Mento Madness
Motta's Jamaican Mento: 1951-56 (V2) Before reggae, rock steady, or even ska, mento ruled Jamaica's musical consciousness. Originally a rural folk music, coalesced from African and European influences, mento took on a more modern tenor when played in the cities by musicians schooled in jazz bands. Mento Madness is a delightful primer, introducing the styles and stars of this all-but-forgotten roots music. "Old school" in the most accurate sense, the reggae dancehall "toasting" that evolved from these recordings is the precursor to American rap. There was no indigenous Jamaican recording industry before Stanley Motta opened his studio and made these historic recordings. Lord Fly's 1951 "Medley of Jamaican Mento," released on 78 rpm, was the first Jamaican-made record ever, marking the industry's birth with a decidedly uptown sound replete with the jazzy flourishes of trumpet and piano. Subsequent releases included more rural stylings like the Ticklers' "Glamour Gal," which became the first Jamaican recording issued outside the island, where it found a following in the UK. Others, like Hubert Porter's "Dry Weather House," contain a mixture of elements like banjo, maracas, and clarinet, recalling Sidney Bechet's sinuous "Haitian Moods" sessions. Although mento was distinct from Trinidadian calypso, Jamaican groups often used names such as Calypso Clippers and Calypso Quintet to coattail their neighbor's commercial popularity. It's easy to hear how the syncopated rhythmic patterns of the percussionists and guitarists along with the lilting, if hardly dominant, basslines soon evolved from mento into the internationally coveted sounds of Jamaica.
