The Skatalites

ARTICLES FOR ON THE RIGHT TRACK FOLLOWED BY THE BEST OF IN ORBIT VOL. 1 THEN A LISTING OF PRESS FOR FROM PARIS WITH LOVE

PRODUCTION NOTE: Congrats to everyone involved with putting the On The Right Track booklet together. Fly On The Wall wrote the liner notes. January Jones/Mighty Fine Press designed the layout with help from Joel and Ty at FOTW. Photos provided to us by Judith Anderson, color photography (judithandersonphotography.com) and January Jones, 'red' photography.

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FORWARDEVERMEDIA/SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE June 21, 2010

The Skatalites Surprise at Rockit Room

BY TOMAS PALERMO

The Skatalites, Jamaica's original ska band, performed at San Francisco's Rockit Room on Father's Day, June 20, 2010. The band is currently celebrating its 46th year as a group; they've been together nearly as long as Jamaica has been an independent nation. And "Freedom Sound" was the theme the Skatalites began with, as saxophonist Lester Sterling lead the audience in a 10-to-1 countdown chant to start the show and the song.

In a preview I wrote for SF Weekly I stated that Skatalites set lists have become predictable over the years: "The Skatalites still play tunes from their first album, Ska Authentic, cut in 1964, and Celebration Time, recorded soon after ... the set list can be predictable — they've played hits like "Guns of Navarone," "Latin Goes Ska," and "Phoenix City" for decades."

But to my pleasant surprise, their set on Sunday night proved to be anything but rote. "All 'hit sides' no flip sides tonight!" Sterling said repeatedly from the stage, and he wasn't kidding. After opening with the aforementioned "Freedom Sound," they launched into Intensified comp favorite "Dick Tracy," "Eastern Standard Time," "Bridge View," and their Beatles tribute "Should of Known Better," a.k.a. "Independent Anniversary Ska." I kept turning to other seasoned fans and DJs and saying, "Wow, I didn't think they'd play that!" The audience seem equally pleased, applauding enthusiastically between songs.

The band traded solos each song between Sterling and newer members including Azemebo "Zim" Audu (sax), Kevin Batchelor (trumpet) and Andrae Murchison (trombone). The rhythm section was anchored by original Skatalite drummer Lloyd Knibb and consummate session bass man Val Douglas of Chosen Few fame. Unfortunately, singer and ska queen Doreen Shaffer was not a part of the proceedings.

To hear some of their original early classics played with verve and sincerity was a treat. This was no rehashed band going through the motions, but a vibrant, living tribute to Jamaica's first popular music. Long live the Skatalites, a band that can still bring the swing.


THE BEAT Fall 2007/V. 26 No. 3

REGGAE UPDATE
Roots Natty Roots

BY CHUCK FOSTER

The Skatalites went to Australia to do a show and wound up staying to record an album. On the Right Track is the first studio recording to feature their current lineup which includes original members Lloyd Knibb, Lester Sterling and Doreen Schaffer (sho provides the title track with a nice cover of Phyllis Dillon's rock steady classic) as well as longtime guitarist Devon James, "Cannonball" Bryan on tenor sax, Vinnie Gordon on trombone and Val Douglas on bass as well as Kevin Batchelor on trumper and Ken Stewart on keys. Unlike the last couple o releases this one is composed of all-new material, most of which was written on the spot (as you can tell from titles like "Outback Ska" and "Uluru Rock". As a result it has an energy and vitality that lets it stand olongside the classic work from this one-of-a-kind group. [www.aiminternational.com]
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THE BEAT Fall 2007/V. 26 No. 3

ALL OVER THE MAP
Face The Music

BY STEVE HEILIG

The Skatalites, On the Right Track (AIM):
In the Beginning was...oh, what can one say. There are a couple of the original legendary players (Knibbs and Sterling) still here, with some almost-originals added on, and some good new blood, and thus that classic Skatalites sound is intact even in Australia, where this was recorded. They sound fantastic, nuff said.
(see Cubanismo press for review in same column)
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GLOBAL RHYTHM Aug/Sept 2007

