For 40 years, Paul Kastick has held the drummer’s seat in bands for famous acts including Maxi Priest and Big Mountain. On his latest projects, he steps out front as a vocalist.
Kastick sings on ‘Night by Night’, a song he co-produced with longtime collaborator, American guitarist Rudy Valentino. It is a reggae-rock cover of jazz-rock band Steely Dan’s 1974 song.
Their version was released on August 25 by Kastick’s GrooveGaloreMuzik and Valentino’s Valentino Muzik. Kastick admits there was some apprehension about going on record as a singer.
“There are jitters when you realize now that you are the one that is going to do the singing and harmonies. Singing is not my area of expertise, but I know certain things, because I have worked with top singers over the years,” he said.
The idea to cover ‘Night by Night’ came from Valentino, a session musician who has worked with several Jamaican acts such as Richie Stephens, Lavaska and Tessanne Chin. His biggest Jamaican production to date, has been Chin’s ‘Hideaway’, a 2006 reggae-rock jam he co-produced with Kastick.
‘Night by Night’ is part of ‘My Reggae Rockin’ Journey Vol: 1’, an album that hears Kastick and Valentino covering hard rock classics such as ‘Here I go Again’ and ‘Is This Love’ by Whitesnake, and ‘Every Rose Has its Thorn’ by Poison.
Kastick is from Montego Bay, where he started his career during the early 1980s as a drummer in hotel bands. His first big break was with the 809 Band alongside saxophonist Dean Fraser, trombonist Nambo Robinson and bassist Gibby Morrison.