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Daily articles carefully curated by the All About Jazz staff. Read our popular and future articles.
Ernest Ranglin: Surfin'

Nothing new can be said about the genius of Ernest Ranglin and the breadth of his influence on modern guitar. He's been around since the heyday of Kingston club life with combos like the Eric Deans Orchestra, through to the studio period and the countless hits he both played on and arranged (largely without credit), and on to American neo-ska outfits like Rancid that cite him as an influence. He's also joined in on reggae-jazz outings with longtime companion Monty ...
read moreErnest Ranglin: Gotcha!

All of a sudden, Ernest Ranglin is moving out front to receive the recognition he has long deserved--and which he has long received from knowing fellow musicians--as a result of his signing with Telarc Records at the urging of his fellow native Jamaican and long-time friend, Monty Alexander. Long respected by the likes of Randy Weston, Melba Liston, Bob Marley and Sonny Rollins, even as Marley eclipsed Ranglin in public recognition, Ranglin suddenly is being appreciated for the master guitarist ...
read moreErnest Ranglin: Modern Answers to Old Problems

Few musicians blend pop and jazz as gracefully as 68-year-old Ernest Ranglin. His smash 1996 release Below the Bass line and follow-up Memories of Barber Mack effectively mixed jazz with reggae. On his last release In Search of the Lost Riddim (1998), the Jamaican guitar virtuoso extended his jazz-reggae recipe to include pop music from Senegal and vocals by Senegalese superstar Baaba Maal. Modern Answers to Old Problems is similar to its immediate predecessor, but this time the ...
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