Soul Jazz Records Presents: 200% Dynamite! Ska, Soul, Rocksteady, Funk & Dub in Jamaica 2LP

Soul Jazz Records' 200% Dynamite! set the benchmark for reggae-meets-funk compilations that has never been bettered. Jam-packed with reggae tunes that crossed over to become dancefloor hits such as Tenor Saw's sound boy anthem "Ring the Alarm," K.C. White's classic cut of the seminal "No, No, No" and Augustus Pablo's "Rockers Rock," 200% Dynamite explores the links between reggae, jazz, funk and soul.

Carrying on perfectly from 100% Dynamite, this second compilation continues to trace the history of Jamaican reggae and the influence of American styles such as funk and jazz had on this music.

Featured here are serious funk and rocksteady tunes from the likes of The Skatalites and Johnny Osbourne through to Jamaican jazz from masters such as Tommy McCook and Byron Lee, as well as some serious dub from the likes of Augustus Pablo, King Tubby and Jackie Mittoo.

Bonus tracks on this 2024 edition include seminal dancehall party cuts Sister Nancy's "One Two" and Chaka Demus and Pliers' "Murder She Wrote," alongside classic soul to reggae covers including cuts of Marlena Shaw's "Women of the Ghetto" and Odyssey's "Don't Tell Me Tell Her."

Once again, Soul Jazz goes digging through the reggae vaults and produces another sterling compilation. If you're looking for a primer on the music of the island, you could do worse than buying every one of the records in this superb compilation series.

In Soul Jazz's outstanding Dynamite! series 200% is the head-turner. The label has its finger on the pulse of the now just as surely as it does on that of the past.

Soul Jazz Records 'Dynamite' series has quickly become a rewarding guide to reggae's most infectious back pages. Every home needs some Dynamite.