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Recreating the Skatelites
Sparrow Martin creating young group of musicians
BY BASIL WALTERS Observer staff reporter
Sunday, August 28, 2011
BY BASIL WALTERS Observer staff reporter
Sunday, August 28, 2011
An effort is currently underway to establish a new generation of the world renowned Jamaican band, The Skatalites.
This innovative project is being spearheaded by distinguished pioneer musician, Winston 'Sparrow' Martin.
The multitalented musician who plays a range of instruments with equal competence including the trumpet, keyboard and all percussion instruments, is a graduate of Alpha Boys School where he began his musical career and is now band master/musical director. Most of the original members of the Skatalites also graduated from that institution.
With only two founding members of the Skatalites remaining — bassist Lloyd Brivette and alto saxophonist Lester Sterling — this is seen as a welcomed move in the right direction.
"This project that I am doing is called the Young Skatalites. Because most of the Skatalites members are from Alpha Boys School. And we are trying to keep that tradition and let these guys know that this is where the music hatched, it cannot stop," Sparrow Martin told The Sunday Observer.
"So, therefore now," he continues, "what I do is to take these guys between the age of 19 to 25 and I said to them the Skatalites are not with us anymore but we are going to keep the music going. And we have been rehearsing at the Unity Church on Old Hope Road."
The former member of the Jamaica Military Band and the Carlos Malcom Afro-Jamaica Rhythm, who in 1964 started his own band called Sparrow Martin and the Happenings before he started the Alpha Sonics, revealed that the idea for recreating the super all stars' band, really came from another eminent musician Bunny Wailer.
"We were having an anniversary for Alpha (some time ago) and he (Wailer) was listening and he said why don't you put a group together and call them The Young Skatalites," explained Martin.
"So, I decided that I am going to do it. And he said to me that well, it would be his baby. So I am still working on it until when he decide to have that baby. So it gonna take a little while to get these guys to get with that programme to learn the pattern of the Skatalites, the solos and all these things," he added while stressing that the Skatalites "weren't easy in their playing."
Martin who in recognition of his work with young people, was awarded the Order of Distinction in 1997, went on to elaborate, "it's very intricate because these guys (the Skatalites) were jazz musicians. All these were jazz musicans and to come with a thing like that, the ska into that system, these youngsters have got to understand that and learn it. So I am working on that."
The Skatalites Band is Jamaica's most authentic ska aggregation ever. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, but amazingly recorded many of their's and the country's best known instrumental ska standards in that short period. These include Scrap Iron, Ball of Fire, Guns of Navarone, Eastern Standard Time, Far East, Ska In Vienna Woods, Bridge View, Four Corners, Exodus, Lee Harvey Oswald, President Kennedy, Royal Flush, Christine Keiler, You're So Delightful, Feeling Good, and the list goes on.
The Skatalites reformed in 1983 and have been playing together ever since. The departed founding members include trombonist Don Drummond (died 1969), vocalist Jackie Opel (died 1970), organist/pianist Jackie Mittoo (died 1990), tenor saxophonist/flautist Tommy McCook (who died 1998), Rolando Alphonso also tenor saxophonist (died 1998), guitarist Jah Jerry Haynes (died 2007), trumpeter Johnny "Dizzy Johnny" Moore (died 2008) and drummer Lloyd Knibb died this year, 2011.
This innovative project is being spearheaded by distinguished pioneer musician, Winston 'Sparrow' Martin.
The multitalented musician who plays a range of instruments with equal competence including the trumpet, keyboard and all percussion instruments, is a graduate of Alpha Boys School where he began his musical career and is now band master/musical director. Most of the original members of the Skatalites also graduated from that institution.
With only two founding members of the Skatalites remaining — bassist Lloyd Brivette and alto saxophonist Lester Sterling — this is seen as a welcomed move in the right direction.
"This project that I am doing is called the Young Skatalites. Because most of the Skatalites members are from Alpha Boys School. And we are trying to keep that tradition and let these guys know that this is where the music hatched, it cannot stop," Sparrow Martin told The Sunday Observer.
"So, therefore now," he continues, "what I do is to take these guys between the age of 19 to 25 and I said to them the Skatalites are not with us anymore but we are going to keep the music going. And we have been rehearsing at the Unity Church on Old Hope Road."
The former member of the Jamaica Military Band and the Carlos Malcom Afro-Jamaica Rhythm, who in 1964 started his own band called Sparrow Martin and the Happenings before he started the Alpha Sonics, revealed that the idea for recreating the super all stars' band, really came from another eminent musician Bunny Wailer.
"We were having an anniversary for Alpha (some time ago) and he (Wailer) was listening and he said why don't you put a group together and call them The Young Skatalites," explained Martin.
"So, I decided that I am going to do it. And he said to me that well, it would be his baby. So I am still working on it until when he decide to have that baby. So it gonna take a little while to get these guys to get with that programme to learn the pattern of the Skatalites, the solos and all these things," he added while stressing that the Skatalites "weren't easy in their playing."
Martin who in recognition of his work with young people, was awarded the Order of Distinction in 1997, went on to elaborate, "it's very intricate because these guys (the Skatalites) were jazz musicians. All these were jazz musicans and to come with a thing like that, the ska into that system, these youngsters have got to understand that and learn it. So I am working on that."
The Skatalites Band is Jamaica's most authentic ska aggregation ever. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, but amazingly recorded many of their's and the country's best known instrumental ska standards in that short period. These include Scrap Iron, Ball of Fire, Guns of Navarone, Eastern Standard Time, Far East, Ska In Vienna Woods, Bridge View, Four Corners, Exodus, Lee Harvey Oswald, President Kennedy, Royal Flush, Christine Keiler, You're So Delightful, Feeling Good, and the list goes on.
The Skatalites reformed in 1983 and have been playing together ever since. The departed founding members include trombonist Don Drummond (died 1969), vocalist Jackie Opel (died 1970), organist/pianist Jackie Mittoo (died 1990), tenor saxophonist/flautist Tommy McCook (who died 1998), Rolando Alphonso also tenor saxophonist (died 1998), guitarist Jah Jerry Haynes (died 2007), trumpeter Johnny "Dizzy Johnny" Moore (died 2008) and drummer Lloyd Knibb died this year, 2011.
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