------ originally posted by Robert Nelson ----- Count Ossie and the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari are probably one of the most uniquely original groups in reggae music. This is Rasta hootenanny music with herb taking the place of sourmash :-) A lot of improvization, sometimes meandering, sometimes very to the point. Educational as well as entertaining. Fans of early Ras Michael and the Songs of Negus will definitely enjoy these precursors. They are primarily known for their rock solid niyabinghi style drumming and chanting. But they also have a heavy jazz orientation, especially using various saxophones and flutes, moody church organ, stand up acoustic bass, Hendrix-y style guitar. Varying between instrumentals and spoken word poems, their music is a nice mix of two heavily African influenced musical genres: reggae and jazz. Their best known work is the three album set (reissued on two CDs by both VP and Dynamic - mastered from the vinyl). This is considered by many music experts, in and outside of the reggae world, as one of the most important releases in the history of reggae. (One of the early Rolling Stone record guides gave this 5 stars out of a possible 5). This album has a lot of nice saxophone instrumentation that is solidly backed up by its drumming. At times it sounds like a saxophone recital, other times when things are really scorching it sounds like a college football marching band. On other songs there is a highly jazzbo sax sound with lots of honks and skronking solos. Giving it more a dissonant sound to break the trancelike nature of the drumming. Some of the classic reggae tunes like "Oh Carolina" and "So Long Rastafari" are here. But the hardest hitting tracks are the spoken segments that are really accentuated by a standup acoustic bass backdrop. "400 Years" is a very poignant tune about the middles passage. As is "Narration" about the same subject. Spoken/sung in that great Jamaican accent that gives it a sense of majesty and authority. "Tales of Mozambique" (reissued on CD by Dynamic and Crocodisc/Esoldun) is more structured and less disjointed and deals with the same subject matter and has similar instrumentation. It's a little more melodic and has some very nice flute and more acoustic bass. More stories of slavery days, this time from Mozambique. A history lesson that doesn't come off preachy. "No Night in Zion" has some great roller rink organ and spirited, slightly off key singing. "Run One Mile" has this great bassline and runaway drumming to end it; (like a slave escape, run one mile to freedom?) There is a third album out on Vista Sounds (not reissued to my knowledge on CD, but since Webster Shrowder was involved it's only a matter of time before it shows up on the Esoldun label). This album, called "Man From Higher Heights" is attributed to the Count Ossie Family. I don't know if it was recorded after Ossie died. It's more of a traditional reggae album but still has that great drum sound underpinning it all. There are versions of Marley's "Night Shift" (instrumental) and a too short version of "Africa We Want to Go". A lot more heavy fuzz guitar on this one. Heavy sound for a reggae album yet not as free form as the other two. Count Ossie in the Who's Who of Reggae: Count Ossie b. Oswald Williams, c. 1928, Jamaica, d. 18 October 1976. As a boy, Count Ossie became involved in the Rastafarian community where he learnt hand- drumming and the vocal chanting technique that reverberates back to pre-slavery days in Africa. By the late 50's, he had become a master-drummer and had formed a group of other percussionists around him, the Count Ossie Group. By the turn of the 60s Count Ossie was more of a cultural icon than pop star, and it was only the ingenuity of Prince Buster that made him a part of reggae. Bust, ever-eager to get one over on his rivals, was looking for a sound that no one else in Jamaica had managed to put on a ska record. Buster knew about Count Ossie, but everyone told him that Ossie would never agree to work on a commercial record, particularly since Buster was a Muslim and Ossie a Rastafarian. However, Buster went up into the hills and returned the next day with Ossie and several drummers in tow. The first and most famous record they made was "Oh Carolina" and "I Met A Man", featuring Ossie and ensemble thundering away on funde and kette drums and the vocals of the Folks Brothers out front. The record was a unique combination of ska, R&B and 'grounation' fundamentalist music that scored heavily both in Jamaica and on the London mod scene. Subsequent sessions for Coxsone Dodd followed accompanying the Mellocats' "Another Moses", Bunny and Skitter's "Lumumbo" and Lascelles Perkins' "Destiny". They also made some records under their own name including "Cassavabu" (for Prince Buster) and "Babylon Gone" (for Harry Mudie). The group then refrained from recording until 1970, when they issued "Whispering Drums" (for Harry Mudie), "Back To Africa Version One" (for Lloyd Daley), adn "Holy Mount Zion" and "Meditation" (for Coxsone Dodd). Around this time, Count Ossie's drummers were augmented by a horn section led by Cedric Im Brooks, and the group took the name Mystic Revelation of Rastafari. In 1974 they recorded a triple album set, "Grounation", which is a landmark recording in Jamaican music. The set included treatments of Charles Lloyd's "Passin' Thru", the Jazz Crusaders' "Way Back Home", Ethiopian melodies, improvisations, hymns and poetry. In 1975 the group recorded a follow-up album, the similarly excellent "Tales Of Mozambique". Shortly after this in 1976 Ossie died and left behind a unique legacy, to be carried on by Ras Michael and The Sons of Negus and several less notteworthy outfits. During the 80s, the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari reformed with several original members. Only two songs by the group have so far been released, "Little Drummer Boy" and "Hero Is He", the latter made for "A Tribute To Marcus Garvey". Albums: "Grounation" (Ashanti 1973), "Tales Of Mozambique" (Dynamic 1975)