****LUCIANO - JAH IS MY NAVIGATOR****

.....

***JAH IS MY NAVIGATOR****

TRACKLIST


1. For I
2. Jah Is My Naviagator
3. Darkness
4. No Evil
5. I'm The Tuffest (With Andrew Tosh)
6. Never Give Up
7. Trod Out
8. Sweet Jamaica
9. Jah Live
10. Wish You Were Mine
11. Paradise Last (With Rochelle Bradshaw)
12. African Liberty
13. Wise Up Youth
14. Jah Canopy
15. Hard Herbs


Label VP
Orig Year 2008

Like many successful reggae singers, Luciano has something of an overexposure problem -- hardly a year has gone by since the mid-'90s without at least three Luciano albums (some of them, granted, probably unauthorized). But unlike many overexposed reggae singers, Luciano can actually stand up to that kind of exposure. His voice is so sweet and his songs so generally well written that it's hard to really imagine getting tired of him, and his huge popularity ensures that top-notch producers regularly offer him their finest rhythms. Jah Is My Navigator finds him in top form, singing his usual roots-and-culture songs over a host of old-school rhythms provided by legendary saxophonist and producer Dean Fraser. The first part of this album is the strongest: "For I" evokes the cathartic style of the late Lucky Dube, "I'm the Tuffest" updates the Johnny Clarke classic to nice effect, and "Trod Out" updates the vintage "Unchained" rhythm to even nicer effect. The album's high point is its middle section, which features the brilliant "Sweet Jamaica," an anguished song with a dark and dubby rhythm, and a very good cover of Bob Marley's "Jah Live." The program ends badly, though, with a non-reggae tearjerker called "Paradise Last," and a tedious two-chord exercise titled "Wise Up Youth." Jah Is My Navigator may not be his greatest album ever, but it's a worthy addition to this brilliant artist's catalog. ~ Rick Anderson


Audio Mixers: Shane Brown; Rohan Dwyer; Cegricia Hamilton; Steven Stanley ; Andrew Seidel; Collin "Bulbie" York.


Recording information: Geejam; Grafton Studios; Tuff Gong.


Photographer: Martei Korley.


Personnel: Mikey Chung (guitar, guitars); Ian Coleman, Mitchum Chin (guitars); Dean Fraser (saxophone, horns, background vocals); Nambo Robinson (trumpet, trombone); Dwight Richards (trumpet); Paul "Scooby" Smith (organ, keyboards); Joshua Manning, Joshua Manning, Robert Lyn, Carroll "Bowie" McLaughlin (keyboards); Glen Browne, Donald "Danny Bassie" Dennis, Michael Fletcher, Robbie Shakespeare, Chris Meredith (bass guitar); Lowell "Sly" Dunbar, Sly Dunbar, Kirk Bennett (drums, percussion); Sean Darson, Melbourne Miller, Shaun Darson (drums); Sidney "Congo Billy" Watson, Denver Smith, Alvin Haughton (percussion); Chris Smith , Duane Stephenson, Rochell Bradshaw, Althea Layne Hamilton, Daffodils, Carol Dexter, Sherita Lewis, Nikki Burt (background vocals).


Additional personnel: Rochell Bradshaw, Andrew Tosh.


Uncut (p.93) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[H]is most varied album in a while....Flitting from the rootical vibrations of the title track to the jump-up rocksteady of 'I Am The Tuffest'..."
The Beat (p.10) - "Luciano gets in one of his best releases of the last few years with JAH IS MY NAVIGATOR....This one has the feel and intent of what first attracted us to this inspirational artist."