Hot Stepper: The Best of Gregory Isaacs (Spectrum)

Album Review

Gregory Isaacs' massive output makes even a two-disc selection like this one seem like a three-minute skip through an art museum. Isaacs has been a Jamaican institution for decades, the very epitome of cool lovers rock and he had little trouble adapting his style to the constant shifts in Jamaican music preferences and flavors. This set has some of his best songs, including the Niney Holness-produced "Slave Master" and Isaacs' signature "Night Nurse," but it lacks other essential tracks like "Motherless Children" and "Poor & Clean," to name just two, making it more a stopgap purchase than a definitive one. That said, Isaacs' confident, unhurried tenor vocals hover over everything here, and while he is seldom flashy as a vocalist, his steady, subtle phrasing has led many to hail him as Jamaica's greatest singer. There's just more to this fine singer than what's presented here.