Luciano's story begins in Davey Town, a small, close-knit community in the Jamaican parish of Manchester, where he was born Jepther McClymont on the 20th October 1964. After singing in his local church choir and in neighbouring youth clubs Jepther eventually moved to the capital Kingston, where he became an upholsterer by day and singer on sound systems by night. It was by voicing dubplates that his reputation spread, and recordings for Earl Haynes, Zagalou's Homer Harris - who named him Luciano after the Lucky Luciano movie character - and producer Sky High soon followed, although it wasn't until he sang for New Name's Castro Brown and then Freddie McGregor's Big Ship operation that he chalked up his first major hits. "Shake It Up Tonight" duly became his first UK No. 1 in 1993, by which time he'd also voiced songs for Pickout, Diamond Rush, Saxon and Sly & Robbie's Taxi label. More importantly he'd also met Xterminator producer Phillip "Fatis" Burrell, who encouraged him to write original material and then released the two singles that were to establish Luciano's early standing as a singer of depth and meaning, namely "Chant Out" and the now classic "Poor And Simple". The Xterminator imprint was already famed for its superb rhythm tracks and a growing catalogue of dancehall and cultural anthems by the likes of Cocoa Tea, Tony Rebel and Capleton, even before Luciano joined their fold. With musicians such as Sly & Robbie, Dean Fraser, The Firehouse Crew and Third World guitarist Cat Coore to draw upon, Fatis had creaed a sound capable of taking reggae music forwards, even whilst remaining true to time honoured values of the past.
In such environment, Luciano's career flourished. And whilst his 1994 debut set "Moving Up" suffered from lack of exposure, the torrent of hit singles that followed on its heels - including "Neighbourhood Watch" (with Selvie Wonder), "Raggamuffin", "Mr. Governor" (with Cocoa Tea), "Back To Africa", "Time Is The Master" and "Bounty Lover" (with Lady G) - simply couldn't be ignored. The majority of these tracks subsequently appeared on his two excellent "Back To Africa" and "One Way Ticket" albums from the mid-nineties, and were later compiled by Jet Star for their "Reggae Max" collection. In the meantine he was attracting attention from Chris Blackwell's label Island-Jamaica, who signed him to an exclusive deal during the latter part of 1994, and then issued the celebrated "Where There Is Life" album the following year. It proved a milestone of contemporary roots music, spawning the hit singles "It's Me Again Jah", the stunning title track and a remixed "Who Could It Be" featuring US rap group the Jungle Brothers. The songs on this album - produced in their entirety by Fatis - found Luciano ready, willing and able to address an international audience, yet without compromising his musical or spiritual beliefs in any way. He toured extensively in its wake performing at major venues and outdour festivals all over the globe to considerable acclaim, and impressing everybody with his warm, kindly nature and articulate commitment to the Rastafarian cause.
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