ERNEST RANGLIN (Jamaica) with his band + Firehouse DJs

Legendary guitarist and accomplished arranger who is one of the pioneers of Jamaican popular music - ska, rocksteady and reggae - but also a highly regarded jazz player with a number of recordings for the famed European label MPS in the 1970s and the hugely popular album 'Below The Bassline' for Island Records in 1996. Ernest Ranglin actually featured on the first ever release by Chris Blackwell's Island Records, in 1959, and he recorded 'My Boy Lollipop' with Millie Small for Blackwell in 1964. It went on to become a worldwide hit, the first time ska had infiltrated into the vocabulary of pop music. A fitting distinction for a musician so instrumental in the development of ska. A virtuoso player and talented arranger, he had a hand in the Skatalites and most artists that came out of Studio 1 at that time. Bob Marley's first hit 'It Really Hurts to Be Alone' was with Ranglin, who did another three tunes with Marley including 'I'm Still Waiting'. And then there were records with the Ethiopians, the Melodians ('Rivers of Babylon'), the Paragons and Toots and the Maytals, plus world tours and recordings with Jimmy Cliff as his musical director. Uniquely among Jamaican musicians, Ernest Ranglin has a second musical career of acclaim, in jazz. Like Wes Montgomery, to whom he is often compared, an important early influence on Ranglin was the American swing and bebop guitarist Charlie Christian. In 1964 Ranglin went to Ronnie Scott's jazz club in London and so impressed the owner that he became resident jazz guitarist for some 9 months. His jazz recordings on MPS and Island Records remain sought-after discs. The chill-out favourite 'Surfin' has brought Ernest Ranglin's music to a new generation. His live appearances never attract less than rave reviews. Don't miss this one Sydney show! Presented by 2ser 107.3FM and Firehouse. "A wealth of musicality and an abundance of wit... the sunshine of Caribbean jazz" - The Age, 2005.