The Jewels (JA) - THE HEAVIEST DUBS - A DJ Mix by Mista Savona

The Jewels (JA) - THE HEAVIEST DUBS - A DJ Mix by Mista Savona Lead Vocals: Glasford 'Porti' Manning Backing Vocals: Benjamin 'Benji' Daley & Lynford Newland By far the most unknown and unheard and under-rated of all Jamaican harmony groups, ever. It's almost criminal that most people who love roots reggae music have never heard of them, let alone wider audiences. There's only one song by The Jewels on streaming platforms (Jah-I), and only about half of the songs here can be easily found online. So I really hope this mix helps people worldwide discover this sublime harmony group and their incredible songwriting & recorded output between around 1974 - 1986. Each vocal cut is accompanied by a heavy dub, and despite the varied mix of producers across their decade long career (including Niney The Observer & Leggo) the dubs are consistently thunderous and exciting and greatly add to the depth of their catalogue. The Jewels (pronounced 'Jew-ells', and also known as 'The Mighty Jewels') were formed and led by lead singer Glasford 'Porti' Manning around 1974, with backing vocals by Benjamin 'Benji' Daley & Lynford Newland. Porti was born in Westmoreland and moved to Trenchtown in Kingston in his late teens, where he helped form Time Unlimited in the early 70's with Junior Delgado. The group recorded extensively and had some notable success on Lee Perry's Upsetter label. A few years later Porti embarked on his solo career as well as forming the vocal trio The Jewels, and carved a unique sound and niche in Jamaica's roots music scene. His voice was rich and charismatic, and Benji & Lynford provided unique and memorable falsetto harmonies Their output was consistent and exemplary, from heavy roots anthems to lovers rock, and they had everything necessary to reach the success of equivalent vocal groups such as The Heptones, The Might Diamonds or The Wailing Souls. Yet they never made big waves in Jamaica itself, and their full length album (recorded at Leggo's Studio in Orange St) was tragically never released. They did however achieve some bonafide soundsystem hits in the UK & beyond with songs such as 'Love + Livity' and 'Slave Trade', although they were never made aware of this at the time. The Jewels recorded together into the mid 80's, but as digital reggae and dancehall emerged, they sadly faded into obscurity. Some personal background - I first heard the music of The Jewels in the early 2000's via the Sydney radio show, Fire On The Wire (big respect to the Firehouse crew for this), and as soon as I heard their music I knew I had to find out more about them. My first two trips to Jamaica were in 2004 and 2008, but no matter who I asked in the Kingston music scene, no one knew anything about Glasford, or even who he was. Finally in 2011 I tracked down Leggo in Orange St in downtown Kingston, and he told me 'last I heard, he's living in a hut above Kingston in Red Hills'. So myself and a bredren Nova drove up to the top of Kingston, trekked through jungle in the direction that a local had pointed, and finally found Glasford alone and blind, living in a small hut, frail but very happy to see us (see the video links below that captured this moment). It was wonderful to finally meet him, and we organised to pick him up a few days later, to get him a nice meal and supplies, and get him back in the studio. We recorded new versions of some of his songs, and this DJ mix actually finishes with a re-recording we did of his anthem 'Slave Trade', with an unreleased dub version. It was Glasford's first time in the studio since the 1980's, and his first time re-united with Benji for a very long time (Lynford now lives in the USA). It was also an emotional moment for him to see Leggo again after so long. Soon after this Glasford's family helped him move back to the city from the countryside, and he began doing interviews and recording again. We saw him again in 2015 and 2016 and stayed in touch, but he sadly passed away in February 2024 from health complications at the age of 80. As he said in one of his last interviews: '“I love music, and I cannot stop doing music. I have to just keep on doing music, for it’s born in me from I was a kid, so I love it.”  Thankyou Porti and Benji and Lynford for your amazing music. More links: Glasford in action in the hills above Kingtson - 'Slave Trade':    • Glasford 'Porti' Manning (of The Jewels) s...   And singing 'Dream Lover Babe':    • Glasford 'Porti' Manning (of The Jewels) s...   More reading - essential interview here with Glasford: https://www.reggae-vibes.com/articles... Tribute: https://adabu-foundation.irieites.de/... The new version of 'Slave Trade' can be heard on Mista Savona's album: Havana Meets Kingston Part 2 https://mistasavona.bandcamp.com/albu...