Style Scott / April 29, 1956 - Oct 9, 2014

Happy born day shout-out to Lincoln "Style" Scott, the great Jamaican drummer with Dub Syndicate, the Roots Radics (who became the Channel One house band around '79) and about a million Adrian Sherwood/On-U Sound projects.

His earliest record appearances were with Sugar Minott ("Hard Time Pressure") and David Isaacs. In '78 he became drummer for Prince Far-I & the Arabs, who were also largely the same group as Sherwood's Creation Rebel. With the Radics he helped lay the foundation for what became known as dancehall music. He played with Gregory Isaacs (that's Scott on "Night Nurse"), Barrington Levy, Eek-A-Mouse, Bunny Wailer (with whom he played Madison Square Garden in '86), Capleton, Bill Laswell and many, many more. He also ran the Lion & Roots label. Despite the digital revolution of the '80s putting many musicians in Jamaica out of work Scott was able to keep fresh and busy with work in the UK and elsewhere for several decades.

I remember reading an interview with Scott from around 2013 where, when asked about possible motives to Winston Riley's murder, he said something along the lines about how if people see a musician's name on several album credits and that they tour Europe (both of which would fit Scott) then some people may assume someone has a lot of money. As with the unsolved murders of several Jamaican artists, Scott had a good point about the mystery concerning Riley's death.

Unfortunately, just a few months after that interview was published, Scott himself was found to be the victim of a homicide at the age of 58. His brand new album with Dub Syndicate was finished but had not yet been released (Hard Food, Echo Beach Recordings).




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