The visionary musician and record producer Augustus Pablo made some of the most unique and individual recordings in the history of reggae.
He began recording as a session keyboardist as the 60s gave way to the 70s, but everything changed when a school-friend introduced him to the melodica, a small plastic keyboard operated by a mouthpiece, which he used on seminal recordings for producer Herman Chin-Loy. During the early 1970s, Pablo crafted melodica instrumentals for all of the leading reggae producers, scoring ‘best instrumental’ for ‘Java’ in 1973.
This multifaceted compilation, first issued on Bunny Lee’s Attack label in 2005, compiles memorable melodica interpretations of some of Lee’s greatest productions, recorded over dub cuts of immortal numbers such as Cornell Campbell’s ‘Queen of the Minstrel’ and John Holt’s ‘My Desire’.