In his evocative documentary series Deep Roots Music, the film-maker Howard Johnson, who has died aged 78, provided tantalising glimpses of the world of reggae that have seldom been seen by outsiders. Filmed in his native Jamaica in the summer of 1981 on a shoestring budget as one of the first commissions for the newly established Channel 4, it employed a fly-on-the-wall approach that put Johnson’s subjects at ease.
Jamaica’s recording studios constitute a notoriously insular realm, yet Johnson gleaned naturalistic footage of Prince Jammy engineering a dub mix at King Tubby’s studio, of the producer Bunny Lee busting wild dance moves, of Dennis Brown, Delroy Wilson and Johnny Clarke voicing their hits, the saxophonist Tommy McCook leading what is left of the Skatalites through some classic instrumental reveries, and the percussionist Scully Simms presiding over a Rastafari groundation ceremony, giving a tangible sense of reggae’s African roots.
