THE SKATALITES
This months update we spotlight the Ska instrumental group the Skatalites, who recorded some very memorable and remarkable Ska tunes in the mid sixties. The line up of the original members were :- Roland Alphonso tenor sax, Lester 'Ska' Sterling alto sax, Tommy McCook tenor sax and flute,(the leader of the group) Don Drummond on trombone, Johnny 'Dizzy' Moore on trumpet, Lloyd Knibb on drums, Lloyd Brevett on bass and on piano and organ Jackie Mittoo, Jah Jerry Haines on guitar. At times, other musicians played on the studio sessions, Ernest Ranglin on guitar, keyboards Lloyd Richards, Aubrey Adams. Trumpet Baba Brooks and Raymond Harper. Dennis "ska" Campbell played tenor sax on many sessions and added to the the pace and flavor on many tracks. Skatalites also featured vocalists on some recordings and when they played live. This included Tony DaCosta, Doreen Schaffer and Lord Tanamo. Jackie Opel also performed very well on stage and made some fine recordings with them. They started recording in June 1964 and only recorded for about fourteen months until the late summer of 1965. They were primarily a session band working in the studio during the day. They recorded for both Clement Dodd and Duke Ried, who both had sound systems; Sir Coxsone's Downbeat and Duke Reid the Trojan. Ska was played at all the dance halls and house parties. The Skatalites played at clubs such as the Hi-Hat and the Bournemouth Club in Kingston, Jamaica. At the same time the West Indian community in England were playing Ska records which were either imported from Jamaica or purchased from local record shops, issued on U.K. labels, such as Blue Beat, Melodisc, Island records  It is remarkable that during such a short period the Skatalites recorded so many tunes, when you consider that during the evenings most of the musicians played with other bands. When the band split in 1965 they became the Soul Brothers under the leadership of Roland Alphonso, later changing the name to the Soul Vendors, which also included Jackie Mittoo on organ. Tommy Mc Cook formed the Supersonics and joined Duke Reid at Treasure Isle. Don Drummond made some very fine recordings including Man in the Street, Don Cosmic, Coolie Boy, Dragon Weapon and University Goes Ska. Roland Alphonso made many records under his own name such as Phoenix City, El Pussy Cat and James Bond. The sax player Tommy McCook also made many records under his own name including Yard Broom, Out of Space and Thunderball. Rico Rodriquez played trombone on very early sessions with the Skatalites, before leaving JA for England, he went on to play for other record producers including Duke Reid, Vincent Chin and Prince Buster . He came to London in the late sixties and recorded for local producers in Brixton, issued on the Blue Cat label. At the start of the Reggae explosion he released several albums. He can be found on the CD Rico and the Rudies Blow your Horn & Brixton Cat Trojan 361. He still play's fine trombone and is currently playing with the Jools Holland Rhythm and Blues Orchestra. The orchestra can be seen at times on the Jools Holland television music show on BBC 2 or see them on tour, they are a brilliant live act and perform some great Ska tunes "I'm in a dancing mood... Finally, The Skatalites are still playing today, based in New York, with three of the original members, Lester Sterling-AltoSax, Lloyd Brevett-Bass,(he announced in Dec 2004 that he was leaving the group to start his own project) Lloyd Knibb-Drums and others can be heard on the Limited Edition 2 CD set Skamania/Skavooves Skatalites on Shanachie records 266.
The Skatalites at the Jazz Cafe, Camden Town London, 25 August 1999
|
