DUDE HAS MY EAR

I'm normally pretty suspect of any "new" reggae, and by that I mean post-eighties, and the eighties just squeak in. I'll spare you the details, but I thought I'd be forthcoming with my bias. So, with trepidation I clicked on a cut at You And Me On A Jamboree. It was only because their taste in reggae, particularly the early stuff, is pretty dead on. (You should check it out.)

Anyway, I see a thing by Roger Rivas, keyboard player with the Aggrolites, Organ Versions, Volume 2. After one track, I stopped to find out more. From what I could gather the songs are Rivas playing over are vintage reggae backing tracks, On a Hammond. Like Jackie Mittoo. And it works. There's two volumes of Organ Versions, both of which are available at his site (a couple samples below). They're available as single songs or full downloads of each of the two volumes.

The one related thing I ran into that I really really dig is a reggae remix of a Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings' song, "Keep On Looking", mixed by Rivas. I'm not sure who did what. Jones sings "reggae" in the lyrics, so it could have been a reggae cut to begin with, that Rivas just added organ to. But it's reggae + Hammond + Sharon Jones. I don't care who did what. It's a summer jam and a half.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~ 

Listen: 

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings - Keep On Looking (Reggae Rog remix) mp3 at Roger Rivas

Roger Rivas - Cold Serenade (Organ Version) mp3 at Roger Rivas
Roger Rivas - Organ Shakedown (Organ Version) mp3 at Roger Rivas
Roger Rivas - Make Your Move (Organ Version) mp3 at Roger Rivas
Roger Rivas Organ Versions (complete) at Roger Rivas
Video:
Interview with Roger Rivas at Vimeo
Visit:
Roger Rivas bio at Roger Rivas
You And Me On A Jamboree