Mr. Mister Pull

Resonance Records, the leading outlet for high-quality, previously unissued archival jazz releases, delves deeper into the early, unheard work of the innovative and influential guitarist Wes Montgomery with its April 13 (LP) and April 19 (CD) release, Back on Indiana Avenue: The Carroll DeCamp Recordings.

A quick internet search brings up some extraordinary footage of Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry producing a session at the Black Ark. Taken from the film ‘Roots, Rock, Reggae’, directed by Jeremy Marre, the sequence shows Junior Murvin collaborating with members of the Congos and the Heptones on a song improvised on the spot for the film crew. Before the vocals are recorded, the Upsetters lay down the backing track. The musical director of the session is the afro-haired bass player, Boris Gardiner; unusually, it is he who counts in the band to start each take. After a long conversation with Boris a few years back, I asked Lee about his contribution to the Black Ark sound.