Dwight Pinkney Plays The Ventures Jamaican Style (CD Review)

Title: Dwight Pinkney Plays The Ventures Jamaican Style

Artist: Dwight Pinkney & D.P. Band

Label: AIR

Ratings:***1/2

Here we go again, another great innovator of Jamaican music is back with a stellar production. For nearly fifty years, Dwight Pinkney has been picking his guitar strings, and the man still has what it takes to come up with a brilliant concept album like  “Dwight Pinkney Plays The Ventures Jamaican Style.”  First, a little background on The Ventures. According to Wikipedia:

The Ventures is an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 in Tacoma, Washington. Founded by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle, the group in its various incarnations has had an enduring impact on the development of music worldwide. With over 100 million records sold, the group is the best-selling instrumental band of all time. In 2008, the Ventures were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.Their instrumental virtuosity, experimentation with guitar effects, and unique sound laid the groundwork for innumerable groups, earning them the moniker “The Band that Launched a Thousand Bands”. While their popularity in the United States waned in the 1970s, the group remains revered in Japan, where they still tour regularly to this day.

So, with that background, Dwight Pinkney and his & D.P. Band took on the task of  “Jamaicanizing”  the music of this historic group, who would have thought?  To quote Dwight Pinkney himself – “this album was conceptualized and recorded primarily to please my fans…it also serves the selfish purpose of reconnecting me with some of my earliest guitar influences…more importantly, it is an effort on my part to reach a global audience while exporting and promoting my own Jamaican popular rhythms.” 

“Dwight Pinkney Plays The Ventures Jamaican Style” opens up with one of my favorite pieces of music, “The James Bond 007 Theme” which brings back childhood memories for me. The theme for the classic CBS television cop show – “Hawaii Five-O” is given the royal Reggae treatment by Dwight and his team, my only regret/complain, it comes in under 2 minutes! The Rock & Roll classic “Walk Don’t Run” is well arranged, while “Tequila” is stamped with a proper Jamaican vibe. In a tribute to his brethren Beres Hammond, Dwight covers “I Feel Good” – nice instrumental for real. Another outstanding track is Pinkney’s treatment of “The House Of The Rising Sun” which was first recorded in 1924!  “Wipe Out” aka “The Surf” is the ultimate party tune with that contagious uptempo beat. Pinkney’s original number, “Dwilight Zone” is amazingly smooth and very relaxing. Time and space won’t allow me, but the other tracks are just as meaningful as these that are mentioned!

This is Pickney’s sixth solo album, and like the others before, “Dwight Pickney Plays The Ventures Jamaican Style” will find itself amidst the collection many music lovers the world over. With today’s music drowning in computer generated riddims, it is very refreshing to have greats like Grub Cooper, Keith Francis, Earl Fitzsimmonds, Bobby Ellis, David Madden, Sydney Thrope, and Chris McDonald, coming to together to provide us with real authentic Jamaican music!  Congratulations Dwight Pinkney, and may the good Lord continue bless you to provide this kind of music for years to come!