SKATALITES
On the Right Track

AIM

The original Skatalites' (Rolando Alphonso, Tommy McCook, Lloyd Brevett, Don Drummond, Jerry Haynes, Lloyd Knibb, Jackie Mittoo, Johnny Moore, and Lester "Ska" Sterling) sound resonates at the heart of Jamaican popular music, and On The Right Track confirms that changing personnel over the decades have not surrendered the riddims pulsing at the music's heart. The title track, sung by Doreen Shaffer, is inspired by the early '60s Hopeton Lewis/Phylis Dillon original. With Skatalite veterans--drummer Knibb, alto saxophonist Sterling, and tenor saxman Cedric Brooks--at the helm, the remaining 11 tracks are originals by Sterling and the new generation: Shaffer, trumpeter Kevin Batchelor, tenor saxophonist Karl "Cannonball" Bryan, bassist Val Douglas, trombonist Vin Gordon, guitarist Devon James, and keyboardist Ken Stewart. This sizzling Byron Bay, Australia studio session is complemented with an informative booklet rich with historic and contemporary photos, illustrated in Jamaican colors.

-MICHAEL STONE
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SOUNDS ROOTS 6/7/2007

Cuban, Ska, & Blues... Down Under (CD Reviews)

When you think of blues, Cuban dance music, and reggae, and classic Jamaican ska, you naturally think of a setting involving kangaroos, right?

No? Well then you may not have in your hands the latest releases from AIM International. It's an odd trio with little musical overlap but lots of soul. These releases aren't even showing up on the AIM website yet (though the official US release date was in May), so here's a first glance.

First, Cubanismo -- a project that began after the band played Australia's East Coast Blues & Roots Music Festival, the nation's largest outdoor festival. The result is the 11-song album Greetings from Havana. The release of the album gives US audiences a taste of what they've been missing out on, since the US government has not allowed Cubanismo to play in the US for the last four years.

Also caught up in US politics is blues diva Marva Wright. It's not hard to guess the pervading topic of her new album, called After the Levees Broke. Katrina and its aftermath make for great blues fodder, particularly considering that Wright and her band members lost everything in the storm. The songs include "The Levee Is Breaking Down," "Katrina Blues," and the gospel-tinged "Change Is Gonna Come," which takes on a poignant new meaning in a post-Katrina context.

Rounding out the trio is the new Skatalites CD, On the Right Track. It's only the second album of originals from the band, which is better know for their ska covers of songs ranging from the Beatles to James Bond. The sound is vintage Skatalites, though some of the song names reflect the album's origins: "Outback Ska," "Uluru Rock," and "Outback Dub."

Says keyboard player Ken Stewart: "Some say all island peoples have a similar vibe about them. Oz is a big island but similar vibe, and although there's plenty of modern stuff, you get a feel of the ancient with the Aboriginal culture and seeing species of animals that exist nowhere else on earth."

Kudos to AIM for these projects. I can't wait to hear what they come up with next.
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Jamaica Observer 05/27/2007

Jazz First

By Michael 'Jazzofonik' Edwards
The Riffin' Rundown
For the week beginning May 28; Newstalk 93FM, 8:35 pm.
Riffin' celebrates jazz and Jamaica, with guests from the upcoming Ocho Rios Jazz fest.

MON: Ballad Power. Houston Person, a guest at the Ocho Rios Jazz festival, wraps his big tenor sound around some classic ballads.

TUES: If ever there was a comeback kid, its Frank Morgan, whose career was interrupted for three decades, but he managed the complete comeback. Morgan, who is also a guest on the Ocho Rios jazz festival, plays beautiful alto, in a bittersweet way.

WED: The art of vocals by a straight ahead jazz singer, Karrin Allyson from Kansas City. Miss Allyson retrofits instrumental songs and solos with original lyrics.

THUR: Cubanismo, is back with pure Latin Fire. Greetings From Havana features their signature style of burning brass and hot rhythms.

FRID: Riffin' with The Skatalites, who toured Australia recently and recorded a new album, On The Right Track.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/lifestyle/html/20070526t16000

0-0500_123519_obs_the__peach__that_fell_into_our_laps_.asp
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WORLD MUSIC CENTRAL 05/21/2007

The Skatalites have recorded a new album, On the Right Track,while in Australia. "The first night of our trip we started seeing kangaroos, or wallabies, along the road. We saw at least a dozen—more in the shadows. That alone was enough to inspire plenty of creativity."

