Easy does it with Boris Gardiner
For nearly 50 years, Boris Gardiner has been making what they call easy-listening reggae. He revisits that formula on The Beauty of The Night, his latest song.
Released in May by Upstairs Music, The Beauty of The Night is co-written and co-produced by Gardiner and Danny Breakenridge, principal of the South Florida-based label.
The smooth reggae sound has paid dividends for Gardiner throughout his career. His biggest success came in 1986 with I Wanna Wake up With You, a Willie Lindo-produced ballad which topped the British National Chart.
Recently, Gardiner told the Jamaica Observer that he is still hungry for a hit song, even at 75 years old.
“It’s hard to predict a hit, much less a big hit, as it not only takes good music, but the right timing and lots of luck. However, it would be wonderful to have another hit…big or small,” he said.
Like I Wanna Wake up With You and It’s so Nice to be With You, another Gardiner hit, The Beauty of The Night is laid-back lovers rock. Those are the songs he played as bass player and leader of the Boris Gardiner Happening Band during the 1970s and 1980s; they helped define his career as a vocalist.
Gardiner spoke of his admiration for the current generation of Jamaican singers, especially Christopher Martin and Romain Virgo, but said local radio can do with some more ballads.
“Listening to what most radio disc Jockeys are playing now, I would say yes. They play about 90 per cent dancehall, soca, vintage reggae, a few new ones and 10 per cent other genres,” he said, adding that The Beauty of The Night “is good for the dance floor and easy-listening.”
Boris Gardiner established himself as a session musician for producers Clement “Coxson” Dodd and Lee “Scratch” Perry during the 1960s and 1970s. He played on classic songs such as I’ve Got The Handle and Sea of Love by The Heptones, Nanny Goat by Larry and Alvin and Junior Murvin’s Police And Thieves .
He also co-wrote Every Nigger is A Star with his brother Barrington, made popular by Big Youth. Gardiner still loves playing live and going to the recording studio.
“I enjoy performing at concerts, shows, and special occasions. I still enjoy recording also, not only as a singer but as a bass player, producer, and engineer,” he said.
