Despite his young age at the time, pianist Monty Alexander has intimate knowledge of the Jamaican Jazz musicianship in the late 1950’s-early 60’s. These Jazz musicians – often trained at Alpha School, were being developed by producers and early sound system owners for musical recordings and were uniquely Jamaican. In a 2002 interview Monty Alexander picks up the story, “The ones that aspired to the highest form of musical expression through their instruments were the Jazz musicians. There are the ones that really governed the best of what happened in popular music – music for the masses. These were the men who were seeking no boundaries, but yet they knew what to do in a given situation. It’s the same with Rhythm and Blues and Rock and Roll. I think it’s that same with smart guys like the producers that knew what to do with an idea or thought. They could harness it like a horse, to put saddle on it and then ride it in such a way where you could go from place to place. In Jazz it was Norman Granz. These are the men that see what the artist is doing and put the harness on it. They say, ‘You are busy on this journey, but bring it here so everybody can enjoy it. Play less so that everybody can enjoy it.” “You have the righteous hand of righteousness to keep you on the path. I thank God and I attribute it to the Creator. Some of us drift, while some of us are able to walk the line. Among the guys in the studio, there were enough paternal positive influences in Aubrey Adams and in Roland Alphonso, whereas some of the other guys were busy, busy messing their life up because they don’t know when to stop. I was able at an early age to discern that I admire that guy, but I don’t wanna do that. When you have good influences, they are gonna help you stay away from that. When you are lickle children, you are like leaves in the wind. I was very impressionable, very vulnerable, but I had this light on me and I’ve had the light all through my life that spirited me from those problems. In that gathering of those guys we had such a ball together. When musicians get together an’ we doin’ this thing that we love so much, we become like little children. We just laugh together. Even though I was young, I was grateful they embraced me being there and I didn’t back up because I was confident with what I was doing. When it come to droppin’ a riddim, I was as confident then as I am now. I loved it, so I like to think I didn’t hold them back. I don’t remember the place, I just remember those guys. To me that was the greatest honor that they would accept me. I was able to identify at an early age that these are the greatest people! I saw the movie actors on the screen like James Cagney, but he was just a movie actor, when the camera stopped he just went back to what he did. These musicians, the guy playin’ that horn, that was him playin’ that horn. He was obliged to always live. When you are a musician, you can’t just play the horn and forget it, you have to live a philosophy as Tommy McCook did. The truth is it’s a family all over the world. Jamaica make such a powerful statement in whatever it’s doin’. If it’s gonna be beautiful stuff, it’s gonna be beautiful stuff. If it’s bad stuff and we have some bad stuff, it’s bad stuff. It’s almost like the way Israel has affected the world in history and culture. Israel is the little place that has been the centerpiece positively as well as negatively. Jamaica is the same thing. Jamaica is like a holy land man! Of course the Rasta philosophy became such a reality for a world culture.” Source Rich Lowe, Personal communication with Monty Alexander, 2002
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