The location of the recording sessions, Byron Bay, also hosts one of the biggest music festivals in the world, The East Coast Blues and Roots Music Festival, which annually plays host to scores of world-renowned artists from many countries and genres. The town is used to great music. The Skatalites felt right at home.

"We came to Byron Bay without much previously conceived material. One melody I had in my head and then a couple guys had tunes ready but we had never rehearsed a bit of it," says Ken Stewart. "We had to work out harmonies and progressions from there. One of the nights of the festival featured us with Yothu Yindi, an Aboriginal rock band who were like Pink Floyd goes Didgeridoo. After that was Damian Marley. Those two performances were both so unique they gave us the energy we needed to finish the CD. Although scheduling was a bit tough, (as we were recording around festival performances) the creative juices were flowing nicely due to the cast, the beautiful weather and beaches and just a whole new experience."

Those recording sessions became The Skatalites On the Right Track. The album is only the second new material album from The Skatalites. The first spawned one of the group’s two Grammy nods. The other 30 some albums have been cover songs of everything from Cuban to American to The Beatles.

Lester Sterling’s "Uluru Rock" was named in honor of Australia’s iconic red sandstone monolith known worldwide. Located in central Australia, Uluru is sacred to the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara, who live in that region. Australia also inspired Val Douglas to write "Outback Ska."

On the Right Track features several original Skatalites including the inventor of the ska beat and founding member, Lloyd Knibb. Original saxophonist Lester Sterling and soulful vocalist Doreen Schaeffer carry on the never-ending rhythm they pioneered. Old school JA set musicians; Karl ‘Cannonball’ Bryan on tenor sax, Vin Gordon on trombone, Val Douglas on bass along with Devon James on guitar (who played with many of the original members) have all been in the line-up for years. Ken Stewart, manager and keyboardist since the 80s, plays a Hammond B3 on this album, best heard on the title cut "Right Track." Kevin Batchelor has also played trumpet with Sugar Minott, Maxi Priest, Big Mountain and Steel Pulse amongst many others.

worldmusiccentral.org/article.php/skatalites_on_the_right_track
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ALL MUSIC GUIDE 8/27/2007

On the Right Track REVIEW

By Jeff Tamarkin

The Skatalites lineup on this new recording, cut in Australia in 2006 during their first tour there, consists of just two original members of the ridiculously influential Jamaican group, drummer Lloyd Knibb and alto saxophonist Lester Sterling. But even with such legendary founders as Don Drummond and Roland Alphonso long gone, the sound produced by the Skatalites more than four decades after their inception is instantly recognizable as the one that defined the genre and set the standards that would be copied by
generations of neo-ska bands.

On the Right Track, the Skatalites' first album of new music since 2000, is comprised almost entirely of original material penned by the current members. Reportedly, the musicians created the songs in the studio and cut most of the songs in one take. But to its credit there's little to distinguish On the Right Track from the classic Skatalites music of old, save, perhaps, for the superior recording quality and the more open-ended, jazz-informed approach to the instrumental solos. And one big distinction:there's a female vocalist, Doreen Shaffer, whose own soulful "Bye Bye" is one ofthe album's highlights on the primarily instrumental album.

Beyond that, it'sthe Skatalites doing what they've been doing so brilliantly all these years: thetrademark tandem horn charts burst forth like the best of the American Staxrecords of the '60s, Knibb and bassist Val Douglas remain steady on the beat, the guitars and keyboards provide ceaselessly inventive melody, and the tunes are all remarkably, immediately familiar even though you've never heard them before.

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PRESS HIGHS FOR IN ORBIT VOL.1

GLOBAL RHYTHM 08/2006

THE SKATALITES In Orbit Vol. 1

Xaymaca
Forty-plus years ago, the Skatalites made some of the most seminal recordings in modern popular music, laying down tracks for the likes of the Wailers and the Maytals. Since reforming in 1989, the band has wowed audiences worldwide, surviving the deaths of several founding members and the recent departure of bassist Lloyd Brevitt to remain a powerful force. So this, allegedly the first in a series of live recordings, is a true joy. The Buenos Aires audience's voluble joy proves that Latin America's adoration of ska runs beyond the continent's ubiquitous ska-punk bands-check the disc-opening salvo of "Ole, Skatalites!" soccer chants. When Lester "Ska" Sterling steps to the mic with his alto sax, the Argentines acknowledge his stature. And how sweet those solos: the Skatalites have always been a jazz group at heart, with their swinging rhythms, hard-bop horns and Kenny Burrell-meets-Ernest Ranglin guitar of Devon James.

