Vin Gordon

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Vin Gordon, also known as Trommie, Don D. Junior, or Don Drummond Jr, was born on August 4, 1949, in Kingston, Jamaica. He grew up in Jones Town as one of eight children and studied trombone and string bass at Alpha Boys School. He began his career in 1964 with The Skatalites and soon became Studio One's main trombonist, recording with many Jamaican producers across ska, rocksteady, and reggae. At Studio One he met Lee Perry and worked with numerous reggae artists during the rocksteady years, including B.B. Seaton, The Heptones, Bob Andy, and Keith Hudson.

From 1965 to 1978, Gordon was Bob Marley's trombonist and played on Marley albums such as Kaya and Exodus. He released a solo album produced by Lee Perry in 1973, Musical Bones; it was originally issued in the UK on Dip with only 300 copies on blank labels.

Gordon's move to England in the 1980s helped influence British reggae acts like Aswad, with songs such as "Warrior Charge" and "Dub Fire." After returning to Jamaica, he continued recording. In 1997 he began touring with Justin Hinds and later joined the Wailers and the Skatalites from 2004 until September 2008.