Reggae, when done well, is a beautiful contradiction. Warm, smiling beams of sound converge with lyrics about revolution, sadness and perseverance. Like any form of music birthed from the streets, it has the power to push your ass onto the dance floor and shake the cobwebs from your brain. Saxophone player Cedric “Im” Brooks has been doing just that for four decades, and thanks to Astralwerks, some of his work as a bandleader is being unearthed. When reggae is done badly, it sounds pathetically forced and monotonous (see Rush’s nightmarish attempt on its song “Spirit Of The Radio”). While his songwriting does border on formulaic, Brooks’ music has stylistic depth, and an earthy reality that simply cannot be mimicked. After gaining a reputation as a talented sideman, he formed his first band, The Light Of Saba, in the early ‘70s. The handful of albums they released took traditional Jamaican music and fused it with Afro beat rhythms, Latin voicings and the immediacy of jazz improvisation. From the lazy, sun-soaked “Lambs Bread Collie” to the percussive pulse of “Africa” and a bluesy cover of Horace Silver’s classic “Song For My Father,” the music is lively, fresh, and a bit unsurprising. Light Of Saba is a 19-song compilation, featuring tracks from those rare ‘70s LPs. It’s the only place you’ll find them on CD, and while most of the cuts are instrumental, Brooks embodies reggae’s delightful contradictions admirably.