In the same vein, I am not JUST a percussionist. I don't even like the suffix "-ist". Often, such persons who identify as such with strangers (and even non-strangers) try to hide, yet betray, a kind of shyness, insecurity, or even an inferiority complex. Shyness I have a bit, an inferiority complex not so much.
As it goes, I “as a human being” am by now a more advanced percussion player (playing over 8 years now), having experience performing on stage, jamming, in a band, and composing, and between and above all that continuously learning, about all the variety of big and small percussion instruments, and patterns in different musical cultures.
That is a very pleasant and inspiring journey. I had different periods, with emphasis on different instruments: a “scraper” period, a “cabasa” period, a conga period, a talking drum period, and Ashiko (Yoruba type of drum) period, for example. Never exclusive, but concentrated temporarily.
I am a Reggae fan, from way before I took up percussion more intensively, namely around since I was at the age of 11. “Thingification” as “Reggae fan” sounds a bit more okay to me, haha, for some reason.
The recent passing (8 december 2021) of bass player Robbie Shakespeare – half of the well-known Reggae riddim “tandem” Sly and Robbie - saddened me really. This bass player simply played a role in my life, in the sense that it provided a part of the “sound track” of my life: the Reggae groove with many songs I listened to and danced to. In other words: he brought “good things” to my life, and however irrational this may seem: someone who brought “good” to your life dying, means that that “good” dies a bit with it, which essentially is nonsense, but understandable with all emotions.
One senses this strongly, for instance, when a close someone, like a loved mother or brother, or friend, dies. A chapter has been closed, you were not ready to close yet.. But that’s death.
Over time, I learned that “living forever” also means: leaving good memories, and/or a “legacy” of, for instance, timeless artworks. Good artists do this.
You can consider a bass player like Robbie Shakespeare as a good artist, even if an instrumentalist. I know about songwriting, also within Reggae, and the bass is in Reggae a main “chording” instrument, following the chord structure and progression, in most cases derived from another musician, like a singer/songwriter (maybe using guitar or piano), wanting to complete the vocally based song with a full-band. Dependent on the relationship between musicians, the bass player – with its important “chording” function in Reggae -, can help to “shape” the song, or write songs him-/herself. Besides this, he wrote (ofen with Sly) several (mainly instrumental) compositions.
Moreover, Robbie Shakespeare (often along with Sly Dunbar) was also a producer, thus adding to the musical production of Reggae albums, such as the great Gregory Isaacs album Soon Forward (1979), besides playing as session musician on many Reggae records.
TECHNICALITY
Apart from this, one must realize that music is more than cold technicality, even if necessary. It includes art, magic, inspiration, and feelings, and intuition too, even spirituality. Also – importantly – personality. Each instrument player has an own personal style of playing the instrument, derived from their life and personality, their interests and personal traits, and their own learning trajectory.
I return thus to my objections against “thingification”. Also, “being a bass player” is after all such a “thingification”, simplifying and dehumanizing a versatile human being.
There were and are a few well-known, productive bass players in Reggae music, playing on many albums and songs, of many artists. Aston “Familyman” Barrett of Wailers fame, Errol “Flabba” Holt, from the Roots Radics, but also people like Lloyd Parks (We The People Band), George Fullwood, Boris Gardiner (working with Lee Perry), and Leroy Sibbles – while also vocalists –are quite well-known and prolific.
Like with Family Man, Lloyd Parks of others, Robbie Shakespeare chose not to focus too much on “singing”, perhaps unconvinced himself of his timbre and skills, and concentrated on his forte: his good bass playing. Indeed, Flabba and Sibbles have proven they can “sing” as well, so could divide their talents a bit more.
SLY & ROBBIE SOUND
Indeed, when joining with Sly Dunbar, and recording together on many, many songs, even outside of Reggae (with Grace Jones and Bob Dylan, as well-known examples), he put his personality in the bass patterns and energy of Reggae Riddims, characteristic of the “Sly & Robbie sound”.
What is that sound? And what is Robbie’s input therein?
Some say the bass guitar is the most important instrument in Reggae, which is not true. It is the Bass AND the drums, specifically the combination of it. That is the Reggae groove, in which Jamaica is specialized, as its place of birth.
In my personal opinion, the best reggae is still made in Jamaica: the realest, most authentic. Jamaica is where the tradition is from and organically developed, that is hard to copy abroad. It can be approached – even very well – to a “good” level, but reaching the same “authentic” level is near-impossible. This is not a diss to all non-Jamaican Reggae artists: I am actually impressed by how close these (non-Jamaican, even White) Reggae artists are often able to approach the Jamaican standard/benchmark, rendering in any way good music.
It’s not just Reggae. I also think, e.g., that the best Samba can only come from Brazil, the best Flamenco from Spain, and the best Blues from African-Americans in the US: a matter of cultural authenticity.
