Augustus Pablo

Jamaican reggae melodica and keyboard player, producer and label owner. Born June 21, 1954 in St. Andrew, Jamaica, he learn to play piano, organ, clarinet and xylophone and popularised the melodica in reggae music. For his first recordings he began working with [a214840], who regularly used the pseudonym "Augustus Pablo" to credit his B-sides (e.g. [r=10524431] or [m=408640]), so Horace decided to keep the name for himself. His collaboration [m=131443] was crucial in the development of dub. Ran the "Rockers Hi-Fi" sound system with his brother [a=Garth Swaby] and the labels [l=Rockers], [l55689], [l232994], [l55118], [l16182], [l51921] and [l=Pablo Records (3)]. Opened a record shop in 1974 (Rockers international record shop, 135 Orange Street) owned by his brother and his good friend [a2141921] aka Micko). Died May 18, 1999 in Kingston, Jamaica after a long battle with health problems related to a nerve disorder. Father of [a=Addis Pablo]. A 'PABLO' tag etched in the run-out area of Jamaican records often refers to [a=Augustus Pablo] productions, however a similar etching on pressings from [l313229] would indicate mastering engineer [a=Pablo (77)] instead.