Leonard Chin (born Leonard Anthony Chin, 1953, Kingston, Jamaica)Barker, Steve, Pressure Sounds page on ''An Even Harder Shade of Black''
aka Santic, is a

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

. After first working as a car mechanic, he then trained as a

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

and worked for the

Gleaner Company The Gleaner Company Ltd. is a newspaper publishing enterprise in Jamaica. Established in 1834 by Joshua and Jacob De Cordova, the company's primary product is ''The Gleaner'', a morning broadsheet published six days each week. It also publishes ...

. In the early 1970s he began working as a singer with Charles Hannah and The Graduates, and recorded a single for Gussie Clarke, but he realized that he was better suited to production. His early productions between 1973 and 1975 included recordings by Augustus Pablo, who recorded the first single for his Santic record label (the name derived from the nickname of his friend, drummer

Carlton "Santa" Davis Carlton "Santa" Davis (born 21 November 1953) is a musician from Jamaica, primarily known for his drumming with bands such as Bob Marley & The Wailers, The Aggrovators, Soul Syndicate and Roots Radics. He has worked with reggae artists such as ...

, and "Atlantic"), "Pablo In Dub", as well as

Paul Whiteman Paul Samuel Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was an American bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist. As the leader of one of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s and early 1930s, W ...

, Horace Andy (with whom he had two hits - "Problems" and "Children of Israel"), Roman Stewart, and

Gregory Isaacs Gregory Anthony Isaacs OD (15 July 1951 – 25 October 2010)Thompson, p. 127. was a Jamaican reggae musician. Milo Miles, writing in ''The New York Times'', described Isaacs as "the most exquisite vocalist in reggae".Miles, Milo (1992),RECORDI ...

.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd edn.", Rough Guides, Two of the tracks he produced for Pablo were included on the

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usua ...

player's debut album.Katz, David (2003) "Solid Foundation: an Oral History of Reggae", Bloomsbury, Chin's recording sessions generally took place at Randy's studio, with Errol Thompson at the mixing desk, and using Pablo as an arranger or keyboard player. Chin also produced

Jah Woosh Neville Beckford (1952 – 21 February 2011), better known as Jah Woosh, was a Jamaican reggae deejay and record producer, primarily known for his work in the 1970s. Biography Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Beckford served an apprenticeship as a m ...

's 1976 album, ''Chalice Blaze''.''Chalice Blaze'' at Roots Archives
A mid-1970s compilation of his productions, ''An Even Harder Shade of Black'', was reissued by Pressure Sounds in 1995. The label released a further collection of his work, ''Down Santic Way'', in 2005. In 1975, he relocated to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and became a prominent producer in the lovers rock genre, working with the likes of

Carroll Thompson Carroll Thompson is a British lovers rock singer, best known as the "Queen of Lovers Rock" Biography Thompson was born in England and is of Jamaican descent. Thompson undertook classical piano training on the piano and sang in school and chur ...

, Jean Adebambo, Trevor Walters, Donna Rhoden, and Lorna Pierre.

Discography

;Albums * ''An Even Harder Shade of Black'' (1995, Pressure Sounds) * ''Down Santic Way'' (2005, Pressure Sounds) ;Contributing artist * ''

The Rough Guide to Dub ''The Rough Guide to Dub'' is a world music compilation album originally released in 2005. Part of the World Music Network Rough Guides series, the release covers the roots of dub music, focusing on the period 1973-1980. Curation was performed ...

'' (2005,

World Music Network World Music Network is a UK-based record label specializing in world music. The World Music Network website features news, reviews, live music listings, and guide sections on world music. It also features an online "Battle of the Bands" competit ...

)

References

External links

Leonard Chin at Roots ArchivesSantic Records websiteDiscography at Discogs
Jamaican record producers Living people People from Kingston, Jamaica 1953 births Jamaican photographers {{Reggae-stub