African Roots Act 3

Though it wasn't billed as such, African Roots, Act 3 was essentially the dub version of Sugar Minott's excellent Wicked Ago Feel It, which was released at about the same time. Like the other dub programs produced by Lloyd "Bullwackies" Barnes, this one demonstrates that Barnes was capable of making good use of classic Studio One rhythms (such as, in this case, "I Hold the Handle" and "Love Me Always," both originally by the Heptones) and creating very fine new material as well. On this session he is helped out by the legendary organist Jackie Mittoo (credited with piano here) and members of the Itopia band, and although it would have been nice if he had made a bit more generous use of Minott's vocal parts, the spare and open arrangements of these dub mixes have their own rather Spartan appeal. "Feel It Dub" is especially impressive, with its minimalist groove and isolated percussion parts, as is the long and spacy "You I Love Dub," on which Minott's disembodied voice makes a few tasteful appearances. Highly recommended overall. ~ Rick Anderson|