Journey From Creation 1975-1985 (2LP)

Creole / Chinafrica - Journey From Creation 1975-1985 2LP

Another impeccable and essential release from DKR / Digikiller - this time it's an exhaustive anthology of the works of roots legend Wayne Chin and his Creole and Chinafrica projects. This is a holy grail of 70s-80s roots and a passion project for NYC's Digikiller crew that was a long time in the making. 24 absolute essential tracks spread across two records (LP1 contains the vocal versions and LP2 is exclusively dubs) with killer packaging and insightful liner notes to boot.

"A lot to say about this release, here goes -

As a personal project more than anything else, DKR naturally began with a very small ‘bucket list’, a handful of release ideas, most accurately described as misty ‘what ifs’ calling from the bottom of the endless well that is Jamaican music. A trio of these ideas were centered around artists that I thought should have had albums, but didn’t. I wanted to know why they never did, and then, I wanted to make those albums. Inherent to this pursuit was the hope that in doing so, along the way I might learn about them and find some more, unheard music from these artists.

Needless to say, Creole and Chinafrica was one of these. Since you’re reading this now, you know this hope was not in vain. Creole has both a mythic and misty status among serious roots reggae heads. We know their legendary tracks, the dubplates they spawned and the cover versions that came later. But who is Creole? Who is Wayne Chin? Is Wayne Chin Creole? Is it one guy? A group? Something else? Digging into Creole's handful of lesser known records didn't reveal much more, but only raised a few more questions. I thought about these things a bunch, and by the time I learned about Wayne's next project, Chinafrica, I started to put the pieces together. But ideas, wish lists and ambitions always come easier than the doing. So it took me quite a long time but finally I came around to wanting to try and answer all the questions, and in doing so, make this project a reality.

What I found in doing this was that both Creole AND Chinafrica were complete bands, in the way of a rock band rather than in the way "bands" are more often loosely conceived, credited and ever shifting in Jamaican music. Further, I found that both groups, spear headed by writer and lead vocalist Wayne Chin, were driven by his idea of bringing a reggae group beyond the aesthetic confines of the genre and toward the epic visual & theatrical aspects of soul groups like Earth, Wind and Fire and even hard rock bands like Kiss. Likewise, the music of both of Wayne's groups would also take influence from these other styles. Further, and maybe most surprising to learn was that Creole and Chinafrica both had members who went on to become well known players and producers in reggae, while their earlier work in these groups was widely unknown.

So to bring all of this, and more-so their fantastic music to new light, we put together this 2LP collecting the vocals & dubs of nearly all of Creole's output and likewise nearly all of the music of the first iteration of Chinafrica (see our 12" single releases from both groups for the rest). For the record, Chinafrica went on to make some more great music in the 1990's, which is not included here. Also, we went deep into the band members' archives to dig out as many photos and flyers as we could for the jacket, accompanied by a detailed rundown of their histories and musical output. Creole and Chinafrica each created a small but fantastic body of music that does a rare thing. Much of the music on this album successfully blends elements of different genres of music in an interesting way. It's firmly planted in reggae, but straddles the borders of soul, funk and rock in brilliant, complimentary moves. I dare say in Jamaican music, you will be hard pressed to find an easy comparison to the music of these two groups.

Please enjoy this collection of Wayne Chin and the guys’ unique and uncompromising vision of reggae music, much as we have enjoyed realizing it and shining a long overdue spotlight on their history and creativity. A sincere thanks to Wayne Chin and all the members of Creole and Chinafrica who indulged me and enthusiastically took part in one of my dream projects, it's a honor to finally present this release."
-RB/DKR

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Tracklist:

A1. Jah Creation
A2. Tourism
A3. I Don't Know
A4. Moving Away
A5. Skylarking
A6. Beware

B1. I Am A Rootsman
B2. You Made Me Happy
B4. Come Let Me Love Ya
B5. Destruction
B6. I Wonder

C1. Jah Creation Version
C2. Tourism Version
C3. I Don't Know Version
C4. Moving Away Version
C5. Skylarking Version
C6. Beware Version

D1. Old Hope Road
D2. You Made Me Happy Version
D3. Troubled World Version
D4. Come Let Me Love Ya Version
D5. Mx Missile Dub
D6. Wondering Dub