Duff Guide to Ska Bullet Points: Vin Gordon, Park Rangers

(Reviews by Steve Shafer)

• Despite having been Studio One's trombonist-in-residence following the tragic death of Don Drummond, and performing on hundreds of key recordings for top ska and reggae acts (including Lee "Scratch" Perry, Bob Marley, Burning Spear, The Heptones, The Ethiopians, Culture, Big Youth, Horace Andy, Mad Professor, Mighty Diamonds, Bob Andy, Keith Hudson, Augustus Pablo, Max Romeo, King Tubby, The Skatalites, Tommy McCook and the Supersonics, Alton Ellis, The Revolutionaries, Aswad, and many more), Vin Gordon's public profile has never quite matched that of his peers Drummond and Rico Rodriquez (he's only mentioned a few times in Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton's Reggae The Rough Guide and Colin Larkin's The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae for playing on other people's records--and doesn't even have his own entry in either book; while Gordon's nickname "Don D., Jr." is meant to be complimentary, perhaps it has kept him trapped in Drummond's shadow). Many ska and reggae fans know his trombone sound, but not his name. Recent collaborations with producers/musicians Al Breadwinner and Nat Birchall--including last year's superb African Shores (read my review of it)--have helped to rectify this situation, and Studio 16's reissue of Vin Gordon's masterful 1980 debut album Way Over Yonder (vinyl LP, Studio 16) should seal the deal. Produced by Errol "ET" Thompson (who also was the recording engineer on much of Rico's Rico Jama a few years later), backed by a fantastic band including Lloyd Parks, Sly Dunbar, Winston Wright, Bobby Ellis, and Tommy McCook, and released on Joe Gibbs Music, Way Over Yonder is a brilliant instrumental reggae album that makes judicious use of solos to show off Gordon's incredible chops without overpowering his bandmates' excellent performances. In addition to Jamaican jazz versions of standards like "Easy Living" and Lovable You," this album features two amazing medleys, "Fiddler Rock" (AKA the "Swing Easy" riddim, which is the song "Tradition" from Fiddler on the Roof) with "Real Rock" (Gordon plays on the original Sound Dimension riddim; ET adds some ocean wave effects that work quite well); and the standards "Summer Time" and "Blue Moon." Gordon also covers one of Don Drummond's greatest compositions "Green Callie" (AKA "Green Island"), as well as his "Confucious"--and there's a lovely original by Errol Thompson, the title track "Way Over Yonder." This album has been out of print for years--original pressings are almost impossible to find, so make sure to grab a copy now. Gordon's Way Over Yonder deserves an honored spot in your collection right next to Rico's Rico Jama and Drummond's The Best of Don Drummond. 

• Anyone who picked up Little Roy's Battle for Seattle--an album of phenomenal roots reggae Nirvana covers produced by Prince Fatty and Mutant Hi-Fi (read my review of it)--knows that since Kurt Cobain and co's songs contain great, enduring melodies at their core, they're ripe for being recast within wildly different musical genres. Japan's Park Rangers' new single "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (vinyl single, Parktone Records, 2020; available through Juno Records), which Little Roy didn't cover, is a terrific companion piece to Roy's LP for fans who want more of this. Park Rangers' skinhead reggae version of this grunge-pop staple channels Jackie Mittoo and Winston Wright--so much so that you'd think that the copyright on the label is dated 1969. The flip side is a stripped down reggae take on Kool and the Gang's 1974 hit instrumental "Summer Madness" (one of the most sampled R and B hits of all time) that keeps the original's signature synth washes and multi-octave upward glissandi. There are cool Japanese spoken word bits in the mix, too. On a related note, in 2016 Park Rangers (AKA Inokasira Rangers) released an awesome digital album full of instrumental skinhead reggae covers of classic punk and post-punk cuts called Rangers Patrol 1977​~​1982 UK! Highlights include their versions of The Clash's "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais," Dexys Midnight Runners' "Geno," The Undertones' "Teenage Kicks," The Buzzcocks' "What Do I Get," Ian Dury and the Blockheads' "Sex and Drugs and Rock'n'Roll," The Jams' "The Bitterest Pill," and their extraordinary deconstructed cover of The Damned's "Neat Neat Neat," which is Prince Buster meets James Brown and The Upsetters.

