Melbourne Meets Kingston is one of the most stunning album length releases of Jamaican influenced music I have had the pleasure of witnessing emerge from the Pacific. I have always considered the Australian reggae scene no joke and I feel this release, given the right promotion and support, will ram home this truth, a reckoning that is long overdue.
Mista Savona is a Melbourne based music producer and keyboard player who has over the last few years, in collaboration with a collection of talented musicians and singers from Australia and Jamaica, produced a stunning Roots and Culture work with a dazzling array of depth.
I could wax lyrical on this release for pages, but it has already been done far more concisely and correctly by Australian reggae music authority, Jesse I, word for word as follows:
A landmark for Australian music this is the first time an Australian producer has worked extensively with big-name Jamaican artists over a full-length album. More importantly, it is the strongest reggae & dancehall album produced in this country to date.
So who are these big names? Anthony B, Big Youth, Determine and a load of lesser known but equally talented artists such as Lisa Dainjah, Stevie Culture, Bashy Bashy, Vida Sunshine and more.
All the artists turn out dazzling performances grounded in Roots but venturing into Hip-Hop and Dancehall territories. Mista Savona manages to cover most of the current sounds and styles of modern Dancehall Reggae with a mixture of straight Roots flavoured material, Oriental and Arabic sounding riddims, classic Rastafari numbers and the odd digital edge as well.
I could talk about this release for a long time, but I feel that it’s best that you just go and listen to it. Melbourne Meets Kingston is really good music, and that’s all I wrote.
Martyn Pepperell
