A 23-year-old singer of mixed heritage--he's part Scottish, part Ghanaian--Quaye can bust a smooth groove like Al Green or offer a straight reading of roots reggae (listen to his jaunty arrangement of "Your Love Gets Sweeter"). "It's Great When We're Together" skirts too close to Green in sentiment and sound, but the blues guitar and deep bass rumble of "Ultra Stimulation" goose an otherwise conventional reggae number. Still, Quaye isn't afraid to explode convention completely. Despite its hippy-dippy title, "Ride on and Turn the People On" is a thrilling duel between Quaye's elastic wordplay and a hyperactive bassist (who goes uncredited in the CD booklet but deserves star billing throughout). Quaye is best when he takes all the music he's heard and fashions a new pastiche that doesn't sound like one. His take on Marley's "Sunday Shining" is one such marvel, a glorious smear of slide guitar, Rastaman imagery, '60s soul horns, and a rhythm track that belongs squarely to the '90s. It may be the brightest light on Maverick a Strike, but this 13-track album never really dims much. --Keith Moerer
|
