Goodbye to Sly Dunbar (Sly & Robbie)

Sly Dunbar, known as one half of the reggae duo Sly & Robbie, has passed away. He was 73 years old and the causes of death have not been disclosed at the moment, but he had had health problems for some time.

The duo is one of the most beloved and legendary rhythm sections of reggae music and beyond: Dunbar had started playing drums as a young man in local groups and in 1972 he met bassist Robbie Shakespeare, founding one of the most important collaborations in Jamaican music, working with Peter Tosh, and Gregory Isaacs and recording records under their own name.
Carlo Boccadoro writes about them, regarding the 1985 album “Make ‘Em Move”, in “Lunario della musica: A record for every day of the year”:

Sly Dunbar (drums) and Robbie Shakespeare (bass) are the two most famous instrumentalists on the Jamaican music scene, unanimously considered one of the best rhythm sections in the world. They have lent their work to hundreds of albums, making themselves noticed since 1974, and the precise and powerful rhythmic charge that their grooves are able to bring to each song has earned them the nickname “Rhythm Killers”.
In 1985 they successfully released their best album, “Language barrier”, which ingeniously combined funk, rap, rock, reggae and electronics in a bubbling cauldron intended for strong palates, saturated with pounding rhythms, obsessive riffs, dark and menacing atmospheres.