Friday song (on a Sunday): ‘I’ve Seen That Face Before (Libertango)’ by Grace Jones

It feels like 2026 is turning this song post into an obituary event each week, with so many recording artists having passed already this year. But when that happens, it’s also a reminder and a celebration. I promise that whatever happens over the coming week, I’m only going to listen to living recording artists!

For this week though, it’s time to celebrate and commemorate a great rhythm section, bass player Robbie Shakespeare, who passed away four years ago, and particularly drummer Sly Dunbar, who died earlier this week.

Together, “Riddim Twins” Sly & Robbie played and laid the foundation on a number of their own feature projects, including the powerhouse Rhythm Killers, and for many greats too: Bob Dylan, Peter Tosh, Black Uhuru (and a host of other reggae artists), Joe Cocker, Sting, Santana, Sinéad O’Connor and Mick Jagger among them.

Sly (whose nickname was derived from his love of Sly Stone) and Robbie were producers and record label owners too, but it was as bass-drum unit that they became a force of Jamaican reggae, dub and dancehall – and a sheer powerhouse of the rhythm foundation of tens of thousands of tracks across many genres.

Amazing Grace

Amazonian androgynous Jamaican model-turned-singer Grace Jones pulled up to record her fifth album at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas, where the house band rhythm section comprised Sly & Robbie, at the ready to bring life to a new mix of funk, R&B, dub and reggae.

Nightclubbing was the result and Jones’s top-of-the-pile album. And while Pull Up to the Bumper was the most successful track, the most fascinating is I’ve Seen That Face Before (Libertango), today’s Friday song.  It’s a reworking of Astor Piazzolla’s Libertango, lyrically skewed towards club life and its seedier parts. The rhythm section pins a pocket in four-time, while the tango embellishments are developed on Wally Badarou’s synths and Jack Emblow’s tango staple, the accordion.

Sly Dunbar was a master of every groove and accent. His style was driving and simple, disinclined to flair, and whether he kicked the bass drum once, twice or three times in a bar or not at all; whether he accentuated the first, second or no beat in time, he was distinctive, focused and reliable – as he is on today’s song.

Listen to I’ve Seen That Face Before (Libertango) on Spotify here and Apple Music here.

I started a music WhatsApp group in 2023. I send one song a week on a Friday, with links to both Apple and Spotify, and an accompanying narrative/capsule piece. If you want to engage about a song, get a playlist or just get in touch, email me on markgrosin@gmail.com.

For more of Mark’s expert picks, go here.

_{Top image: Rawpixel/Currency collage.}