productions less obviously citing their influence and it's all top dollar material. Unlike the heavily compressed and EQed Motown sound that the Motor City had pioneered and was churning out on a daily basis these Jamaican adaptations of the sound took it down a notch, added some dub reggae flavour and let the mood just flow rather than hit you square in the face. The basses roll and the drums are soft and groovy - it's almost like funk music through frosted, rose-tinted glass, there's just a bit more smoke, a bit more sun and that all important passion driving the beat home. So we get funk synth lines, funk-tinged basslines, soulful vocals and horns but the overriding sound is still so intrinsically Jamaican, and if that doesn't capture your interest then I don't know what will. This might be top-down summer music, but even as the winter months draw near and the knitted jerseys are coming out there should always be room for some proper Jamaican sunshine in your life.

Together for the first time since 1998, and Moodymann's Mahogani Musiclabel no less, Sherard Ingram, Anthony Shakir, Carl Craig and Kenny Dixon Jr return with a new Urban Tribe album. In recent years the Tribe's manoeuvres have been dutifully handled by Ingram aka DJ Stingray, heading his project down the cyberjit alleys of yo' mind, but now reunited, the rabble have roused twelve tracks of sheer Detroit excellence, clearly reflecting the melancholy mood and style of their city. It's unnecessary to try and pick out who did what and where; some tracks have the distinct traits of their make.