Ernest Ranglin

Some folks were just raving about Ernest Ranglin ( mostly people on Tv and radio I must admit ), but an equal number also found him pretty ordinary and I have to say I'm in the latter camp. He's the father of Reggae , so they say , apparently he taught Bob Marley to play guitar .

He occasionally  jams with Babba Maal  onstage , which WOULD have been very interesting, but unfortunately it did not happen at this Womad. 

Impeccable credentials one would have thought.
 
 
But when push comes to shove the reality of his music makes me think he's one of those people whose influence is high, but his actual music is not that hot.  He comes across as a very laid back jazz guitarist with Caribbean influences and his music is pleasant , but not dynamic enough for me -or anyone else I know for that matter. We all left for pastures new after about 20 minutes of his set and listening to his music from the radio broadcast a few times hasn't changed my opinion. Very laid back instrumental stuff, which all seems to be played at the same tempo .
 

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