Hearing Ernest Ranglin play live is a useful reminder that Jamaican pop music has very strong jazz roots. Ranglin is credited as one of the key inventors of ska and reggae, through his involvement with the Skatalites and with Clement Dodd's Studio One. He is also a jazz virtuoso who once spent nine months as the resident guitarist at Ronnie Scott's. Ranglin's latest tour finds him in fine instrumental form, his luxurious tone and fluid improvising as good as it ever was. His tight four-piece band sound authentic and exude summery goodwill. Yet, somehow, it isn't enough.
The first three numbers sit firmly in rocksteady mode. Ranglin's tasteful solos are astonishingly delicate, but the backing is a resolute two-chord vamp that just goes on and on. The audience seem ready to offer up all the affection and enthusiasm they can muster, but too often they simply end up applauding politely as another piece of clever fretwork comes to an end. Solos come from the other musicians, too: keyboard solos, bass solos, drum solos, saxophone solos. After a while, you feel you have just walked in on a jam session.
Reggae music may traditionally be relaxed, but as anyone who is familiar with the work of Bob Marley or Jimmy Cliff knows, it is capable of possessing a restless, righteous energy. Ranglin has no trouble generating the feel-good vibe, but he doesn't seem to want to generate the spark or the spirit. Similarly, the tumultuous, driving quality of great jazz solos depends on an ever-shifting rhythmic or harmonic framework: here there is just that endless laid-back two-chord pulse. On a hot summer's day, in a festival field, you could drift away quite happily listening to it. In a concert hall, you start to thirst for a bit of variety.
Halfway through the gig, Ranglin and his friends snap suddenly into upbeat ska mode. When they do, the audience are galvanised into action, springing out of their chairs to dance and clap along enthusiastically. Seemingly unaware of this, the band promptly start playing at a fraction of the volume, so we can hear the next round of solos better. Ranglin may be a beautiful guitarist, but judging by this show, he may be better suited to providing instrumental support at other people's gigs.
