Black Pearl Livingston ADD

Review

Album Review: Black Pearl Livingston - Your Richness Is Life

08/23/2025

by Gardy Stein

What’s the first thing coming to your mind when you hear Black Pearl? If it’s Captain Jack Sparrow and his beloved ship, you might need to establish a new association, as there is an artist claiming that name as her own: Claudette “Pearl” Livingston, the younger sister of Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer! True to the motto “better late than never”, she releases her debut Your Richness Is Life at age 63.

Produced by Australian TV director and reggae enthusiast Gregory Quail and Nathan Johnson, the album contains eight original songs as well as two covers of Pearl’s older brothers. The first of those, title track of Bob’s 1974 masterpiece Natty Dread, comes in a funky remake with lots of horns and backing vocals, while the second, Rock ‘N’ Groove, is taken from Bunny’s homonymous 1981 album and kept much of its fine roots appeal.

Opening the album, Pearl’s own title track Your Richness Is Life has that ‘80s pop reggae feel and talks about her early memories of life with her brother, who was 17 years older than her. “Don’t let life get you down” is the advice he gave his little sister, repeated several times like a mantra in this song. She mentions her brother again in I’m The Rebel, which also showcases her warm timbre, especially expressive in the lower ranges.

Both Children Ina Dis Ya Time and Youths From Trench Town are a message to the young generation, and the latter also includes a part by elder Mikey Knowledge as well as upcoming singer J Written. At this point, a note on the musicians is due: throughout the album, you can hear Earl “Chinna” Smith and Raymar “G Sharp” Rochester on guitar, Lyndon “Ace” Webb on bass, Franklyn “Bubbler” Waul on keys, Junior “Bird” Baillie and Eric “Twin Rock” Samuels on drums, Simon Sweeney on trumpet, Mark Taylor on saxophone, Mark Barnsley on trombone as well as Isha Bel and Earl Smith Junior on backing vocals.

While these are great names and able musicians for sure, somehow the tracks don’t “click” instantly. Songs like Unify The Love or I Can Tell are posh and shiny, nice to listen to, but they only scratch the surface of the emotion roots reggae is able to transmit. The same can be said of most lyrics, too. Take Knocking At Your Door for instance: it certainly brings the message of a disappointed love across, but it relies on rhymes heard too often, falling short of true lyrical finesse. The album closes with There’s A Storm Out There, a rather fast-paced Nyabinghi piece with Gospel-like vocal deliveries that bring Pearl’s warm alto vocals to the fore. 

On the whole, Your Richness Is Life is an impressive debut by an artist who has gone through a lot of trials and tribulations in her life and has finally found her voice to share with us what has been kept inside too long. Spread your sails and ride those waves, Black Pearl!

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