A small family tree of Jamaican music takes us from modern electronic dancehall through ska, rocksteady and reggae to mento. This music originated - in a nutshell - when Caribbean music and American jazz met. The result: Calypso's Jamaican sister. This compilation by the legendary label Trojan Records provides an overview of what mento was released between the late 1950s and mid-1960s (Trojan Records
… itself was only founded in 1968). Besides the fact that you can still enjoy dancing the Limbo to it, it also gives a nice picture of the development of Jamaican music. Because in Shame And Scandal doesn't all the ska that would emerge around that time sound through? And how does that cumbia suddenly enter the song Hard Times? And what would Big Bamboo stand for? (MH)more
