First of all, Jackie was just a fabulous musician. He started playing
piano with the proto-Skatalites when he was still a teenager (like 14 or
15 if I'm not mistaken), and played on hundreds if not thousands of
classic Jamaican records. As a musican, he was heavily influenced by Jimmy
Smith (the organist), and most of his music stands up quite well simply on
its own intrinsic merits. 

However, without exaggeration Jackie was responsible for a very large
percentage of what is now considered "classic" reggae, including many of
the longest-lived rhythms around. He was Coxsone Dodd's main studio
musician during Studio One's heyday, and he arranged and/or composed
virtually everything that came out of S1 during the 60s and early 70s.
According to the liner notes of the Heartbeat tribute, he even helped
Leroy Sibbles learn to play the bass, and actually wrote many of the
basslines that have since become classics. 

Of course, with virtually all Jamaican music, identifying the "true" 
composer of a given tune is not easy, but Jackie was crucial in arranging
if not composing many of the songs that are still being versioned today,
such as: 

	"Never Let Go" by Slim Smith (the "Answer Rhythm")
	"One Step Beyond" (a.k.a. "Bobby Babylon" by F. McGregor)
	"Love Me Forever" by Carlton and the Shoes (versioned as Big
		Youth's "Hit the Road Jack" and a million others).
	"Fatty Fatty" by the Heptones (aka "Ram Jam").
	"Smile" by the Silvertones (versioned by Garnett Silk as "Mama
		Africa")
	"Heptones Gonna Fight" (versioned by GS as "Kingly Character")
	"Full Up" by the Soul Vendors (versioned a million times, most
		famously as "Pass the Cutchie")
	"Party Time" by the Heptones (again, many if not millions of
		versions)
	"Drum Song" (recently versioned and quite popular, at least in
		Boston).
	"Nanny Goat" and "Throw Me Corn" by Larry Marshall

etc. etc. etc. 

It might not be an exaggeration to say that Jackie Mittoo was the single
most influential reggae musician in Jamaica. Certainly in the top five.
It's really hard to over-emphasize his influence on reggae music.

--Art Cohen (upsetter@ziplink.net)

National Ska/Reggae Calendar: www.cybercom.net/~upsetter/ska/calendar.html
        Boston Ska Home Page: www.cybercom.net/~upsetter/ska/index.html