DWIGHT PINKNEY
Jamaican Memories By The Score (Abengg)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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If you've spent any time at all with reggae music over the years, you're probably familiar with Dwight Pinkney, even if you don't know who he is. Pinkney, perhaps better known as Brother Dee, has largely eschewed the spotlight in favor of a supporting role on countless recordings. As the guitarist for The Sharks, Zap-Pow, Roots Radics and Israel Vibration, he's backed virtually everyone worth knowing about since the first wave of Jamaican ska.

Brother Dee is front and center on this release, though, and with his guitar taking the role of the lead voice, he offers up new versions of some reggae classics and reggae versions of some things you might not expect. He draws on the catalogs of some of the famous names he's backed over the years, including Gregory Isaacs, Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff, tosses in a couple of his originals and wraps it up with a little skankified Elton John.

Regardless of what song he chooses to play, though, he puts a very personal stamp on the sound with his impeccably tasteful guitar lines. This is textbook stuff for anyone who wants to know what reggae guitar should sound like. Of course, if they've been listening at all, they've been listening to Dwight Pinkney all along. This time, it's with his name on the cover, and he's more than earned the honor and attention.

Track List:

Tune In * Better Must Come * Screwface * Memories By The Score * Evening Time * Left With A Broken Heart * Barbwire * Night Nurse * Cherry Oh Baby * Many Rivers * Promise Me (How Could I Live) * Dangerous Disturbances * Can I Change My Mine * Lord Deliver Us * Let Him Go * Cry Tough * Go Back Home * Morning Of My Life * El Nino * Candle In The Wind

© 2001 - Shaun Dale