Norrisman

Norrisman

Norrisman - Know The Road - Lustre Kings.

Good to see Norrisman finally getting around to releasing another

great set - the 'Home And Away' set fro Byron Murray on Greensleeves

seems such a long time ago now - but it was only 2006. So much as

happened. At the time reggae's music future looked secure in the hands

of artists like him. Norrisman wasn't up there with people like

Chezidek - but he was getting close. His voice was good, and he knew

how to write. If Greensleeves were still around as an independent -

I'm sure that by now they would have released another album by him.

Sadly they are not. However its good to see the Lustre Kings coming

forward to fill the gap. And with the connections to Midnite it can

only be hoped that the likes of Norrisman will end up working with

them. In the meantime this is a great work - more sombre than 'Home

And Away' serious music for serious times.

Norrisman - Home & Away - Greensleeves - CD

Once upon a time Greensleeves released many many of these kind of

albums - one solid vocal/dj/vocal group after another and then it

stopped. The reasons for this are varied, the popularity of the

various artists set was one factor, then along came the rhythm album-

to be fair, it didn't stop, Greensleeves have released solo album some

very good ones Ward 21 being the best example - but even they were

more rooted (if that is the right word, in the dancehall style). This

set, Norrisman's third album is the kind of thing that someone like

Junjo or Linval Thompson would have produced back in the eighties.

This set credits Byron Murray with Executive Production - eleven out

of the 17 tracks come from him, and they are very good - excellent -

its what reggae should be all about in 2006, great songs, great

rhythms - very sincere. Thankfully the other productions fit very well

into the other eleven tracks - a fantastic set.