Augustus Pablo has left behind a legacy of love, life, and music.
Known for his blurred eyes, and serious face -Augustus leaves the world with an alternatively original reggae vibe. His sound illustrated a lingering trill with minor key tunes, and sparse lines for the melodica (a harmonica with a keyboard), which hovered above deep bass lines and hollowed keyboards. With over 20 albums recorded throughout his career, Augustus has influenced the careers of several artists, like Luciano, Sizzla, Junior Reid, Sugar Minott, and many more.
The irreverent founder of Dub Reggae was born in 1953 as Horace Swaby, began developing his original Far East Sound while working with producer Herman Chin-Loy, the first single produced was "Iggy Iggy" and was credited to Augustus Pablo, a pseudonym Mr. Chin-Loy used for instrumentals, Swaby adopted the name, and was reborn as Augustus Pablo.
A native of Kingston, Augustus became Rastafarian in his teen years, while teaching himself to play the keyboards. Years later, Bob Marley brought Augustus to work on Wailers recordings; he then joined the house band at Randy's Studio - a leading Kingston studio. Augustus was well on his to becoming a bandleader, and a regular session musician.
His first major Jamaican hit, was "Java" in 1972, which brought forth the single East of River Nile that truly introduced his sound. While working as a popular studio musician, Augustus began running his own record labels, including Rockers International, Hot Stuff, Yard, and Message Records. That lead him to produce records for singers; Junior Delgado, Hugh Mundell, and Jacob Miller - he later released instrumentals under his own name.
King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown, a classic album to all reggae lovers, was Augustus signature piece, which featured echoes and slide faders that created an atmospheric soundscape. Mixed by King Tubby, another genius of dub, the album popularized dub around the globe.
Having left this world in 1999, Augustus passed on one of the most creative, and influential sounds.