Sly & Robbie were among those that exemplified that authenticity, but in what way stood Robbie Shakespeare in that tradition of Reggae’s “cultural authenticity”? Well, I can conclude that he had a “key” role, also due to mere proficiency in studio sessions between the 1970s and 1990s, in different periods of Jamaican music.
The first exposure of the “Sly & Robbie sound” was as session players on the great, classic album Right Time by the Mighty Diamonds (1976), at the start of the Rockers era.. The tight, pumping grooves of Sly & Robbie started to show on this album, without the ”digital”, synth feel as would come later.
The same applies to Sly & Robbie’s work and playing on another classic, “sexy” song: Gregory Isaacs’ Soon Forward (1979). Sly & Robbie produced this song, and with it launched their own Taxi label.
Albums and songs that exhibited the strength of the Sly & Robbie Sound, even before Sly & Robbie started experimenting more with “digital” sounds, in the 1980s, and their important role in Reggae’s development.
I did a set as online selecta for a stream with songs on which Robbie played bass, and was fascinated by the variation: from a “deep roots” vibe, to Early Dancehall and Modern Reggae, with a more digital vibe: Robbie played it all. Broad and varied. A musician I know and work with called Robbie’s bass style “the most melodic of the bunch” of Reggae bass players. I think this is true when compared to Flabba of the Roots Radics, whose style was more “rhythmic” and sparse.
The “Sly and Robbie sound” might be best-known because of the work with Ini Kamoze and especially Black Uhuru. By that era, in the 1980s, some modern, digital influences slipped in, partly embraced through e.g. adding electronic drums or synth effects, to the basic drum set. Still a tight groove, with Robbie’s bass shaping it. Some “funk” and even Disco influences slipped in over time too, within the Rockers sound, with the bass drum on the one, and also in own crossover productions Sly and Robbie would make.
Of course, this was also the case in their playing with Grace Jones, and collaborations with other artists (hip-hop, and other ones) as well: funky in a “Sly and Robbie” way, so to speak, always with some “Rub-a-Dub” echo of Reggae and Dancehall, one can say.
Grace Jones’ Pull Up To The Bumper is not really reggae, but it therefore certainly has the recognizable Sly and Robbie sound.
The same applies to Sly & Robbie’s nice hit Boops. A song I liked, even if not quite reggae, due to the quality musicianship and pumping groove.
MELODIC
The bass playing by Robbie is on many songs that he played on, indeed relatively melodic and “full”, compared with others, like Flabba or Lloyd Parks, and even Familyman, more often “playing around the drums” – with pauses - than setting the pace (either way a delicate balance).
I first – and immediately – got impressed with the “pumping” Sly and Robbie sound through Ini Kamoze’s debut album, with songs like Dem Ting Deh, Reggae General, and World-A-Music. The hermetic, tight and groovy sound appealed to me, and the bass melodies/patterns also combining well with certain types of singing, like that of Ini Kamoze, and later Michael Rose, when Sly & Robbie played with Black Uhuru.
I later got into Black Uhuru too, though the 1980s sound – especially when with synth effects – took some adapting. I enjoyed it easily, though. I found the Sly and Robbie sound in this case “groovy” and danceable, but also nicely “atmospheric” and Dubby, on songs like Black Uhuru Anthem, Bull In The Pen, What Is Life, General Penitentiary, Peace and Love in the Ghetto, Shine Eye Gal, etcetera.
I listen to Black Uhuru a lot during certain periods, providing an important part of the “soundtrack” of my life, along with others in the “Rockers period” (Roots Radics and others) and the Channel One period (Mighty Diamonds a.o.). I varied this with earlier One Drop Roots, Studio One Reggae, or even Rocksteady occasionally, but the Late 1970s-Early 1980s - Reggae provided a bit more of the “soundtrack” of my life..
On many songs from that period, Robbie Shakespeare played bass guitar, so in that sense he was influential on my musical tastes.. Sometimes even without knowing it myself.
A difference between the Sly and Robbie Sound and the Roots Radics Sound in Reggae – both great and recognizable, of course - , is that the latter (the Roots Radics sound) seemed less adaptable: it always stood out.
BLENDING IN
When checking on what albums they both played on as session musicians, Sly and Robbie, seemed to “adapt more” to a song or album’s feel, “blend in” more, so to speak. Adapting e.g. well to a very “Rootsy” sound, as on the Abyssinians 1970s album Arise, or when playing with Culture, but equally to later Early Dancehall, or New Roots, such as by Tarrus Riley, Lutan Fyah or I-Wayne. Good and tight, but not immediately recognizable: that is also a quality: letting the songs, music, and groove speak for themselves, still with some own (subtle) accents.
MY PERCUSSION
Did all this influence my later percussion playing?, is then the question (my question anyway). Maybe indirectly. As I add percussion to Bass-trap drum set riddims I listen to the Drums, and to the Bass, and specifically to the “spaces” in the groove: filling it up or playing with it.
