Skatalites
The Skatalites were formed in June 1964, drawing from the ranks of session musicians then recording in the studios of Kingston, Jamaica. The personnel included Don Drummond (trombone), Roland Alphonso (tenor sax), Tommy McCook (tenor sax), Johnny Dizzy Moore (trumpet), Lester Sterling (alto Sax), Jerome ‘Jah Jerry Hines (guitar), Jackie Mittoo (piano), Lloyd Brevett (bass), and Lloyd Knibbs (drums). The band name was a Tommy McCook pun on the Soviet space satellite of 1963. The Skatalites’ music, reputedly named after the characteristic ‘ska’ sound made by the guitar when playing the ‘after beat’, was a powerful synthesis; combining elements of R&B and swing jazz in arrangements and solos, underpinned by the uniquely Jamaican-stressed ‘after beat’, as opposed to the ‘down beat’ of R&B. Many of the musicians had learnt music at Alpha Boys’ School in Kingston, then honing their talent in the Jamaican swing bands of the '40s and early '50s, and in numerous ‘hotel bands’ playing for the tourist trade. Most of the musicians thereby developed recognisable individual styles. Repertoire was drawn from many sources, including adaptations of Latin tunes, movie themes and updated mento, a Jamaican folk song form. Perhaps their most famous and identifiable tune is Guns Of Navarone recorded in 1965 and a big club hit in the UK in the mid-60s. They recorded hundreds of superb instrumentals for various producers, either under the group name or as bands led by the particular musician who had arranged the session. Under the Skatalite name they made important music for Coxsone Dodd and Duke Reid, as well as for Justin and Philip Yap's Top Deck record label. They stayed together for just over two years until August 1965, when a combination of financial, organisational and personal problems caused the break-up of the band after their last gig, a police dance at the Runaway Bay Hotel. Of the main protagonists, Jackie Mittoo and Roland Alphonso were persuaded by Coxsone Dodd to form the Soul Brothers band, who would make many instrumentals and supply backing tracks at Studio One until 1967. Tommy McCook worked principally for Duke Reid, where he formed the studio band known as the Supersonics, and was musical co-director for Reid's Treasure Isle label with alto saxophonist Herman Marques. The tragically wayward Don Drummond suffered from severe depression and died on 6 May 1969 in Bellevue Asylum, Kingston. The Skatalites had backed virtually every singer of note in the studios, at the same time laying the musical foundation for subsequent developments in Jamaican music. They released a reunion album in 1975; not ska, but high quality instrumental reggae. In 1984 the band played the Jamaican and London Sunsplash concerts to rapturous acclaim. The reformed group also toured Japan with vocalists Prince Buster and Lord Tanamo in 1989, recording live and in the studio.