In 2011 veteran deejay and U-Roy disciple Huford Brown announced a forthcoming King Tubbys album. That has yet to materialize but in the meantime he has recorded this collaboration with eccentric French illegal-party-organiser-turned-experimental-reggae-producer Laurent “U-Man” Ugolini and his partner, electro-Afrobeat enthusiast Chalice Cooper. The rhythms are played by Nico Gomez (bass), Neil Angilley (keyboard), Christian Fernandez (guitar) and Seb Chaumont (sax).
Opener Gimme Some Reggae is a fairly generic 80s style major-key rubadub on the Throw Mi Corn rhythm. U-Brown declares his love for the reggae beat and showcases some singing that’s a little adventurous. So far, so conventional Euro-Jamaican collaboration. Then he shocks us awake by swearing suddenly at the end of the track and you realize this is U-Man’s Down the Bush Records where anything can happen. From there on, Mr Brown chants a mixture of Rastafari praise and dancehall jollification upon a variety of backings. Mount Zion I is Jahtari-reminiscent digital dub; Rock ‘N’ Come Over mixes reggae with lounge room soul; and closer Jah Jah Guide and Protect adapts the theme from the Western The Magnificent Seven.