-JUSTIN HOPPER
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JAHWORKS.ORG 4/10/06

The Skatalites: In Orbit Vol. 1 - Live From Argentina [Xamayca Records, 2006]

-Tom Orr
4/10/2006
I can't imagine the Skatalites needing an introduction to anybody who might read Jahworks.org. They were and are, quite simply, the most influential ska band the world has ever known. Without ska there would not have been rocksteady, reggae, dub or dancehall. Without the Skatalites there would not have been the Specials, Madness, the Selector, Hepcat or any of the countless other bands who were influenced by them.

As a front or backing band, the original Skatalites were comprised of Jamaica's finest players and provided musical backing for similarly renowned singers who got their start at facilities like Coxsone Dodd's Studio One. The band formed in 1964 and have been together off and on ever since. Many of the original members have passed on or moved along, but today's Skatalites continue to create a sensation worldwide, playing classic tracks with that blend of jazz, R&B, mento, jump blues and offbeat-accented African rhythms they pioneered more than 40 years ago.

They've reportedly not appeared often in concert in Latin America, and if absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder, the audience on this scorcher of a CD, recorded live in Buenos Aires last year, proves so beyond doubt. The Skatalites-hungry crowd can frequently be heard scatting along to the band's instrumental hits, and never is their reaction anything less than tumultuous.

And who can blame them? This is the Skatalites at their best, with longtimers Lloyd Knibb (drums), Lester Sterling (alto sax), Doreen Shaffer (vocals) and Vin Gordon (trombone) on hand aside newer blood for a timeless set of classics. "Freedom Sounds," "Eastern Standard Time," "Latin Goes Ska" (naturally), "You're Wondering Now" and a medley of "Real Rock" and "Rockfort Rock" are among the selections delivered in a style befitting the Godfathers of Jamaican popular music.

The sound is clean, the band is rough and tight and the ecstasy of both audience and performers can be felt to the core. If you're a ska fan, you've gotta get this. (www.skatalites.com)

http://www.jahworks.org/v2/musicreviewsdetail.asp?ID=12
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GRATEFULWEB.NET 3/3/07

Skatalites: Inventors of a Genre

-Phil Emma
3/3/2007
Deep in the heart of Chinatown lies a dark and gothic like cave we in Philadelphia like to call the Trocadero. This particular venue holds a nostalgic memory for me. It wasn’t since the early 90’s (when I was in high school and went to see Anthrax at this venue) that I had the opportunity to see a show here. It’s a great venue. On the other hand, the atmosphere at the Troc tonight had a whole different feel to it. It was light and bright with Rasta sounds and swingin’ ska fans. Phillyska.com presented a night of old and new reggae/ska sounds. It was the first night of the legendary Skatalites new tour. People of all ages came out to see the inventors of the first truly Jamaican music. It started as a mix of boogie-woogie blues, jazz, calypso, mento, R & B, and African rhythms as early as the mid 1950’s. Amazingly, there are still 3 remaining members of the original lineup that we were blessed to see: Lloyd Knibb, Lester Sterling, and Doreen Shaffer. But, first there were two opening bands to set the vibe.

The first band was called the Players. They were a fun 7 piece ska/reggae band from Baltimore that got the crowd movin’ and warmed up with their powerful sound. Their vocals had a hint of Brad Nowell from Sublime especially in the song titled "Stool Sample", and their horns blew it up for the Peter Gabriel classic "Sledgehammer." One awkward moment for me though was when they covered "Confucius" (a Skatilites song) while the Skatalites themselves were walking into the venue. I have never really seen that before.

The next band was a 4 piece reggae band named Moses Livingston & the Raggamuffins. It was a big relief for me to see a real roots reggae act play in Philadelphia. Moses Livingston is a great reggae singer from Jamaica who has sung with Rappa Robert, Tippa Lee, the Delphonics, and the Honorable Luciano. His voice has a classic roots sound to it with its deep, fast, and melodic flow. This local band was a breath of fresh air on a cold winter night.

