Val Bennett | |
---|---|
Birth name | Lovall Bennett |
Died | 1991 |
Genres | Ska, rocksteady, reggae, jazz |
Occupation | Musician |
Instrument(s) | Tenor saxophone, trombone |
Years active | Late 1940s – 1991 |
Formerly of | The Val Bennett Orchestra Prince Buster Bunny Lee All Stars The Upsetters |
Val Bennett (born Lovall Bennett, died 1991) was a Jamaican tenor saxophonist and jazz and roots reggae musician who began his career in the 1940s. He made a number of releases on the Island Records and Crab Records labels.
In the late 1940s, Bennett led his own band, the Val Bennett Orchestra. [1] Artists that played in Bennett's band included Jah Jerry Haynes, [2] Lloyd Knibb, and Ernest Ranglin, whose first professional experience was with this band. [1] The Val Bennett Orchestra performed regularly at the Colony Club, performing mainly for foreign visitors to Jamaica. [3] The band also toured abroad, performing in countries including Haiti, where they picked up méringue and played it on their return to Jamaica.
In the early to mid-1960s, Bennett was a regular member of Prince Buster's band, playing on many of the singer's best-known recordings, including "Al Capone". [2] Bennett was also a regular studio session musician, appearing on many releases from artists including Theophilus Beckford, Pat Kelly, Barrington Levy, and Delroy Wilson. [1] Bennett's session work included saxophone, horn, and trombone. [1] In the late 1960s, Bennett joined Bunny Lee's "All Stars". [2]
Notable tracks by Bennett include "The Russians Are Coming" (1968), a cover of "Take Five" by the Dave Brubeck Quartet, [4] which would later go on to be used as the theme tune to the British television series The Secret Life of Machines in the late-1980s; and "Tons Of Gold" (1970), with the Harry J Allstars, a version of their track "The Liquidator". [2] Bennett also worked for producer Lee "Scratch" Perry, and his Spaghetti Western-inspired "Return of Django", recorded with Perry's studio band The Upsetters was a major UK hit in 1969. [5] His track "Baby Baby" was also included on The Upsetters' album Eastwood Rides Again . Perry was the only producer to get Bennett to perform vocals, "Baby Baby" being one of these examples, the other being "Barbara". [6]