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The Skatalites

From Jamaica

In the 1950s American Jazz and rhythm and blues ruled the roost in Jamaica but by the early 1960s a new indigenous style which mixed jazz, jump up R&B, rasta drumming and Cuban rhythms started to make an impression. It was called 'ska'. Although no-one can really claim to have invented this indestructible beat, the Skatalites were THE seminal ska group from beginning, making the music what it was and laying the foundations for everything that followed; rocksteady, reggae, dub, dancehall and ragga. Most of the original members like Roland Alphonso (tenor sax), Tommy McCook (trumpet), Jackie Mittoo (keyboards), Don Drummond (trombone), Lloyd Knibb (drums) and Lloyd Brevett (bass) came from a big band jazz background but together they began to explore uncharted territories. In a mere 14 months they revolutionised Jamaican music. They recorded incessantly for top-boss label and sound system owners in Kingston like Coxsone Dodd, Duke Reid and Prince Buster, releasing a string of hit instrumentals which included 'Phoenix City', 'Guns of Navarone' and 'Man In The Street'. They also worked with most of the emerging vocal talent of the time including The Wailers, Ken Boothe and Delroy Wilson. The run of success ended in 1965 when Don Drummond, who had been the most crucial creative force in the group, murdered his girlfriend and was sent to the Bellevue Asylum. Drummond died in 1969 and the members of the group went their separate ways. They reformed in 1983 to play at the London Reggae Sunsplash and have been busting the road ever since. Despite the deaths of Jackie Mittoo, Tommy McCook and Roland Alphonso over the years, the Staktalites continue to provide the beat…to make you move your feet….and give up some of that old moonstompin' ska!
(Biography by Andy Morgan, June 2001)

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