The album was meticulously recorded and produced, but when it came out in May, 2020, Covid paranoia had set in globally. Vaccines, masks and sanitisers, not music, was priority at that time.
Now that things have returned to normal, Christie decided to take a second crack at marketing ‘Cool Reggae’.
“Due to Covid, I was unable to do a public album launch and proper marketing for the album although it did get some very positive reviews,” said the self-taught Christie, whose playing is strongly influenced by blues players like Anderson, a black American who played for Marley and Peter Tosh.
After playing countless recording sessions for Stingray Records and touring with a flood of artistes, he decided six years ago that the time was right to do an instrumental album and show his chops on his Fender Stratocaster.
The maestro was once front and centre in Jamaican music. They included saxophonists Tommy McCook and Roland Alphonso, trombonist Don Drummond, guitarist Ernie Ranglin, keyboardist Jackie Mittoo, drummer Sly Dunbar and bass guitarists Leroy Sibbles, Jackie Jackson and Robbie Shakespeare.
Their presence dimmed somewhat in Jamaica during the digital dancehall era of the 1980s. There was a revival during the 1990s when several instrumental reggae albums were released by musicians including guitarist Dwight Pinkney, and saxophonists Dean Fraser and Tony Greene.
(Photos contributed)