Luciano Jah Is My Navigator
Roots singer Luciano has been plenty creative since 1995, releasing over 40 albums. Granted, there’s […]
Roots singer Luciano has been plenty creative since 1995, releasing over 40 albums. Granted, there’s been plenty of generic material, and Jah Is My Navigator mixes worthwhile with mundane. Slightly overproduced and predictable, the man’s voice still carries plenty of weight, especially when things are mellow, as on the soft, R&B-inflected “Paradise Liberty.” (If the voice sounds familiar on the Peter Tosh cover, “I’m the Tuffest,” it should–it belongs to the Rastaman’s son, Andrew.) Songs like “African Liberty” and “Wise Up Youth” are exactly the anthem-like cries you’d expect, making them slightly irrelevant. But when Luciano turns everything low, save for piano, violin, and voice, “Jah Canopy/Hard Herbs” is the kind of song that lasts for generations.