Cedric IM Brooks & The Light of Saba

Emblazoned with the conquering lion draped over the band’s moniker somewhere between menace and repose, The Light of Saba is a rootsy and righteous blend of reggae, nyabinghi rhythms, and free jazz rolled up and sparked by the flames of Rastafari mysticism. Recorded in 1974, the album is the nexus of the musical and spiritual philosophies of Jamaica’s own heavyweight saxophone colossus, Cedric IM Brooks. Over the course of his career, Brooks divined a sound that combined Jamaican musical traditions and jazz that stood on its own ground amid the full bloom of reggae and dub in the 1970s, while also traveling a parallel route alongside the kindred ensembles of Fela Kuti and Sun Ra.

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