KING DJANGO

Anywhere I Roam

kingdjango.com

For two decades, Stubborn Records founder Jeff “King Django” Baker has kept the East Coast safe for ska and traditional Jamaican music. Here, the singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist pulls together a dozen tracks cut with friends and associates, and while all feature variations of the island’s distinctive offbeat bounce, Django keeps things as diverse as possible. In addition to swift, snappy ska tunes, the King drops plenty of smooth-grooving rocksteady and bass-heavy reggae. He’s especially good when he plays up the boss-man shtick and grabs the mic for some patois-laced braggadocio toasting, as on the title track, where the Jewish Brooklynite rhymes “spliff,” “skiff” and “riff,” grinning all the while.