Modern Answers to Old Problems

Modern Answers to Old ProblemsErnest Ranglin must be the most under rated guitarist in modern music. I don't recall having seen his name in any lists of top 100 axe slayers which inevitably include the usual pomp of posturing pluckers. Tell me, how would strummer Liam Gallagher make any list of top 100 guitarists? Well he has I kid you not!Yet Ranglin's skill is astounding, and has been so for decades. Reputedly Les Paul gave Ranglin a guitar in admiration of his talents - and Les appears on those lists! Legend also has it that when Ranglin asked to play at the famous Ronnie Scott's jazz club in London in the mid 60s, Ronnie assumed he would hear an instrumental of the tired old calypso hit Yellow Bird, but was so awed by Ranglin's playing that he 'sat at the feet of the master' and then made him resident guitarist. Ranglin's credentials are mighty, check Wikipedia.I have five studio albums by Ernest Ranglin. Of these I would rate two as indispensable to any well balanced music collection, these being Below The Baseline, his instrumental album of reggae hits, and In Search Of the Lost Riddim, a fabulous fusion with musicians from Senegal. My remaining three studio albums are Memories of Barber Mack, a precursor to Below The Baseline on which the reggae tracks would fit comfortably, the intriguing Alextown which mixes ambient and techno/dub sounds, hip hop with jazz and African rhythms, and this one, Modern Answers to Old Problems.Modern Answers to Old Problems is an adventurous and exciting fusion of jazz, Afro beat, ska (on the track Sound Invasion), and is tinted with techno tricks to add ambience, which I find appealing. Ernest always works with top flight musicians - eg. superb pianists Monty Alexander and Jon Williams on Baseline and Memories respectively - and here is no exception. We have Afrobeat tubman extraordinaire Tony Allen together with two Nigerian percussionists and bassist Orefo Orakwue giving the album a strong multi rhythmic dance groove. The drums are recorded to give them depth with an almost tactile sound. But the predominant genre is jazz with saxophonist Denys Baptiste and keyboards Joe Bashorun taking exploratory solos along with Ranglin's guitar glittering up and down the scales. Sax luminary Courtney Pine makes a worthy guest appearance on 'Inflight'.Vocalist Sylvia Tella's input is significant. In addition to her strong, rich and supple vocals she co-wrote five of the tracks. I thought she must have had jazz pedigree but I found that she has a pop background as a vocalist in Boney M, then moved (successfully) to Lovers Rock genre, an offshoot of reggae which has little in common with her work on this album.I note that there are currently no samples on Amazon or Amazon UK. To get a taste I suggest that the two tracks on YouTube should suffice, Outernational [sic] Incident and What A Day [which includes Sylvia's vocals]. If they don't get your body moving then... maybe this isn't for you. For me, I've had it in the car for two years and I listened to it in a mini bus through Laos - somehow it fitted my mood of the moment!

Take an old Jamaican reggae-bluesman, a troupe of African drummers, a couple of young jazz stalwarts and a gutsy female singer, mix them up with some inspired grooves, light the fuse and stand back because this is a seriously hot combination!True to its title, "Modern Answers to Old Problems" combines "acid-jazz" with "world music" to come up with some of the freshest sounds around. With more than a passing nod to Weather Report's "Black Market", each track combines Ranglin's marvellous rolling guitar playing and some of the tightest percussion work you'll ever hear with the inherently uplifting feel of African chord sequences to generate real enthusiasm & fun - a rare outcome when there is such complex inter-play around. And... if you're not already into Ernest Ranglin's unique form of Afro/jazz/hip-hop/blues, well, as my son said when he gave me this superb record, "you will be".

If you are an avid Ranglin fan, I think you'll find his latest album to be disappointing. The previous albums, "In search of the lost riddim," "Below the baseline" and "Memories of Barber Mack," are ingenious light-hearted attempts to mix African/Jazz/Reggae and produce some sweet sounds. After listening to all three of those albums, you wish there was more, so naturally, when I heard about his new one-- I was anxious to purchase it. The album, right off the start is too produced and too 'modern,' solely propelled by the wurlitzer organ, which in my opinion is a terrible addition. Get some piano in there, some Monty Alexander-- The african musicians that are listed on the packaging trick you into thinking that the album is going to be real rootsy like "In Search..." Instead there is an unecessary flood of chintzy chimes and snythisizer sounds. Even the African singing that is usually so beautiful becomes marred by synthisizer effects. There is some good here and there, specifically by way of Ranglin's great guitar playing, but otherwise the music sounds like something being pumped in a dentist's office. Get some African drum circle work in there, get the studio produced mumbo-jumbo out- Ranglin needs to find his roots once again, in the jungles of Africa.

I read about this artist in a recent "Guitar Player" magazine review and was intrigued by their comments. I LOVE the Afro-Jazz flavor! Ernest's guitar riffs complement the rhythmic bass well. The female vocalist also is a bonus. Lovers of saxophonists will find the Courtney Pine track a delight. If you are ready to experiment with a quality cd that is different from the normal jazz CDs in your collection, this will be a treat.

Sensational from start to finish, I have heard them all and this up there with best of music ever made. My hair stands on end every time I hear it. The music is fresh, vibrant and balanced in such a way - only a true master can. The band is very tight, the vocals a sublime embellishment. One of my favorites ever, don't listen to the nay sayers here - BUY IT it will stay with you forever no mater what your taste.

Put this on your CD player and it won't come off for a week.You'll stop what you are doing. Then you'll stop listening and just feel it. Then you'll play it again.