Next, it was time for the creators. The Skatalites took the stage with a countdown and went right into a familiar Skatilites opener "Freedom Sounds." The crowd of mostly white ska swingers went crazy. It was so interesting to see ska dancers. These guys know how to move. It looked like a combination of swing dancing and moshing. After "I Should Have Known Better," the Beatles cover, the epic James Bond Theme graced the stage, and the crowd went wild. This continued through next song where the talented brass section teased the Flintstones theme song and Pop Goes the Weasel. My favorite part of this show was the horn solos. One could clearly hear the terrific jazz influence that formed into an offspring. After "Two for One," the band brought out original singer Doreen Shaffer. She belted out songs like, "Can’t You See," "When I Fall in Love," and "Sugar, Sugar," among others. Her presence mesmerized the crowd with her gentle tones and phrases. When Shaffer left the stage with warm love from the crowd, the band rocked again. It started right with the very famous "Simmer Down." This song was written by the Wailers with the accompaniment of the Skatalites in 1963. It was Bob Marley’s first big hit, and was written and directed to the "Rude Boys" of the Jamaican ghettos. This song was written with all intentions of sending them a message to cool down all of the crime and violence going on in Kingston.

The rest of the night's songs continued to fuel the crowds dancing and fun. There were chants of Kingston, saxophones crying, and countdowns to close with "Freedom Sound." I felt truly honored to see this legendary band that keeps on playing through all of the adversity that it has overcome over the years. Here is the remainder of their small American tour schedule.

http://www.gratefulweb.net/gwebNews/gwebDesign/musicNews.asp?articleid=905&zoneid=3
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BBC LEEDS
GIG REVIEWS

A lasting ska

by James Addyman
Ska pioneers, The Skatalites take the Leeds Metropolitan University by storm with a skanking performance of the highest order.

Sometimes when you go to see a band whose heyday was a couple of decades ago, you get a feeling of dread that they'll be a pale imitation of what punters at their original gigs saw. The great thing about The Skatalites is that they've been on the go for more than 40 years and they are still able to whip up an adoring crowd into a ska-induced frenzy!

Young and old came out to pay homage to the true pioneers of ska and reggae. Fresh-faced students mixed in with rude boys and dope-smoking hippies in a crowd that was ready to party from the off.

Sporting grins from ear to ear were pint-sized, elderly sax players Karl "Cannonball" Bryan, and original Skatalite, Lester Sterling. They seemed to be having an absolute ball with syncopated dance moves encouraged by livewire trombonist Vin Gordon.

All the favourites were in there - "Eastern Standard Time", "James Bond" and "Guns Of Navarone" being particular highlights before another original member Doreen Shaffer came out of the wings to add her sweet vocals to the instrumental mix. "Simmer Down" is an old Bob Marley track from before the time he had dreads, but the band claimed it as their own, stamping it with their infectious enthusiasm.

It's rare that you'll see a gig of this size where everybody seemes to be moving with the music, but that's what the ska beat can do when it's done well, and despite the band missing dearly departed brethren like Don Drummond, Roland Alphonso, Tommy McCook and Jackie Mittoo, they gave a living breathing exercise in having a good time - so refreshing in these times of indie miserablism!!

For a band with so many members eligible for a bus pass, you might have thought that the pace would slacken but that just wasn't the case. Classic number followed classic number with barely any space for the elder statesmen of the band to catch their breath.

Veteran drummer, Lloyd Knibb maintained the beat with steely accuracy and it amused me to see what looked like the youngest member of the band - bass player, Val Douglas - sitting down. Maybe he was exhausted from seeing the energy doled out by his peers?

