Jazziz, Ska Skeptics >>
“Reggae is very syncopated but is seen as ‘simple’ by jazz aficionados – while Miles and Coltrane were celebrated for two-chord songs,” complains saxophonist David Hillyard, founder of the ska-reggae-jazz octet THE ROCK STEADY 7. “With ska, the modal tones are similar for imposing harmonies and solos. The more I play, the more I see it as a continuum”
And Hillyard certainly can play. His latest, Untitled Front (Do tell Records) consists of 11 mostly original instrumentals that would quickly grow tiresome if not for Hillyard's creativity on tenor sax and bass clarinet. Because he’s played with 90’s punk band Rancid as well as the Toronto Jazz Festival and NYC’s Knitting Factory, Hillyard makes one of the jazziest ska albums in recent memory, with straightforward dance numbers like “Baby” and “Duppy Conqueror” offset by the complex soloing on “Far East” and “Old Days.”
But just what is ska? That can be as hard to answer as, "What is Jazz?" In the early 60’s, before Bob Marley redefined what American considered Jamaican music, ska was the islands premier musical export – a blend of calypso with American R&B, jump blues, and Afro-Cuban jazz, always played with lots of horns (sax, trumpet, trombone).
The best aural history of ska is on the new Rough Guide to Ska (World Music Network), which collects whopping 20 tracks, all recorded between 1961 and 1964. They fit on this single disk because only two songs top three minutes (one being Don Drummonds 1963 shuffling instrumental “Sam the Fisherman” which features two trumpet solos by persons unknown). The album opens (a peppy dance number called “Malcolm X”) and closes (a rave up of Henry Mancini’s “Baby Elephant Walk”) with the SKATALITES, who were the Beatles of ska. However, unlike The Beatles, the Skatalites have broken up more then once and keep reassembling with new lineups. In fact the original group lasted only 18 months.
The latest incarnation features 5 original members and is still touring and recording. The latest, From Paris With Love (World Village), features slicker production (it was, indeed, recorded in Paris) and slower tempos that are more inviting to American and European ears then early and seminal recordings. Ska started out as dance-party music, but tracks like “From Russia with Love” are “Lester’s Mood” wouldn’t out of place at a dinner party. That’s not to say the Skatalites have sold out, just that they’ve grown up. Ska purists will wonder where the beat is, but new comers will find From Paris With Love to be the most accessible ska album listed here.
Michael Koretzky
11/01/03
