Calling Rastafari

It's been a long time since Burning Spear released an album as thoroughly rootsy as this--the opening track even quotes from his own classic "Slavery Days." And rarely has his music, which has always been locked into a hypnotic groove, sounded so upbeat, punctuated with bouncing horn lines--it's almost as if he's announcing that he's back, and happy to be here. While his voice isn't quite the instrument it was in the late '70s, it's still strong and supple, and there's plenty of vocal support--almost a return to the days of Burning Spear (the band) in the use of call-and-response singing. Even his writing seems to have taken a rootsier turn (as evidenced by the album title). All in all, Spear's best in years. --Chris Nickson