Ethiopian & His All Stars • The Return of Jack Sparrow
 ometimes, after a long day of
rat-race scrambling and doomsday scrolling, when even a stiff drink won’t take the
edge off, just the right LP can turn a frown into a satisfied grin. I can’t think of
a better way to generate a much-needed flush of oxytocin than dropping the stylus on The
Return of Jack Sparrow by Ethiopian & His All Stars. Pulsing with generous bass,
vividly recorded syncopation and intricately arranged instrumentation, this ska and
rock-steady session by influential reggae pioneer Leonard Dillon is even more remarkable
when you learn that the tapes had been languishing on a shelf since 1992, due to
record-label financial woes.
Thanks to the considerable efforts of Grammy-winning producer Cheryl Pawelski and reggae historian Leroy Jodie Pierson at Omnivore Recordings, American reggae fans can now hear for the first time on vinyl what their counterparts in the UK have known for decades: Leonard Dillon, aka the Ethiopian, was a musical heavyweight whose compositions and singing deserve far greater recognition. Dillon’s plaintive tenor began to emerge on the Jamaican music scene in the early 1960s under the stage name Jack Sparrow. His career really took off when he attracted the attention of Peter Tosh, who introduced him to Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, both of whom sang backup on several of Dillon’s celebrated Studio One tracks produced by the fabled Kingston engineer Coxsone Dodd. Later, Dillon, along with his band, the Ethiopians, charted a number of major hits (“Everything Crash,” “The Whip” and “Train to Skaville”) in Jamaica and the UK during the middle and late 1960s. It only takes a few minutes of listening to Dillon’s early recordings with the Ethiopians to know where ska/punk and two-tone bands like The Beat, The Selecter and The Specials copped their riffs. From the burnished horn arrangements and upstroke guitar style to the rollicking bass and drum lines, Dillon and his band elevated the ska and rock-steady sound with a joyful exuberance and social conscience that made their recordings so infectious. Nearly 25 years after the Ethiopians’ heyday, the well-respected but now-defunct St. Louis-based Nighthawk label made it their mission to revive interest in Dillon’s work with The Return of Jack Sparrow. Nighthawk’s co-founder and the album’s original producer Robert Schoenfeld wanted to capture Dillon’s magic while his voice and skills were still strong. In order to match Dillon’s talent, Schoenfeld managed to corral a murderer’s row of top Jamaican session aces formerly known as Beverley’s All Stars, whose work can be heard on dozens of '60s hits by artists such as Desmond Dekker, Derrick Morgan and the Itals. First among those outstanding players was Trinidadian guitarist Lyn Taitt, whose rapid-fire arpeggios energize cuts like “Straight on Rastafari” and lend intricacy and depth to the album’s slower jams, such as “Take Over Version.” Taitt’s plectrum work is matched by the bass-fretboard magic of ska session legend Jackie Jackson. The elegant interplay between Jackson and Taitt on Dillon’s bittersweet breakup song “Your Promise” makes it one of the album’s most addictive tracks. The solid timing of drummer Winston Grennan and rhythm foundation of Hux Brown ensure that every cut reaches a consistently satisfying dance-floor groove. In addition to the great unreleased music and Leroy Jodie Pierson’s well-written liner notes, discriminating listeners will enjoy an additional sonic surprise. Schoenfeld’s recording of The Return of Jack Sparrow sounds like it was made during the analog glory days of the 1970s, exhibiting none of the dynamic compression and thin, one-dimensional presentation so typical of late-'80s and early-'90s pop records. This LP was mastered by Jeff Powell of Nashville’s Take Out Vinyl, whose signature appears in the dead wax of hundreds of outstanding vinyl releases, including the rest of Omnivore’s Nighthawk series. Powell’s excellent lacquer cut, executed with his own meticulously dialed-in Neumann VMS 70 lathe, and the flat 150-gram IRP pressing mean that this is the kind of vinyl that opens up big and doesn’t skimp on bottom-end frequencies. This has become one of the most consistently satisfying
reggae albums in my collection. It stands tall next to a number of discs by Toots and the
Maytals, Peter Tosh, and Bob Marley himself. If you're looking to freshen up the
Rastafarian section of your vinyl collection, Omnivore’s The Return of Jack
Sparrow is a solid bet and a record that inspires deeper dives into this rich and
rewarding musical tradition. |
