Keith & Tex - Just Passing Through (Kebar Music/Self-published)

For this album Keith & Tex collaborated with a lot of well-known (Errol 'Black Steel' Nicholson, Irie Ites, Victor 'Ticklah' Axelrod) and lesser known (rocksteady-band The Dynamos from San Francisco, Jeremiah Ben Zion from the Israeli Maameen Productions, reggae-band The  Soulutionaries from Los Angeles, Tyler Pu'unui Wong...) musicians and producers and that resulted in a gem of an album, here and there ('Keeping It Real' over Jimmy London's ''Till I Kissed You', 'Respek', 'Standing In'...) even echoing the glory days of the rocksteady era. Opener 'Back Into Your World', unwillingly reminded yours truly of The Carpenters, 'We Can Make It' sounds somewhat like a soul ballad from the nineteen eighties and 'Sweet Jamaica' is perfect for a new Jamaican Tourist Board campaign, but our favorites from the track list are title track 'Just Passing Through', the rootsy 'Righteous Man' and the great lovers tune 'I'm Lost'. Riddim fanatics can indulge themselves with 'Gotta Represent', a version over the riddim of Mighty Diamonds' 'One Brother Short' and 'Born Winners', an update of Derrick Harriott's 'The Loser' which Keith & Tex turned into a beautiful ode to the rocksteady era.