MILL ROCK MUSIC PUBLISHING GROUP LLC ACQUIRES CATALOGUE OF VISIONARY JAMAICAN MUSICIAN, PRODUCER AND DUB ARCHITECT AUGUSTUS PABLO

New York, NY (September 15, 2021)–Mill Rock Music Publishing Group LLC, founded in 2016 by music industry veterans Murray Elias and Christoffer Mannix Schlarb, has acquired the catalogue of legendary Jamaican composer, producer, musician and melodica master, the late Augustus Pablo, whose ethereal instrumentals, inspired by his Rastafari way of life, brought heightened spirituality to reggae music. One of Jamaica’s most distinctive and influential artists, Pablo, who passed away on May 18, 1999 at 44 years old, altered reggae’s trajectory with his sonic innovations, which included his mystical Far East sound, characterized by haunting, minor-key melodica lines, and his contributions to the evolution of dub, the impactful art of stripping a recording to a forceful bass line overlaid with reverb, echo effects and fragments of melody. 

Born Horace Swaby in Kingston, Augustus Pablo was a self-taught multi-instrumentalist. While still a teenager, he worked as a studio musician, beginning in the late 60s (which included sessions with The Wailers.)  A friend introduced him to the melodica, and he took the instrument, essentially a harmonica with a keyboard, into his initial session with producer Herman Chin-Loy; Chin-Loy had previously used the name Augustus Pablo on other instrumental productions, but the name stuck with Swaby. Pablo introduced his Far East sound on his next single “East of the River Nile,” which he followed with the mesmerizing “Java,” voted Jamaica’s top instrumental in 1972. The same year, Pablo founded his record labels including Hot Stuff, Yard, Message, and Rockers International.  (READ MORE)