Meditations For the New Year

The trio of Ansel Cridland, Danny Clarke and Winston Watson, known as the Meditations, are in my opinion, some of the most overlooked talents to ever emerge from Jamaica. The Meditations formed in 1975 and recorded singles for producers such as Dobbie Dobson and the Upsetter Lee Perry. The trio even remained active throughout the advent of dancehall and continued to release music to favorable review.

If you’ve had limited exposure to the Meditations I highly recommend checking out these 2 tracks that I’m sharing today. The first track “Turn Me Loose” was originally released on their 1979 album “Wake Up.” The second is “Tricked” from their 1976 LP “Message From the Meditations,” featuring a great rhythm section consisting of Sly Dunbar on drums, Flabba Holt on bass and Bingy Bunny on guitar – Sly Meets the Roots Radics!!

These 2 songs and 18 others are featured on Heartbeat’s 1994 “Deeper Roots: the Best of the Meditations," which I recommend highly! I also recommend the 1983 Linval Thompson produced “No More Friend” on Greensleeves to get a taste of their dancehall era sound.

I'm planning on starting off the new year with some Rocksteady so check back next week!