The Salmon is the creative alliance of Jamaican reggae veteran Kiddus I, French multi-instrumentalist and producer Camille Bazbaz, and his fellow countryman, guitarist Jérôme 'Tchiky' Perez. The album's title and the lyrics of its namesake track reference the behaviour of the salmon, a fish that swims upstream and against the current when necessary. And much like the salmon, Kiddus I, Bazbaz, and Tchiky defy musical clichés and conventions on 'The Salmon'. You might have guessed already, this is by no means a straightforward reggae album!
By Jah Rebel
Supported by seasoned musicians such as Delroy ‘WormBass’ Nevin, Sly Dunbar, Viryane Say, Pam Hall, Fabrice Colombani, Fonso, Yann Cléry, Flabba Holt and the late Style Scott, Kiddus I navigates his way through tracks that shift effortlessly between styles. At times, it leans into rock (‘Old Dog’, where Kiddus plays with the saying: “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks!”), then sways toward the New Orleans blues of Fats Domino (‘It’s A Blues’), transforms into a stunning piano ballad (‘Flowers’) and eventually circles back to reggae (the brilliant ‘Shakespeare’, which name-checks the English bard himself).
For Bazbaz, this project fulfilled a long-held dream: “I saw ‘Rockers’, one of my favourite movies, and Kiddus is one of the heroes, even if he’s only in it for about six minutes. The sun came into my house when I saw him perform ‘Graduation In Zion’. That was the only song I knew of Kiddus. I had ‘Rockers’ on VHS, and I watched that scene so many times it’s almost worn out! I kept thinking: “Wow man, who is this guy? What is this song? What is this voice?”. When I finally met Kiddus, I was really impressed, and we had a lot of fun, talking shit, talking about life, about women, about Babylon. And after a few hours, I said to Kiddus: “Let’s go to my studio and make some music!”. The first song we did wasn’t even reggae, it was ‘It’s A Blues’. It took me and Kiddus seventeen years to do this. This ‘The Salmon’ project is like my personal ‘Moby Dick’, my white whale. It’s like chasing something you might never capture, but I have big expectations for this album!”.
Aside from Winston McAnuff, who previously collaborated with Bazbaz (‘A Drop’, Black Eye, 2005; ‘A Bang’, Sakifo Records, 2011), Kiddus I may be the only Jamaican artist who can truly pull off a crossover project like this.
A must-have for fans of Kiddus I’s unmistakable voice and style, but even those outside that circle shouldn’t overlook this gem!
Founder alongside Jah Shakespear who transitioned to this role in late 2014. Previously worked as critic and reporter, balancing passions for music and Haile Selassie spirituality.
December 31, 2024