Various

Fans of last year’s breakout Jamaica to Toronto project take heed: the latest disc in the series has arrived, and with plenty of unreleased tracks to tantalise. The second Jamaica to Toronto instalment documents, in both the music and Kevin "Sipreano” Howes’ essay/liner notes, a time of a grassroots reggae community from Jamaica establishing itself in the Toronto area. The family vibe shines through on the many configurations of roots reggae icons like Noel Ellis, Adrian "Homer” Ellis, Earth, Roots and Water, Johnny Osbourne, and Jerry Brown, whose Summer Studio in Malton provided the Irie haven. (Howes notes on "Dub to Digital” fascinate, and the sweet sound of these remastered original tapes only adds to the experience.) The entire disc is solid but Earth, Roots and Water’s turns with Brown ("Sufferer”) and Osbourne ("Right, Right Time”) stand out, along with Brown’s "Dreadlock Lady,” Ellis’s "Reach my Destiny,” an unreleased version of Osbourne’s "Warrior.” But the album — a multimedia experience also including unseen ’70s and ’80s footage of Brown, Jackie Mittoo and the whole crew — bears mention as its own entity. This is essential roots reggae, delightful dub and a living history on disc.