Out of Many, One Music! Songs That Shaped Jamaica

The three-CD set Out of Many, One Music! follows the earlier It's Jamaica Jump Blues Time! and Feel So Fine:The Birth of Jamaican Ska. Whereas they had focused closely on reggae's direct precursors, this 81-track release is more free-form, supplying classic doo-wop, country, R&B, jazz, easy listening and blues from 1902 to the 50s, which may or may not have influenced the likes of Jamaican supremos Duke Reid and Coxson Dodd, who had started the ‘blues’, or ‘sound’, tradition in 50s Kingston.

What is clear however, although hardly a surprise, is the parity between the delicious vocal arrangements on doo-wop classics like ‘Prisoner of Love’ by The Ink Spots and The Spaniels ‘You Gave Me Peace of Mind’ and early reggae units such as The Maytals and The Wailers. However, it is hard to see how aspiring JA producers would necessarily have got wind of Latin names such as Xavier Cugat, featured on the first CD, or Britain's Lonnie Donegan, who crops up on the third.

You cannot doubt the profusion of golden era chestnuts sourced on Out of Many, One Music!, but a listener is bound to ask: why this rotation and why this particular selection? The lack of specific connections to Jamaican sound systems, producers or noted artists makes this selection context-free, although it certainly has some wistful listening value. Indeed, you may find yourself considering not so much the connections but the gulfs as vintage Jamaican music in time chalked out its own undoubtedly original stylistic trademarks.