LOST, FOUND & FRESH: THE TWENTY-YEAR JOURNEY OF TENOR BLUE’S I’M CALLIN’
Some tracks take the scenic route to your speakers. International reggae and R&B singer Tenor Blue has released I’m Callin’, a raw, revived cut with a fascinating survival story.
Recorded over two decades ago in Naples, Florida, Tenor Blue’s latest single, I’m Callin’, captures the electric spark of a late-night phone call with a new flame. Producer John Ford originally laid an uptempo London dubstep pulse over a vintage Studio One riddim. The result was an unexpected fusion that hit with immediate, irresistible energy.
Then disaster struck. A catastrophic hard drive crash wiped the unbacked stems, leaving the project in digital limbo for years.
TAILORED FOR A BASEMENT SESSION IN LONDON, TORONTO, OR NEW YORK
Enter engineer Sean Wedderburn. Armed with modern audio software, Wedderburn painstakingly separated the instruments from the surviving two-track mix. He chopped up the un-metronomed sample piece by piece, solving a complex sonic puzzle to rescue the tune from oblivion.
Borrowing its foundation from Cornel Campbell’s early-70s classic Queen Of The Minstrel, the revived track bleeds authentic Kingston grit.
The production retains a wonderfully rough, unpolished edge that only heightens its underground appeal. It feels tailored for a late-night basement session in London, Toronto, or New York.
By clashing throwback reggae heritage with a heavy bass sub-culture, Tenor Blue delivers an enduring dance floor filler. True style never ages, it just waits for the right moment to strike.
TRACK CREDITS
Producer: Sean Wedderburn
Composer: Leroy Sibbles
Lyricists: Tenor Blue (Brian Schiller), Cornel Campbell
Label: Blue Life Music
ABOUT TENOR BLUE
Raised in San Francisco’s historic Haight-Ashbury district, soulful singer Tenor Blue fell in love with reggae as a teenager. He later signed with RCA Records after honing a signature sound in Los Angeles.
Over two decades, he has shared stages and studios with reggae icons like Barrington Levy and Gregory Isaacs. Today, his genre-blending tracks deliver timeless messages of hope, love, and unity.
