01	Congo Man						04:54
	02	Surfin'						05:43
	03	King Tubby Meets The Rockers						05:05
	04	Satta Massagana						04:38
	05	54-46 (Was My Number)						05:53
	06	Ball Of Fire						06:06
	07	Black Disciples						06:04
	08	Bourbon Street Skank						04:58
	09	None Shall Escape The Judgement						03:10
	10	Nana's Chalk Pipe						03:39
	11	Below The Bassline						04:37

A quick geography lesson: the bass line is a latitudinal line circling the earth running through Jamaica and Africa, running even through the reggae and acid-jazz clubs of downtown Tokyo. A quick history lesson: unbeknownst even to a lot of reggae fans, most of Jamaica's killer session players from reggae music's glory days in the '60s and '70s were also heavy jazz cats, and the Island Jamaica Jazz series will spotlight Jamaica's unheralded place in the jazz pantheon, a role hitherto known only to few. Which brings us to this album from legendary reggae guitarist Ernest Ranglin. Ranglin is primarily known to heavy reggae collectors as a clutch session player of the '60s and '70s, but this album is truly something new under the sun. If anything, it's acid jazz from a different latitude: Grant Green on ganja, Wes Montego Bay instead of Wes Montgomery, Weldon lrie instead of Weldon Irvine. All kidding aside, just listen to one rimshot crack from legendary jazz-funk stickman Idris Muhammad, who lays down a New Orleans-style streetbeat behind "Congo Man," and see if that doesn't get the proverbial backfield in motion. Ranglin's tone is bubbly, lush, delicate and sweet, as he ripples sinewy lines over "Surfin'," "King Tubby Meets The Rockers" (dig how pianist Gary Mayone subtly uses his piano's sustain pedal to imitate the echo of dub reggae!) and "Bourbon Street Skank," but every track is killer like Jacob Miller. Below The Bassline is also among the first salvo of releases to mark the launch of Island's Jamaica Jazz label, and seems particularly poignant and sweet, since Ranglin was one of two artists featured on the first-ever album on Chris Blackwell's Island Records way back in the early '60s. Now it would seem that things have come full circle, and it's time for us all to stand up and salute this giant of Jamaican music.