• Bahamian Goombay music is a succulent hybrid, somewhere between rhythm and blues, Trinidadian calypso and Jamaican mento, yet it comes from The Bahamas, just off the Florida coast, where it lives on as a separate style, long after it’s 1950s heyday, when these tracks were recorded.
• At that time, the presence of world-class, English-language composers and performers Blind Blake Higgs, George Symonette or Charlie Adamson made the sounds of Nassau a ‘golden age’, filled with unique charm and tropical dreams. There’s even a track by Harold McNair - a future leading light of the UK jazz scene.
• This style of music was almost forgotten for half a century, but music producer & writer Bruno Blum (with the help of Fabrice Uriac) has finally revived these gems of authentic Goombay music, a magical concentrate of this island paradise. It follows his highly successful ‘Jamaica Mento’ compilation, released in 2010 on Fremeaux (FA5275).
• Other artists featured on this compilation include : Vincent Martin & His Bahamians, Eloise Lewis, The Percentie Brothers, Delbon Johnson, André Toussaint, Richie Delamore, and Freddie Munnings And His Orchestra - and songs range from the amusing and imaginative, like ‘Lord Got Tomatoes’, ‘Bullfrog Dressed In Soldier’s Clothes’, and ‘Eatin’ Too Much, Emily’, to those full of local imagery : ‘Coconut Woman’, ‘Moonlight In Nassau’, ‘The Cigar Song’, ‘Peas And Rice’, and ‘Coconut Water Rum & Gin’.
• 2 CD Set - 146:13 mins - 22 tracks - with excellent booklet of notes, recording details and period photos.
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