The genesis of the tune now known as "King Tubby etc" is far from clear; it appears to have been first laid down for Herman Chin-Loy at Aquarius round about 1971, and saw the light of day on the "Aquarius Dub" LP. Some pressings call it "I Man", but my copy appears to have the track listed as "Jah Jah Dub". In any event, Augustus Pablo released it on his own Rockers label as "Cassava Piece" followed by Big Youth's "Cassava Rock". In 1974 he revisited the riddim for Jacob Miller's "Baby I Love You So" but the dub cut to that version was so strong that Island led with it as the A-side, and the tune's been known as "King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown" ever since.

In 1995, veteran Jamaican guitarist Ernest Ranglin, whose CV includes playing jazz with the Eric Deans orchestra, mento with Baba Motta, r'n'b and ska with Coxsone and Prince Buster, rocksteady as one of The Supersonics for Duke Reid, and a stint in the Eighties reworking old reggae tunes as one of the Brentford Rockers, returned to his jazz roots with pianist Monty Alexander, US drummer Idris Muhammad and bassist Ira Coleman to rework some old and famous reggae tunes ina jazz style. Here they are.