Ska Jazz
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The jazz-forward instrumental face of ska, where bebop- and swing-trained horn players stretch out over the offbeat skank with improvised solos, sophisticated harmony and standards-derived melody. Trombone, tenor sax, trumpet and vibes take extended breaks above a walking bass and shuffling ska drums, blurring the line between a Kingston dance and a jazz combo. Tempos stay danceable but the arrangements reward listening, full of counterpoint, modal turns and cinematic themes. It is ska as a musicians' music, virtuosic and cool.
History
Ska jazz was implicit from the start because the Skatalites were graduates of Kingston's Alpha Boys School and seasoned jazz players; Don Drummond's brooding trombone, Roland Alphonso's tenor and Tommy McCook's leadership turned instrumentals like "Eastern Standard Time" and "Confucius" into jazz statements in ska clothing. Guitarist Ernest Ranglin carried the fusion into straight jazz rooms, and after the Skatalites reunited in the 1980s the idiom was formalised by 1990s groups such as Jazz Jamaica and the New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble. The style remains a live-circuit staple, prized by horn players and festival crowds who trace it straight back to Alpha's brass tradition.
Defining artists
Essential listening
- Guns of Navarone(1965) — The SkatalitesSpotifyYouTube
- Eastern Standard Time(1965) — The SkatalitesSpotifyYouTube
- Confucius(1965) — The SkatalitesSpotifyYouTube
- Man in the Street(1964) — Don DrummondSpotifyYouTube
- Phoenix City(1965) — Roland AlphonsoSpotifyYouTube
- Ball of Fire — The SkatalitesSpotifyYouTube
Sources
- Heather Augustyn, Ska: An Oral History (2010)
- David Katz, Solid Foundation: An Oral History of Reggae (2003)
- Steve Barrow & Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae (2004)