AMG Review of Cultural Livity: Culture Live '98

Rick Anderson
All Music Guide

Well, it's about time. After more than twenty years of prolific music-making, one of the most important harmony trios in reggae finally decides to make a live album. And as live albums go, this one's very good -- the backing band is small and tight (real horns would have been nice, but the keyboards do a fair approximation) and the production is clean and rich. Bandleader Joseph Hill and his wife Pauline produced, which may explain why the other two singers' voices are buried in the mix, but the fact is that Culture stopped being anything like a real trio years ago -- this is all Hill's baby now, and undemocratic as that may be, he does a great job. His rough-hewn voice is as strong as it's ever been; he delivers oldies like "See Dem a Come" and "International Herb" with as much energy as other singers half his age. "Jah Rastafari" has the straightforward power of the best church hymns, and the program ends with two Nyabinghi-style traditional chants. There are precious few really essential live reggae albums out there, and this may be one of them.