Come Rock With Me

hrough his work with the Heptones, and his stint as a session bass player for Clement "Coxsone" Dodd's Studio One in the late 1960s and early '70s, Leroy Sibbles has been responsible for some of the most versioned rhythms in the history of Jamaican music. After leaving the Heptones in 1977 following the wonderful Lee "Scratch" Perry-produced album Party Time, Sibbles relocated to Canada, returning on occasion to Kingston to record, even reuniting with the Heptones for 1999's Tappa Zukie-produced Pressure! He also tracked numerous solo sides, including this set for producer Bunny Gemini, which gives Sibbles a '90s dancehall-leaning sound while managing to still sound enough like the old Heptones to make it all click along about right. Among the standout tracks are the hard, dancehall-focused "Murder," the airy, bouncing "Come Rock with Me," and the ain't-this-the-Heptones instant classic called "Unkind Girl." The end result isn't a Heptones album, but at times it sounds pretty close to being one. ~ Steve Leggett|