Search - Congos :: Revival

This roots reggae group debuted in the mid-'70s and recorded three albums--Heart of the Congos, Congos Ashanti, and Face the Music. Yet reggae fans will best recognize their "Row Fisherman Row," a tune that could still strip the deadwood from many of today's rote efforts at reggae piety. But the group vanished from the scene for such a lengthy period that even Rita Marley didn't know who the Congos were in the mid-'90s, when two original members got together and resumed performing. Such are the vagaries of the reggae business. No matter, now their number has swelled to three. Watty Burnett, Cedric Myton, and Roydel Johnson return in full force, demonstrating in this set the durability of the truly gifted, no matter how much time has passed. Working that falsetto-tenor-bass magic and singing from reggae's favorite place--holy ground--the Congos tunnel deep within and come out with strikingly poetic leads and textured harmonies. With Israel Vibration, the Congos, and other vets catching their second wind, reggae's future is no long just in the hands of the young bloods. And that's a good t'ing. --Elena Oumano