Easy Star Records

We’ve talked about this before: the best dub albums start with a solid base album. If you’re gonna go through the deconstruct/reconstruct process of dubbifying a collection of tunes, you have to start with good ingredients. Sonic groove hash can only be made from solid riddims, soul and heart.

Knowing that, John Brown’s Body’s new Kings And Queens In Dub certainly started off on a good foot: 2013’s Kings And Queens was JBB’s best album to date, firmly establishing them as a reggae band of greatness with no asterisks attached. Forget the era; and it matters not that they’re based in the Northeast United States – John Brown’s Body is the real thing. Period.

Kings And Queens In Dub finds JBB revisiting the original album’s dozen cuts with a cool mix of guests riding shotgun on the mixing board (including Nate Richardson, a John Brown’s Body alumnus). Nine different pairs of hands work the faders in the course of the album, but all are totally in tune with the band’s vibe.

The fact that any JBB studio effort is already going to offer up vapors of dub (along with veins of funk and hip hop) offers each of the mixers a broad sonic palette to work with here. And you thought Kings And Queens itself was trippy? Lay back and hang on, boys and girls …

The JBB groove team of Nate Edgar (bass) and Tommy Benedetti (drums – along with guest percussionist Brian Davis) positively owned the original album. Here their killer work provides the underpinnings for an all-star lineup of mixmasters: along with the aforementioned Richardson, we have Michael G of the Easy Star All-Stars and Lord Echo of The Black Seeds, along with !0 Ft. Ganja Planter Dubfader, who mans the board for three tracks. Other dubmasters who take a turn at reinterpreting Kings And Queens include Jay Spaker, Yesking, Ticklah and the legendary Dennis Bovell.

Highlights? Honestly? There are none; the album as a whole is that solid – and all the varied hands involved kept the JBB vibe intact through the dub process.

Each mixer took their own approach: for instance, Lord Echo lets Elliot Martin’s vocals be the constant in “My Guiding Dub” while Dubfader makes use of the John Brown’s Body horns – Drew Sayers (sax), Sam Dechenne (trumpet), and Scott Flynn (trombone) – to light the album’s fuse on the opener “People In The Light Dub”. When Bovell drops guitarist Mike Keenan’s powerful skanked rhythm into “Gallows Pole Dub” periodically, it’s all the more powerful for being used sparingly. And keyboardist Jon Petronzio’s work is employed liberally throughout the dub landscapes, providing both touchstones from the original tunes and added layers of psychedelic textures.

If you missed the original release of Kings And Queens , this should inspire you to lay hands to it. I double-dang guarantee it’ll prove that “best dub albums start with a solid base album” theory, fo’ sho’.

Both of them will.

*****

Brian Robbins walks Bonnie the Chesapeake through dub landscapes over at www.brian-robbins.com