Details
Track Listing
1. Police Woman
2. Skafrica
3. Skandy
4. Don, The (Part I) - (with Frank Morgan & Steve Turre)
5. Don, The (Part II) - (with Frank Morgan & Steve Turre)
6. Skapan
7. Ska Boss
8. Oriental Ska
9. Skamaica
10. Skalifornia
11. Skanhattan
12. Skavoovee
Album Notes
Skatalites: Devon James (guitar); Lester Stirling (alto saxophone); Tommy McCook (tenor saxophone, flute); Nathan Breedlove (trumpet); Ron Wilson, Luis Bonilla (trombones); Cary Brown (keyboards); Lloyd Brevett (bass); Lloyd Knibb (drums); Dro (percussion).
Additional personnel: Steve Turre (trombone); Frank Morgan (alto saxophone).
Engineers: Philip Robertson, Dennis Thompson.
Recorded at Minot Sound, White Plains, New York; D & D Recording, New York; E & F Recording, Bronx, New York.
Ska fever seems to break out every 15 years or so, and whenever there's a new eruption of interest in Jamaican pop music, here come the Skatalites. After all, this instrumental group pretty much invented the entire style of music back in the early '60s by taking American soul and R&B and mixing it with the Caribbean beats of calypso. Their mid-'60s singles for Randy Chin's legendary studio and label, both on their own and backing the popular Jamaican singers of the day, are justifiably legendary. 1993's reunion album SKAVOOVEE favors more laid back grooves than those hyperactive early instrumentals, but otherwise, it's like the intervening decades never happened. From the percolating opener "Police Woman" through the rest of the dozen tracks--almost all of which have punnily evocative titles like "Skalifonia" and "Skafrica"--the band is as limber and exciting as always. The centerpiece is the two-part "The Don," which features jazz trombonist Steve Turre deputizing for the late Don Drummond and stretching out over a mellow, almost Latin-flavored pulse.
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