Sound Dimension

The Sound Dimension were the studio band at Studio One. However nothing at Studio One is every that simple.

While the Sound Dimension were firing out the hits for Mr Dodd. Mr Dodd had a second studio band doing the same thing!!!

The Soul Vendors masters of Rock Steady - took the reggae rhythm and run off with it.

Look at the hits. Darker Shade Of Black, Drum Song, Frozen Soul, Psychedelic Rock, that list alone is truly fantastic.

Yet the biggest rhythm of them all also as to be added to that list? Real Rock! That rhythm totally dominated the dance hall era. In its original form or its many many versions. And its shows what a tremendous debt the dancehall era owes to reggae.

Trying to work out the difference between the Sound Dimension and The Soul Vendors is difficult. Perhaps its just the additon of Eric Frater rhythm guitar that makes the difference. Still the biggest rhythm ever to come out of Jamaica is Real Rock?and its a reggae rhythm! From the Soul Vendors!

Sound Dimension - Mojo Rocksteady Beat - Soul Jazz

Having released the The Jamaican Soul Shake?set, Soul Jazz must have realized that there was more than enough for another set from The Sound Dimension. Lesson number one with Studio One, there is always more. There is so much, even Coxsone himself had little idea of what he had. It would have been nice if this had been a Soul Vendors set because Drum Song?as far as I know was never cut by The Sound Dimension. Yet once again these are small points. It抯 the intention of this set to present some great music and that is good enough for me. You get all the Sound Dimension hits with Real Rock?being the biggest. It was a tune that dominated the Dancehall era, becoming one of the most versioned tunes of that era. And that was just one tune. Rockfort Rock?was just as big for the Sound Dimension and was another massive hit in the Dancehall era. In fact, of the 18 tracks on this magnificent set there are at least 6 tunes here that rocked the dance hall of Jamaica during the eighties and thirty years later are still doing the business. It was music built to last. And it did that and more. Foundation Music without a doubt.

Sound Dimension - Jamaica Soul Shake Vol. 1 - Soul Jazz

Really good to see Soul Jazz moving away from V/A sets. With so many great artists on Studio One you don't really need to compile V/A. In fact a sustained release program of artist based albums would be good for Studio One. When it comes to the Sound Dimension, like all the bands at Studio One, working out the line ups is pure guess work most of the time. Yes Jackie Mittoo, Leroy Sibbles, Cedric Im Brooks, Vin Gordon, Don D Jnr, Ernest Ranglin, and Leroy Wallace were in the Sound Dimension, but so were other notable players. Hopefully they are named in the sleeve notes. The 16 tracks on offer here are truly wild. Some of the best Reggae made at Brentford Road. It抯 as simple as that. All in all this is probably the best Studio One/Soul Jazz release.