COME YE REVELERS TO HEAR THE ORIGINAL SKATALITES, IN THEIR PRIME, IN LONG EXTENDED JAM SESSIONS, RECORDED LIVE IN JAMAICA IN 1983 AT THE BLUE MONK JAZZ GALLERY NIGHTCLUB BEFORE THEIR FRIENDS AND FELLOW MUSICIANS. OVER TWO HOURS!!!
HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?
In 1983 Herbie Miller, manager of Peter Tosh brought the original Skatalites (minus the late Don Drummond) back to Jamaica from all over the world to perform at the 1983 Jamaica Sunsplash.
The Skatalites had broken up 18 years earlier, after their short career of two years (1963-1965). Personal disagreements, conflicts and animosities had driven these inventors of Ska and master musicians to seek their own future as individual artists.
Miller, who became their manager, owned a nightclub in Kingston, Jamaica called The Blue Monk Jazz Gallery. Here, after 18 years of separation they reconciled their differences, (for a time), and rehearsed for Sunsplash '83 and performed live at the club before a crowd of local fans, friends, and fellow musicians.
There were no restrictions on the length of sets, no barriers on solos or improvisational experiments, and no recording studio limits on how long each song should last. They stretched out, played out, and had a joyous 18th anniversary celebration and reunion.
Fortunately, Miller recorded the rehearsals and nightclub performances and captured for history (and dance - mad Ska mavens) all the spontaneity, fire, electricity, and good fellowship of that unique moment. Ska at its best by the greatest Ska musicians in the world!
THE ARTISTS: Tommy McCook- Tenor Sax, Roland Alphonso - Tenor & Soprano Sax, Lester Sterling - Alto Sax,
"Dizzy" Johnny Moore - Trumpet, Jackie Mittoo - Piano, Jah Gerry - Guitar, Lloyd Brivitte - Acoustic Bass, Lloyd
Knibbs - Drums, Lord Tanamo - M.C. and Vocals. Added Musicians: Arnold Breckenridge - Trumpet, "Bubbles"
Cameron - Trombone, Cedric Brooks (Special Guest) - Tenor Sax Solo on "Tear Up".
PRODUCED AND RECORDED BY HERBIE MILLER. RECORDED AT THE BLUE MONK JAZZ GALLERY,
KINGSTON JAMAICA, ON JUNE 27TH, AND JULY 17TH, 1983. LINER NOTES BY HERBIE MILLER.
"Sounds better than the 60's studio rarities. We're talking party soundtrack for lazybones." Robert Christgau, Christgau's Record Guide To The 80's
"Stretching Out is a tuneful marvel. It captures the fire of the bands nine players, (and three guest horns) as they blaze through "Confucius", "Lee Harvey Oswald", "Fidel Castro", and 14 other Ska delights". FOUR STARS! Rolling Stone Album Guide
"Marathon Ska blow-out courtesy of ROIR. Fans of The Specials, The Beat and the entire Ska/Blue Beat revival will find this get together of the original teachers a treat." NME U.K.
"Skank that swings like a cat in a very small space". Melody Maker U.K.
"Essential. To hear the original Skatalites and guests running through some of their best known works in a relaxed live atmosphere is a real thrill. Many of those red hot three minute "tours de force" are indeed stretched out, the moody Black Sunday clocks in at a memorable twelve minutes of fluid textured improvisational Ska-bop technique". Black Echoes U.K.
"The jazz soloing of Tommy McCook, Roland Alphonso, and Lester Sterling on saxes and "Dizzy" Moore on trumpet summon the spirits of Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and Dizzy Gillespie. Yet no other band but the Skatalites merges this tempestuous improvised blowing with the churning, dance-crazy beat". Tom Cheyney, Reggae & African Beat
"After 20 years the Skatalites reformed and made incendiary appearances at Jamaica Sunsplash in 1983 and 1984, their first public appearance in almost 20 years! Always a great band, but during their short recording career together (1963-65) they never released any live recordings. The album is a dazzling display of virtuosity in Jamaican jazz. Fills a big void with a massive musical explosion. Wild & Loose". Tower Pulse, Doug Wendt
"This is a collectors item, treat yourself to some sweet sounds from a band of the most influential musicians in the history of reggae. Crucial!" CMJ New Music Report
"A rave-up live concert and rehearsal tape from the kings of 60's Jamaican music. The playing is considerably more energetic than the vinyl performance at Sunsplash". World Report
"Brings back the nostalgic joy of the sixties. Captures the authentic sounds magnificently. A masterpiece". Andell Forgie, NY Carib News
"Crackles with extra excitement and electricity from start to finish". Reggae Route/Amy Wachtel
From AMG:
More than a band, the Skatalites were and are an institution, an aggregation of top-notch musicians who didn't merely define the sound of Jamaica, they were the sound of Jamaica across the '50s and '60s. Although the group existed in its original incarnation for less than 18 months, members brought their signature styles to hundreds upon hundreds of the island's releases. The Skatalites officially lined up as guitarist Jerome "Jah Jerry" Hinds, bassist Lloyd Brevett, teenaged pianist Donat Roy "Jackie" Mittoo, drummer Lloyd Knibbs, trumpeter Johnnie "Dizzie" Moore, Cuban-born tenor saxophonist Tommy McCook, alto saxophonists Lester Sterling and Cuban born Roland Alphonso, and trombonist Don Drummond. Moore, McCook, Sterling, and Drummond were all alumni of the Alpha Cottage School for Boys, an educational institution for troubled and troublesome boys in Kingston, run by the Catholic diocese. Besides the regular lashings of studies, the school was renowned for its music program, and over the years turned hundreds of wayward boys into performers of note. All four ended up playing the hotel circuit, churning out R&B and jazz covers for the tourists.
Previous to the late '50s, this was Jamaica's only real music industry outside the mento scene, and as there were no local record labels, resorts were the only way for musicians to seriously ply their trade. The hotel bands were an ever-shifting conglomerate of players, but over time, they would crisscross each other's paths so often, that all became familiar with everyone else's style. Knibbs and Drummond, for example, had both once played with Eric Dean's Band. When Knibbs departed for the Sheiks, he joined a lineup that included Mittoo and Moore. However, new career opportunities presented themselves when local businessmen Duke Reid and Clement "Coxsonne" Dodd both launched record labels and the era of the sessionmen arrived in Jamaica.
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