The playful style of Sly Dunbar (a bit more than the tighter Roots Radics-drummer Style Scott style) demanded a bit more playfulness from me too, when practicing on it, which was a good lesson. When the bass line becomes more “melodic”, my percussion style too, while needing to put more attention to not “overwhelming” or “disturbing” drum or bass “jokes (variations), but rather helping to emphasize them by playing around or toward them. Not that easy, helping to make my percussion style more flexible and advanced. Good practice to add percussion to note-wise “fuller” riddims/rhythms.
I myself have developed an own style of playing percussion, derived from my personality, my life, and learning trajectory.
My percussion style started out “Afro-Cuban” influenced (learning Conga’s and Bongo, and having been often to Cuba), soon adding an African touch, trying this to fit in Reggae grooves, while listening also to what great Reggae percussionists like Skully, Bongo Herman, do on Reggae, adding “spice” (a metaphor they use for percussion addition in Reggae.. like in cooking).
Underneath you hear me jamming/improvising in Amsterdam in 2016, on bongos, on this lady’s nice interpretation of Amy Winehouse’s Back To Black, around a basic Cuban “martillo” pattern.
Besides different African traditions – both “swinging” and “straight (poly)rhythmic” (Mande-speaking area, Yoruba, or Congo), Afro-Cuban genres, and Reggae and Funk, even some Flamenco influences influenced me, due to my South Spanish roots on my mother's side, especially regarding the rhythmic aspects in Flamenco, and guitar improvisations (e.g. varying tempo).
In time, my personality showed in my percussion style, or I tried to show it, repeating it when working or appreciated.
Other percussion players I know (in Reggae), such as here in the Netherlands, have – interestingly enough - other styles of playing, based on their personalities, background, and life. Someone with a Surinamese or Curaçaoan background might show this in his percussion playing, or with a specific learning trajectory. Also other music genres they like, besides Reggae, can have an influence.
While some percussion instruments we use all, there are some I use less than others, because I come from the "Afro-Cuban school". I do use tambourines less, as they were not commonly used in Cuba and Cuban music, but more common in Soul, Reggae, or Gospel. The kete nyahbinghi drum is standard for Reggae percussionists, and I can play that too, having also played in Nyabinghi sessions.
Within all these shared instruments and standardized patterns, each instrument player expresses one’s own personality, style, and influences. That is what I want to say with this.
CONCLUSION
The same way, Robbie Shakespeare’s own personality, and musical trajectory shaped his own bass playing style. Chroniclers tell how Robbie and Sly started to play together more since they met, because it "clicked” well also musically. They shared a liking and love for US soul and Funk. This might explain the “Black US” or “Funk” influence on the “Sly & Robbie Sound”.
Robbie Shakespeare played, however, with so many different artists within Reggae – in different periods (including with e.g. the Upsetters) – that it seems hard to pinpoint what further influenced him, though Sly & Robbie’s peaking period in the Early 1980s, shaped their “tight Rockers” sound, and also a “funk” James Brown influence is discernible. Indeed, as some other Jamaican musicians said, Sly Dunbar focused more on more modern Black American (African American) examples, like in Funk, while other drummers like Santa Davis or Leroy “Horsemouth” Wallace, tended to use traditional African “folk” rhythms more as examples, as a way to continue African traditions.
As a result, the “Sly and Robbie” sound, especially later in the 1980 when more “digitally” influenced, seemed a bit more “US”- influenced in its funky feel: tighter, and somewhat less “polyrhythmic” as what other drummers like Carlton Barret, Horsemouth, or Santa tried to do. The latter also added some more Afro-Latin influences to their drumming (like I do).
This rawer, tighter sound of Sly & Robbie, had the crucial bass as component by Robbie too, of course, and was, despite these nuances, simply groovy Reggae, with “Africa” always in there, in the rhythm, and with the “straighter rhythms” sometimes even more African, only other parts (Congo, South Ghana and Nigeria know more “straight” rhythms, Mali/Guinee regions more “shuffling” or “swing” rhythms).
That might be the reason that when I practiced some Afro-Cuban-tinged percussion patterns on Sly & Robbie grooves, it seemed to "fit". Afro-Cuban music tends to be also more “straight rhythm” based, due to the Congo and Yoruba musical influence in Cuba.
As a skilled bass player, Robbie could play and adapt to all these different styles, having indeed also played with others than Sly, adding his own personal style: melodic, and with a certain extrovert “attitude”, while remaining playful.
In conclusion and in hindsight, with his bass playing, Robbie Shakespeare certainly added joy to my life, playing a part in my enjoying of Reggae music. Even the occasional “US Black” funk-like influence some note of Sly & Robbie, I did not mind so much, as I also liked James Brown.
As thus not simply a “thingified” or replaceable Reggae bass-player, but in fact a unique and irreplaceable one – as all great musicians – the loss of Robbie Shakespeare, relatively young (by today’s, wealthy standards) at 68, might seem even sadder.
There is however comfort in the legacy he leaves, and moreover: the inspiration he gave others in enjoying and playing music. In their own free way, expressing themselves through music. All that is timeless.