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Duff Guide to Ska: Year of Reviews--2019--Part IV: Vin Gordon

(Review by Steve Shafer)

While Don Drummond and Rico Rodriguez may be more familiar to ska and reggae fans than Vin Gordon (AKA Don D., Jr.), there's no doubt that they've heard Gordon's trombone playing, as he's performed on hundreds of crucial ska, rocksteady, and reggae recordings (that's him on the foundational "Real Rock" riddim with Sound Dimension) and helped establish the classic and enduring Jamaican ska and reggae trombone sound, along with Don Drummond and Rico Rodriguez, who were fellow alum of Kingston, JA's Alpha Boys School's music program under bandmaster Lennie Hibbert. (Gordon's Discogs entry is over 20 pages and includes his work on classic releases for just about every significant reggae artist you can imagine, including Lee "Scratch" Perry (he both performs and has writing credits on Scratch's latest albums, Rainford and Heavy Rain), Bob Marley, Burning Spear, Aswad, Coxsone Dodd (he was Studio One's main trombonist), The Heptones, The Ethiopians, Culture, Big Youth, Horace Andy, Mad Professor, Mighty Diamonds, Bob Andy, Keith Hudson, Augustus Pablo, Max Romeo, King Tubby, The Skatalites, Tommy McCook and the Supersonics, Alton Ellis, The Revolutionaries, and many more--he even recorded a ska LP during the 2 Tone era, which I picked up in the late '80s). Having said that, the number of albums released under Gordon's own name are relatively few, given his talents and the scope of his career.

UK reggae producers/musicians Al Breadwinner and Nat Birchall (a celebrated jazz performer in his own right) had this in mind as they were planning their next Sounds Almighty album of roots reggae instrumentals with Gordon--and decided to turn it into a full-on Vin Gordon album instead. What's wild is how this record came together. Birchall composed the instrumentals for the album, and then he and Breadwinner recorded the rhythm tracks (Birchall on bass, piano, percussion and Breadwinner on drums/percussion, guitar, organ, and piano). Then Vin Gordon joined them in their analogue studio, listened to each cut a few times and came up with his horn lines on the spot (in old school Studio One fashion), which were then recorded in a day--and the horn melodies were added later by David Fullwood (trumpet), Stally (bari sax), and Birchall (tenor sax). The result, Vin Gordon's African Shores (LP/CD/digital, Tradition Disc, 2019), is a phenomenally good and moody roots album that's similar in sound and vibe to King Tubby's and Lee "Scratch" Perry's mid-'70s output--and showcases Gordon's virtuoso, improvisational playing floating over razor sharp riddims. All of these tracks are relatively spare and uncluttered--allowing for ample space between the notes--and feature almost hypnotic bass lines and beats. The majestic "African Shore" and its "Gold Coast Dub" evoke unending, wide screen coastlines of an extraordinary continent that is the ancestral home for the African diaspora and whose resources, natural and human, were wickedly exploited by white Europeans. "Styler Man" is a ringer for a classic Skatalites tune ("Dubbing Style" is its pair), while "Spill Over" is funky reggae like Jackie Mittoo used to do. I have no idea what the mysterious "Gusum Peck" refers to (its companion "Voodoo Man in Dub" suggests something to do with syncretic religion), but it sounds fantastic, in all senses of that word. Like its title suggests, "Sa La Vie" features a gorgeous, laid-back, "come-what-will" melody (and pace) that's the perfect closer to an album that somehow frees the listener to slow down and experience whatever feelings, memories, or dreams this set of songs conjures up whenever they're played. Here's hoping that Birchall and Breadwinner keep on collaborating with Vin Gordon and showcasing the exceptional talents of this true legend of ska and reggae.

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