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News & Reviews
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The Beat Magazine, News & Reviews >>
by Norman Weinstein
(excerpt)
Over 40 years have gone by since Jamaica's premier ska band, the Skatalites, burst upon the music scene, and these two cds offer fascinating glimpses into how the Skatalites in particular, and ska in general, have weathered that passage of time.
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Fast-forward to 2003 and here are the Skatalites some 40 years later offering From Paris With Love, with some vastly different personnel than appear on Chin's productions of the '60's. Left from the original group are the drum and bass team of Lloyd Knibb and Lloyd Brevett, saxophonist Lester Sterling, trumpeter Dizzy Moore, and vocalist Doreen Shaffer. New additions include trombonist Will Clark, guitarist Devon James, and keyboardist Ken Stewart.
I'd love to tell you that the Skatalites sound mighty as ever- but I can't. The genius of the Skatalites came from the nucleus of trombonist Don Drummond and saxophonists Tommy McCook and Roland Alphonso Johnson. This "holy trinity" was not only the core of (arguably) the most musically sophisticated brass section in Jamaican musical history, they were world-class jazz musicians, players with extraordinarily distinctive sounds on their intruments. To my ears, the thrill of early ska releases comes from hearing how many passionately original ideas these players could improvise in jazzy solos over a galloping rhythym section. It's not that the new players in the Skatalites don't have jazz chops. They do- but they just sound generic, indistinguishable from countless other competent players.
Five of the 15 tunes on this cd are new (but not improved) versions of '60's tunes recorded by the original Skatalites. Listening to the originals, and then the 2003 versions, provides an unpleasant surprise. The new versions are produced with clear digital sound. Some original recordings sound like they were recorded in a public shower. But the original Skatalites, particularly because of the strength of that brass trio at their heart, overcame primitive studio technology and triumphed through their blazing improvisations weaving through boisterous rhythms. The new Skatalites have a mighty task before them to live up to their name. 06/01/03
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