If you get the chance, go and see them because there may not be many more chances to see the original ska heroes. Although it seems as though playing live on stage invigorates them to the point where age isn't an issue.

pic's online: Lester Sterling & Skatalites; Horns of plenty

http://www.bbc.co.uk/leeds/content/articles/2005/11/02/gig_review_skatalites_feature.shtml
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JAZZ TIMES 8/2004 Coming Soon... JAZZ TIMES "Orbit" Review

The Skatalites

Jazz in a Ska Background

The Skatalites’ influence on Jamaican popular music cannot be underestimated -and neither can the role jazz played in influencing the Skatalites. The musicians would often put the ska beat behind the chord changes they cribbed from jazz songs, including the Crusaders’ "Tough Talk," Lee Morgan’s "The Sidewinder" (retitled as "Malcolm X"), Juan Tizol’s "Caravan" (dubbed "Skaravan"), Duke Ellington’s "In a Mellow Tone" (as "Surftide Seven") and the Artie Shaw-associated "Jungle Drums" (cut as "African Blood"). And Ken Stewart, the Skatalites’ current keyboardist and manager, says, "Almost the entire Watermelon Man album by Mongo Santamaria has been covered by the Skatalites."

The Skatalites are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year- disregarding the time apart during the many long and often acrimonious breakups they’ve had -but with just three of its original members: bassist Lloyd Brevett, drummer Lester Knibb and alto saxophonist Lester Sterling. Sitting backstage before a show at New York City’s Knitting Factory, Sterling remembers when jazz first grabbed him: "My first instrument was trumpet. The trumpeter I was hearing about at that time was Harry James, so I started to learn from a Harry James book -learn the fingerings and such. Then I start hearing about Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, and I really started listening to the bebop. I got the influence of playing alto sax from Charlie Parker. He was playing ‘La Paloma.’ Somebody put on that record [starts humming melody]. I stay there all night and listen to the LP."

Even after the Skatalites broke up, Sterling looked to jazz for inspiration. His late ’60s hit single "Bangarang" is built from Kenny Dorham’s version of Ernie Henry’s "Cleo’s Chant," while "Forest Gate Rock" is based on Parker’s "Barbados."

Reggae historian David Katz says, "Lester Sterling and Roland Alphonso told me that they were really happy to migrate to America because America was the home of the jazz greats. Lester said, ‘You get the opportunity of seeing great musicians. At that time, Miles Davis was alive, Dizzy was alive, so you get that opportunity.’

Steve Barrow, co-author of the essential The Rough Guide to Reggae, says, "Monty Alexander once described Roland Alphonso to me as like ‘a funky Stan Getz.’ Johnny Moore told me Roland’s favorite player back in the day was Tex Beneke from the Glenn Miller Orchestra." Alphonso has also cited Illinois Jacquet, and Katz says, "I interviewed Roland Alphonso shortly before he died [in 1998], and he was so enthusiastic about the greats of jazz, particularly John Coltrane."

Tommy McCook, who died in 1998, was the original leader of the

Skatalites, and Katz says, "I think the reason why Tommy was chosen to be the leader was because he was so steeped in jazz. The legend goes that Tommy initially refused to join the band because he said, ‘I’m a jazz player. I don’t play ska.’" Ken Stewart says, "Tommy would have probably always preferred -before, during and after the Skatalites -to have

played pure jazz."

Trombonist Don Drummond has received praise from jazz folks like George Shearing and Sarah Vaughan, and Delfeayo Marsalis went to Jamaica to study his work. But Drummond, who was influenced by Bennie Green and J.J. Johnson, suffered from mental problems and he died in an asylum in 1969. Still, he was the Skatalites’ most prolific composer. In Katz’s Solid Foundation book, singer Clancy Eccles says Drummond was like one of those "‘crazy jazz cats from America.’ He said everywhere you saw him he wasn’t wearing shoes. There was this whole thing where they saw him putting bits of clay and dirt in his Ovaltine. So they asked him, ‘What are you doing -’ And he said, ‘Atomic energy. These are supposed to build atoms inside you.’"

While McCook was the leader and Alphonso was the people’s choice among the Skatalites’ soloists, Caribbean jazz historian Herbie Miller says Drummond "was the most musically advanced" of the group and "a true visionary."

To explain these Jamaican musicians’ love of jazz, Miller looks to the Duke: "As Ellington suggests in Music Is My Mistress, before the ingredients of jazz came to New Orleans it made its presence felt in the West Indies. That ingredient or a major part of it came with these people who were brought to the West Indies. Duke went on to say that when you ask a West Indian to play jazz, he plays what he thinks is jazz. He said Tricky Sam Nanton and his people from the West Indies were followers of Marcus Garvey, and bebop is the Marcus Garvey of jazz."

