Wareika Hill Rastamonk Vibrations by Monty Alexander

Album: Wareika Hill Rastamonk Vibrations

Artist: Monty Alexander

Genre: #Jazz

Sub-Genres: #calypso, #reggae

Label: Monty Alexander

Non-Airable Tracks: None

Description:

Listening to this album was definitely a new venture for me. Usually, lyricless songs lose my interest, however, this album gave me flashbacks of the childhood cartoons I watched–namely Schoolhouse Rock! and Pink Panther.

Monty Alexander’s Jamaican and Carribean roots definitely make an appearance in the album. The tracks are filled with a combination of hard and smooth percussion undertones that allow the strings (mainly piano, sometimes guitar) to shine as the lead role in the songs. The movement that the tracks evoke the sound of blowing wind, rustling leaves, crashing waves–natures melodies infused with the human lifestyle (the tinkering of tools, small chitter-chatter and the mundane).

Overall, this is the album that I would listen to escape from reality to a vacation by the sea.

Sounds Like: Oscar Peterson

Recommended Tracks: 

1. Track 4 Bye-Ya: I really like the integration of the electric guitar that emphasizes the reggae influence

2. Track 12 Abide With Me: Rhythmic drums with a melodic piano–reminds me of a wedding

Reviewer’s Name: Hibah Ilyas

Date of Review: 09/26/19