Mawazine Sessions: Ernest Ranglin on his illustrious career

After nearly 70 years in the music business, Ernest Ranglin is calling it a day. The 84-year-old musician is in the middle of a farewell world tour celebrating his illustrious career. We catch up with him at the Mawazine Festival.

Ernest Ranglin performs at this year’s Mawazine Festival. Photo by Youness Hamiddine

After nearly 70 years in the music business, Ernest Ranglin is calling it a day.

The 84-year-old musician is in the middle of a farewell world tour, which included a performance at the recent Mawazine Festival in Morocco, where we caught up with him.

The tour celebrates his illustrious career, from the early days as one of the pioneers of ska (the precursor to reggae), to composing music for a Bond movie and the evolution of ska and reggae. Now, Ranglin says, it is time to take things easy.

“It will be time to relax,” he says. “I would love to be home with my books – I have got plenty of reading to do.”

This is your final run of shows. Why retire?

Seeing that I am not getting any younger, I think it’s time for me to hang up my gloves. I have travelled all over the world: South Africa, Australia and Japan – it’s too tiring for me now. I want to do less. I want to relax, sit down and do some of my own studies. I will still be involved in music, but in a different form. I won’t be jumping on and off planes.

As one of the credited founders of ska, do you feel the genre remains appreciated?

I definitely do notice that. This is why I try to make whatever I do as modern as possible. You can’t stay in one little corner – everything can be improved, and I am trying my best to be one of the people to take the genre further. All in all, what is very important is that it keeps going, that the excellence continues. Since I am one of the first people who started ska music, I need to help the genre evolve.

You were born in Jamaica when the entertainment industry there was in its infancy. How did you get into music?

I am a self-taught musician. I never went to school, and I started with books and I still refer to books. When I was young, I used to play by ear, but eventually, with these books, I got knowledge and grew further.

You contributed music to the first James Bond film, Dr No, in 1962. The cast and crew also came to film in Jamaica. How was that experience?

That was an interesting time. The film came to Jamaica and they only had two weeks to do whatever they were doing. They were in a rush and so they never gave me any footage to help me compose the music. They just told me that this is the scene where Bond would do this or that, and this bit will be two seconds and that bit will be three seconds. So I had to imagine everything and work out the timing.

My favourite album of yours is 1998’s In Search of the Lost Riddim, for which you travelled to Africa and collaborated with one of the greats, Baaba Maal. Tell us about that.

According to history, music originated in Africa. I consider myself an African, although I live in Jamaica. This is why I do a lot of stuff in Africa and try to emulate some of the things I have heard there. Regarding that album, I went to Senegal in 1970, and I discovered so many new instruments and heard so many new rhythms that I told myself: "I have to go back to this place." It really felt that this is where it all started. So I went back and made that album and called it In Search of the Lost Riddim because that's what I was doing – and I am still searching.

What do you think of the acclaimed 2006 documentary Roots of Reggae: The Ernest Ranglin story?

I would say that it was just great that they even had the idea to begin with. There always are many ways to make things better – but I think they tried their best and I appreciate what they have done.