While watching last year’s Grammy Awards, JonFX was impressed by singer/songwriter Jon Batiste who won Album of The Year for ‘We Are’, despite no massive major label support.
‘We Are’s throwback concept appealed to the Jamaican musician/producer who devised an idea for an old school album with a contemporary feel.
‘Vintage Collection’, that album, was released on February 6. It hears JonFX singing rocksteady, ska, and reggae songs he wrote and played most instruments on.
It is a salute to Jamaican music pioneers he grew up admiring including artists like Desmond Dekker and Toots and The Maytals, and producers Arthur “Duke” Reid and Clement Dodd.
“I’ve learned that era was less stressful because they had acoustic sounds all around,” said JonFX, who is one of the driving forces behind the South Florida music scene.
Songs like ‘Train’, ‘Miracle’ and ‘Rude to Your Parents’ recall the classic era of the 1960s.
JonFX has made the charts with artists from different genres. He produced Gyptian’s reggae jam, ‘Hold Yuh’, ‘Arms Around You’ by rapper Xxxtentacion and ‘Another Level Remix’ by Guyanese gospel singer Renwick Duesbury. ‘Vintage Collection’ is the follow-up to ‘Retro Dancehall’, JonFX’s previous album which came out in 2022.
Although just 39 years-old, the Kingston-born multi-instrumentalist has played with legends in reggae including Glen Adams, the respected organist for The Upsetters, Lee “Scratch” Perry’s studio band in the early 1970s. He also did recording sessions for producers Everton “Caveman” Moore, Hyman “Jah Life” Wright and Keeling Beckford.