Show's Over, Shakespeare!

Last week was a bad week for entertainment renaissance men, and the latest blow to the music world is the death of Robbie Shakespeare, bassist, producer, and musical innovator. With drummer Sly Dunbar, Shakespeare formed the famous Jamaican rhythm section and production team Sly and Robbie. 

Sly and Robbie ushered in a whole variety of reggae substyles, particularly the harder rockers style, and were sought-after session musicians and producers from the 1970s onward. Sly and Robbie also formed the Taxi record label, a subsidiary of Island Records. One of Robbie Shakespeare's early musical roles was as bassist for session/backup band the Aggrovators, who were pioneers in dub music, which is characterized by its use of tape loops, volume fades, and other sonic trickery:

  

A breakthrough hit for Sly and Robbie was The Mighty Diamonds' Right Time, released in 1976. Here is the outstanding title track, featuring Sly and Robbie as the rhythm section: 

  

Sly and Robbie also backed reggae great Peter Tosh:

  

They performed with Black Uhuru, and received a special shoutout in this concert clip:

  

The pair also saw the utility of electronic drums in the studio, reviving a practice started by mad dub genius Lee 'Scratch' Perry (how did I miss his death, what was I doing in August?). They played on Grace Jones' hilariously suggestive 1981 club hit Pull Up to the Bumper: 

 

In 1987, Sly and Robbie released the nonesuch hit Boops (Here to Go):

   

In the 1990s, Sly and Robbie were involved in the upcoming dancehall genre, producing such standout hits as Ini Kamoze's Here Comes the Hotstepper: 

 

In 1999, they had an international hit with Superthruster, which was promoted with a cyberpunk-inspired animated video:

  

Perhaps my favorite material with Robbie Shakespeare and Sly Dunbar is the live stuff they played with legendary session man and music pioneer Ernest Ranglin and jazz titan Monty Alexander. If any combo had claim to being a Jamaican 'supergroup', it was these gentlemen. Here is Robbie singing vocal on the track Surfin':

  

 It's just a pleasure to see these genii in action: 

 

Robbie Shakespeare also collaborated with such artists as Bob Dylan, Joe Cocker, Joan Armatrading, No Doubt, Paul McCartney, and Britney Speares. He was a towering figure in modern music, though a largely behind-the-scenes one. I only scratched the surface with this profile, which involved a deep dive into the labyrinthine pathways of late 20th-21st century Jamaican popular music. Robbie was there for most of the journey, from the sixties to the present day. It was a pleasure, albeit a melancholy one, to make that journey with him. 

Post title stolen from a classic 'Simpsons' line.