It’s no wonder the Skatalites loved it so.


by CHRIS PORTER from "Before Reggae there was... Jazz to Ska Mania" published in Jazz Times August 2004
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Tastes Like Chicken 03/06
www.tlchicken.com/view_story.php?ARTid=3630
THE SKATALITES - IN ORBIT: LIVE FROM ARGENTINA (Xaymaca)
I don’t think I’ve ever heard a live album where the crowd is so loud, they should be listed as a band member. But it’s not a post-production trick. It’s just testament to the international influence and legacy this band’s had in its decades-long existence. A legacy especially appreciated outside of these Clear Channeled-United States. Even with a slew of new members replacing some of the originals (sadly lost to time), the band sounds as sharp and fiesty as they did all those many years ago.
THE GRADE: A
- Vinnie Baggadonuts

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Las Vegas City Life 03/09/06

Skank of ages
For 40 years the Skatalites have been the ambassadors of the island sound

BY JEFF INMAN
If Ken Stewart worked in a museum and had a penchant for tweed, he'd be called a preservationist. Not that he'd like it. The keyboardist/manager for the Skatalites, the Jamaican collective ultimately responsible for everything from Bob Marley to Operation Ivy, as well as the bulk of bad stoner dancing from since 1964, Stewart is much more about leading a party than keeping history alive. Sure, by turning the Skatalites into a continuously touring group back in the late '80s, he's connected younger fans with the originators of ska, reggae and everything that followed. He's helped SoCal punks get in touch with their roots, showed original Skatalites the unbelievable influence they've had on world culture and proved the lasting worth of first-generation ska.

But to Stewart, that's all intangible stuff; he just wants to see people having a good time. "People just love this music," he says. "We see people in the audience that are 12 and people that are 90, and they all are just having a great time. It doesn't matter where you even put us. We can be in a piazza in Italy or at a festival in Germany, and everyone will be dancing. We even played a festival in Finland with Anthrax as the headliner and kids still rushed the stage when we came on."

The reason: That classic mix of R&B, big band swing and jazz the collective first began stirring up in the late '50s and early '60s in tourist hotels, and later at Clement "Coxsonne" Dodd's legendary Studio One, is the universal handshake for a good time. The interlocking horns, the skanking guitar lines, the hip-commanding tempos -- it makes you move, no matter if you're a goth or a grandma. "It's just infectious," says Stewart.

In fact, he's been hooked ever since he was a kid growing up in Boston. While his father, a traditional jazz tuba player, taught Stewart all the technique he needed to know about music, it was local radio -- awash during the '70s in both classic ska and reggae, as well as two-tone from England -- that inspired his future. In high school he was playing in various ska bands. By the mid '80s he ended up in reggae band with Lloyd Knibbs, the original Skatalites drummer. "That's when I realized the Skatalites wasn't a touring group at all, just people who got together on occasion," he says.

With the help of Knibbs, Stewart set out to rectify that. While the Skatalites had appeared on hundreds of records together, the group was only officially together for less than 18 months, the last six of which were marred by the fact that trombonist Don Drummond had killed his common-law wife and band vocalist Marguerita in a fit of rage (he was sent to and died at Bellevue Sanitarium). The band struggled on for a while, but then split into two separate groups and then eventually scattered. Various reunions throughout the '70s and early '80s gathered up as many members as were available. But when Stewart and Knibbs proposed a touring band, the core seven members of the Skatalites were more than ready to go.

And while illness and old age have claimed several of the original Skatalites over the last 15 years -- only Knibbs, vocalist Doreen Shaffer and saxophonist Lester Sterling represent the founding members now -- Stewart says the band isn't even close to calling it quits.

"Lloyd is having his 75th birthday in a couple days," says Stewart. "People keep asking him when he's going to retire. He always says, 'What would I do, sit in my chair and do nothing?' He's not going to stop, and neither is the band. People always say that this person's not in the band anymore and this person is dead, but the idea of the Skatalites was always to have the cream of the Jamaican crop playing this music. And sure, we've got one Caucasian in the band, but I figure after 20 years with these guys, something has rubbed off on me."

International Ska Circus (with the Skatalites, the Toasters, the Skeletones and several others)

Sat, March 10, 12 p.m.
Clark County Amphitheater
500 S. Grand Central Parkway
455-8200 or Internationalskacircus.com
$22.50
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