Good reggae bands can be quite a thing to see live. Peter Tosh didn't call his backing band Word, Sound & Power for nothing. The gut-shaking bass and echoey dub atmospherics can make even the stiffest neck bounce a little.
Puerto Rican reggae group Gomba Jahbari are no exception. I caught a show in Falls Church, Va., where the bass nearly blew the roof off the State Theatre. So it's no surprise that "Live from Culebra" shakes, shimmies and pounds as the band runs through a few classic as well as numbers from their most recent studio album, "Road to Reggae."
After a dub-heavy opening jam, "Charlie" kicks things off with the story of a "kiddo from the ghetto," but some of the set's best songs come courtesy of Gomba's debut album, "Sentemonos."
That record's title track is a joyful skank; another of its best songs, "Afrikah," pounds with a straight-ahead rhythm and a head-spinning dub session.
Gomba Jahbari doesn't venture this far north too often, but if they do, "Live from Culebra" is proof that you should get your tickets early.
Hear samples at Amazon.com.
Sussex Countian
