Although the
Coyabalites are a Jamaican supergroup of sorts, with a lineup that includes the
Zap Pow horn section (
Vin Gordon on trombone, Glen DaCosta on sax,
David Madden on trumpet, plus
Dean Fraser on sax), along with keyboardist
Harold Butler, guitarist
Ernest Ranglin and vocals from the great
Justin Hinds, the end result seems less than the promise of its illustrious membership. It's a configuration with a long and glorious pedigree, and one would think this album would fairly explode out of the speakers. That it doesn't has a lot to do with the particular reason this group was formed. The
Coyabalites are essentially a hotel lounge outfit, combining light jazz touches to ska standards, and have served as the house band at the Coyaba River Garden complex in Ochos Rios, where their job is to smooth everything out so as not to startle the tourists. That said,
Unhinged, their debut album, has it moments, as long as you realize the audience it intends to service. Be advised that
Hinds only sings on two cuts here, the opening reprise of his classic "Carry Go Bring Come" and a totally ill-advised cover of
Toots Hibbert's "Monkey Man," which is way too watered down to work. Instrumental covers of classics by
Jackie Mittoo ("Purpose," "Drum Song") and
Don Drummond ("Occupation," "Eastern Standard Time") are pleasant and winning, with bright guitar figures from
Ranglin, as is a version of "My Boy Lollipop" (with Judy Gordon handling the vocal made famous by Millie Small in 1961). and a DaCosta and Gordon original, "More Scorcher," also shines. Again, the
Coyabalites are a ska jazz show band with all the hard edges rounded off, and as long as listeners understand that, and aren't looking for a hard-punching horn band,
Unhinged is quite enjoyable. It should have been titled Hinged,, though. ~ Steve Leggett