02. Burning Drums
03. Chalawa
04. Ethiopian Binghi Drums
05. Foggy Mountain
06. Internal Struggle
07. Jah Express
08. KuShtes Dub
09. KuShtes
10. Lymphatic Time
11. Omega Africa
12. Sea Shell Dub
13. Sky Gazer
14. Sleeping Chariots
15. Valley of Jehosaphat
- ✓ Name: Augustus Pablo
- ✓ Cd Name: Valley Of Jehosaphat
- ✓ For Promotional Use Only !!!
- ✓ Genre: Dub/Reggae/Roots
- ✓ Released: 23 March 1999
- ✓ Reedition:
- ✓ Born: Saint Andrew, Jamaica
- ✓ (†) May 18, 1999
- ✓ Label: Jet Star Music
- ✓ Producer: Augustus Pablo
- ✓ Engineered By: Gussie P, Dr. Marshall
- ✓ Mastered By:
- ✓ Recordet At: Music Works, Ariwa, Tuff Gong, Easy Street
- ✓ A&R, Coordinator:
- ✓ Written By:
- ✓ Track: 15
- ✓ No Download.
- ✓ Valley Of Jehosaphat (+/+/+)
- ✓ Upload: Reggae World Crew
- ✓ Size: 59.1 mb
- ✓ Biltrate: 320 kbps
- ✓ Playtime: min.
- ✓ Facebook.
- ✓ Twitter.
- ✓ g(+).
- ✓ LastFm.
- ✓ AllMusic.
- ✓ ReverbNation.
- ✓ Discogs.
- ✓ Instagram.
- ✓ WebSite.
- ✓ YouTube.
- ✓ Wikipedia.
Musician:
Bass: Ranchie McClean, Dub Judah, Augustus Pablo, Michael Taylor, Black Steel
Drums: Benbow, Gussie P, Myrie
Rhythm Guitar: Chinna Smith, Junior Delgado
Keyboards: Augustus Pablo
Percussion: Skully
Bhingui Drums: Kojo, Ozi, Boom Donovan
This may be tantamount to sacrilege in roots reggae circles, but really, don't Augustus Pablo's
albums all pretty much sound alike? There's no denying his historical
importance as a musician and producer for bringing in the melodica and
popularizing, if not introducing, dub techniques into the music.
Certainly King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown and probably East of the River Nile
belong in any serious reggae collection for their crucial musical
innovations in mid- and late-'70s Jamaican music. But the fact is, you
know what you're going to get on any Pablo disc -- melodica instrumentals with a basic backing band, some dub
touches -- and there's only so much mileage you can get out of that
combination.
There are some different twists on Valley of Jehosaphat, like the dischords Pablo throws into his soloing on "Lymphatic Time" or the blend of British and
Jamaican veterans backing him. So is the vibes/celeste sound beneath
the melodica and the forceful rhythm of "Kushites" and "Kushites Dub,"
which are pretty hard to tell apart -- you know, what exactly is the
difference between a regular Pablo track and its dub? -- except the vibes/celesta sound rings through a
bit more clearly on the latter.
Now, "Chalawa" combines a jaunty,
dubbed-out rhythm with mournful melody and a few uncharacteristic
swooshes. It sounds like a programmed backing track, but it's a very
good, interesting song that transcends the usual Pablo-ness.
But mostly you note which tracks have a stronger nyabinghi feel ("Sky
Gazer," "Ethiopian Binghi Drums"), bass (the title track), or bass
keyboard ("Internal Struggle") foundation, or are unusually skanking
("Omega Africa") or softer and gentler ("Sleeping Chariots," "Jah
Express") within the general framework of Pablo-ness.
That's not to denigrate the craft and effort Pablo and his musicians undoubtedly put into the music on his releases, but
it's really just nicely grooving reggae background music when you get
down to it. That also means Valley of Jehosaphat, quite probably the last disc of fresh music Pablo recorded, is both nothing special and perfectly representative of the
latter phase of the late melodica man's career.
