KASTICK’S VOICE GROWS NIGHT BY NIGHT
Anyone familiar with Paul Kastick knows of his work as a drummer with Big Mountain, Maxi Priest, and Diana King. Few are aware of his vocal ability, which comes to the fore on Night by Night, a cover of the 1974 song by Steely Dan.
Released in August, Night by Night is a reggae/rock take on a jazz-based song that helped make the American duo one of the most successful acts of the 1970s.
Kastick and long-time collaborator, American guitarist Rudy Valentino, produced the track.
He said while he knew about Steely Dan, he never heard Night by Night until Valentino brought it to his attention. After a prolonged delay due to touring and other recording sessions, they finally laid the tracks for their version in 2022, with the veteran ‘skinsman’ adding his vocals early this year.
“I used to sing in the hotels with Junior Jazz and Benjy Myaz… used to sing a lot of background, all that stuff. Used to sing background on certain songs in the studio, but never out front coming up to ’89 when I join 809 Band. From I join 809 Band I just put that aside until 2018-19 when I started working on this project,” Kastick told the Jamaica Observer‘s Splash.
“That project is My Reggae Rockin’ Journey: Vol 1, an album of Kastick’s favourite rock songs. He sings lead on reggae-flavoured renditions of Here I Go Again and Is This Love by Whitesnake, Every Rose Has Its Thorn by Whitesnake, I Don’t Want To Live Without You and One, originally done by U2.
Kastick and Valentino first met during a recording session for singer Lavaska at Tuff Gong studios in Kingston in 2000. The two struck up a partnership after discovering they have similar tastes in music and approach to production.
Their biggest collaboration to date is Hideaway, a 2006 reggae-rock stomper that became Tessanne Chin’s breakthrough hit.
The original Night by Night was recorded for Steely Dan’s 1974 album, Pretzel Logic. That set the tone for a succession of progressive albums by the team of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, including 1977’s Aja, considered among the great works in rock music.
