|
|
 |
Concert preview
|
| Click Here to go back. |
Miami Herald, Concert preview >>
BY Carey Darling, Features Editor
Danceball, the uptempo and often raucous offshoot of raggae, has so dominated the music of the Caribbean in the past few years that sometimes it's easy to forget there are other rhythms from the region. But two festivals in Miami this weekend- the 420 Festival and the Haiti Twoubadou Festival- put two other styles in the spoltlight.
Sunday's 420 Festival at the American Legion facility in Miami is a hodgepodge of pop, but one of the groups playing is the legendary, traditional Jamaican ska band The Skatalites. Ska with its infectious chunka chunka rhythm, was the predecessor to the more downtempo classic raggae popularized by the likes of Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. And though ska has come to mean the "third-wave" ska punk of No Doubt, Goldfinger, and Less Than Jake (the successor of the "second wave" of British Ska bands as Madness and The Specials), the original ska was a jazzy, island take on American R&B and The Skatalites was one of it's best practitioners.
The group left behind some classic tracks, including Guns of Navarone, but it also left behind a history of tension: Trombonist and band leader Don Drummond was found guilty of killing his wife in 1965 and died two years later in a mental institution. The group devolved after less than two years together but regrouped in the early '90s. Then in 1998, saxophonist Rolando Alphonso passed away.
But the band- now featuring bassist Lloyd Brevvet, saxophonist Cedric Brooks, trombonist Will Clark, drummer Loyd Knibb, trumpeter Dizzy Moore, alto saxophonist Lester Sterling, keyboardist Ken Stewart and vocalist Doreen Shaffer- is still hanging tough, as evidenceed on the album From Paris with Love (to be released next month).
Recorded in a French studio it features revamped versions of older songs (Navarone, River to the Bank, Freedom Sounds, Trip to Mars) as well as tracks that give a nod to the foundations of Jamaican music, ranging from The African Beat and a takeoff on South African Miriam Makeba's Pata Pata that's now called Skata Skata. It ranks as the group's best album since it got back together and may be one of its best albums overall. If nothing else it's a testament to a band that refuses to quit and still has much to offer. 04/18/03
|
| Click Here to go back. |
|
 |
|
|
|
