Review Music: Toots and Maytals and The Mighty Diamonds | Islington Academy | Jazz Cafe | Frederick Hibbert | Reggae | Jamaica roots | Trenchtown | Kingston | Studio One | Motown

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The Review - MUSIC - grooves with RóISíN GADELRAB
Published: 21 May 2009

The Mighty Diamonds

Cutting edge diamonds

PREVIEW - TOOTS AND MAYTALS
/THE MIGHTY DIAMONDS
Islington Academy/JazzCafe

THEY are both leading proponents of roots reggae, and both are playing in Camden and Islington this week.
Toots and the Maytals, perhaps the most famous reggae band still performing together today, take over the Islington Academy on Tuesday while the following day The Mighty Diamonds perform at the Jazz Café.
Frederick “Toots” Hibbert needs little introduction: the man who gave his name to a band was responsible for inventing the term “reggae”. He and his band spent much of the 1960s combining rhythm and blues, gospel, soul and ska to create their own unique sound.
Nearly 50 years after they started out, their songs have become the bedrock of reggae. The chance to see them live comes around only occasionally, and you’ll be hard pressed to find a tighter band of musicians perform such recognisable numbers anywhere today.
When Jamaica roots legends The Mighty Diamonds – made up of lead singer Donald “Tabby” Shaw and backed by Fitzroy “Bunny” Simpson and Lloyd “Judge” Ferguson – take to the Jazz Café stage on Wednesday, they bring with them a back-catalogue that stretches through four decades and epitomises a genre that still sounds as fresh and relevant today.
Formed in 1969 in Trenchtown, Jamaica, their sound came to epitomise a style and period. Produced by the famous reggae team at Studio One, they were always well polished, bringing them through the 1970s international acclaim as an accessible side of the roots-reggae movement.
And the Diamonds will be the first to admit this popularity comes from their influences: they were inspired partly by the Motown sound coming from Detroit in the 1960s, and this prompted their trademark vocal harmonies.
And another side of them that stands out is their longevity with the same line-up. The trio have produced reggae music together for 40 years, releasing a whopping 45 albums.
As songwriters, they touched on political issues and their adherence to Rastafarianism. But there was more to the trio than political consciousness. While happy to take a stand on issues such as racism and imperialism – like bedfellows such as Black Uhuru – they also continued to write and perform songs that seem to have been inspired by the great all-male vocal groups of America. This trio found time while being politically active to sing about love.
Expect a mix of their newer work and older material too. Their first album, Right Time, remains one of the defining moments of roots-reggae. In the canon of reggae music, The Mighty Diamonds have secured their place alongside Toots and the Maytals at the top table.
DAN CARRIER
• Toots and Maytals play at the O2 Islington Academy on Tuesday May 26
• The Mighty Diamonds play at the Jazz Café on Wednesday May 27.

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