Originally released on MPS Records, this is a subtle and fairly creative duet set featuring pianist Monty Alexander and the Jamaican guitarist Ernest Ranglin. On seven standards (including "Just Friends", "If I Should Lose You" and "Fly Me To The Moon") and three originals, Alexander and Ranglin listen closely to each other and indulge in some tight musical interaction. Although boppish, the music is not overly predictable; the musicians' mutual respect is obvious. Well worth searching for.

Jamaican-born pianist Monty Alexander is a sophisticated, prolific performer with an urbane, swinging style informed by the bop tradition, as well as the reggae and Caribbean folk he grew up with. He is in top form in this 1974 studio session made for MPS, joined by guitarist Ernest Ranglin, bassist Eberhard Weber, and drummer Kenny Clare.

Not every musician can pull off a program in front of an audience that ranges through a wide variety of jazz styles, but Monty Alexander does so, even within the opener, "On Green Dolphin Street." Starting this familiar standard in a bop mode, he detours into boogie-woogie until guitarist Ernest Ranglin takes over. His lovely improvised introduction to "Emily" gives way to a much slower than typical arrangement, which emphasizes the beauty of Henry Mancini's original conception, though with a few changes incorporated by the leader…

On this, their umpteenth album collaboration since the scatologically titled 1974 LP Rass!, Monty Alexander and Ernest Ranglin fill their own good air with some gems from their country’s late ’60s to late ’70s pop-music canon. Recorded live in the studio with a minimum of bells and whistles, Rocksteady is emblematic of the pioneer spirit that propelled Jamaican recordings into the international spotlight three decades ago.

"Cobilimbo" is one of Monty Alexander's more creative sets of the 70s, recorded Sept. 8.-9.,1977, at MPS Studio Villingen, with a strong Caribbean groove overall and with guitar from Ernest Ranglin and steel drums from Vincent Taylor.

Jamaican guitarist Ernest Ranglin’s work with reggae legends Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff and long association with internationally acclaimed Jamaican jazz pianist Monty Alexander, ranks Ranglin among the major figures in West Indian music.