Foundation Ska (Hearbeat, 1996)

*GUEST REVIEW*
Mention ska to many people in the 21 st century and they will probably mention Madness, The Specials, The Selecter or two tone generally.  Younger music fans might even mention third or fourth generation ska from labels such as Moon Ska.  However, it's a shame that music fans dont give more credit to the Skatalites and their largely instrumental ska beats.  The group consisted of Tommy McCook, Jackie Mitttoo, Roland Alphonso, Lloyd Brevis and five others. Additionally, guest vocalists and session players joined the groups core.  The music on Foundation Ska is combines big band jazz and swing with Jamaican R&B to generate a lovely sound.  The music is very danceable, fun and has been used for TV adverts, jingles, sampled by hip hop artists as well as being borrowed by two tone.  This album, like the best in reggae, krautrock, and electronica is repetitive but this is basically music composed to fill dance floors.  Forty years after this material was originally recorded, it still sounds fresh and makes me smile.  Foundation Ska is the only Skatalities album that I own.  I may buy another one eventually but could it match the quality here?

- ragudave

Nucleus of Ska (Music Club, 2001)

Since I'm not that much into ska, I almost don't feel qualified to review this album, so feel free to take anything I say with a grain of salt.  Nucleus of Ska is certainly more for ska-heads than Ball of Fire, as it collects early original recordings of the Skatalites -- crackles, hisses, and all -- not all of which are as catchy as later hits like "Eastern Standard Time" and "Guns of Navarone."  Still, even a non-fan like myself found the funky bass of "Determination," the propelling horns of "Confucius" (also on Ball of Fire), and the fun cover of the theme from A Shot in the Dark enjoyable.  "Music Makers," "Shake a Lady," and a version of Bill Doggett's "Boo Da Ba" round out the top tracks.  The producer home isn't Studio One's Coxsone Dodd or Treasure Isle's Duke Reid, but rather the lesser-known Phillip "Justin" Yap, who formed the Top Deck, Top Hat, and Tuneico labels.  Fans will recognize many of the tunes of Nucleus of Ska from the Yap-produced classic album Ska Boo Da Ba, with the addition of several sides originally issued only as singles.  As with most classic ska, the energy level here is high, and the sound borrows much from big-band jazz.  While non-ska fans may not find some of these tunes terribly catchy or clean, regular Skatalites listeners should relish the chance to hear the band in their short-lived original line-up playing hereto hard-to-find material.

In Orbit Volume 1 (Xaymaca, 2005)

"We are the Skatalites, the number one ska band from Jamaica." In case you didn't know, this introduction to the Skatalites' new live album, recorded in Buenos Aires in 2005, provides all you need to know about the group. Their lineup has changed a lot since forming officially in 1964, with only three original members remaining -- drummer Lloyd Knibb, saxophonist Lester Sterling, and vocalist (yes, vocalist!) Doreen Shaffer -- but if In Orbit Volume 1 is any indication, their sound is as jamming as ever. The animated Argentinian crowd is almost like an extra instrument; you can feel their energy coming through the speakers, and you can imagine them grooving and skanking in the aisles, on the dancefloor, or wherever it's appropriate to skank. It's amazing to hear them actually sing along to instrumentals like "Eastern Standard Time" and "Guns of Navarone" -- more so than they do to the (granted, less familiar, yet still charming) vocal tracks "Sugar, Sugar," "Adorable You," "Can't See You," and "You're Wondering Now," all led by Shaffer, the "queen of Jamaican ska." With the Skatalites, though, it's all about the instrumentals, and classic numbers like the aforementioned "Eastern Standard Time" and "Guns of Navarone" are included, alongside "Phoenix City," "Ball of Fire," "Latin Goes Ska," and the band's wicked rendition of the James Bond theme. The show is spiced up by the inclusion of a couple of Sound Dimension classics in the "Real Rock/Rockfort Rock Medley" (the two groups aren't mutually exclusive, of course, since Jackie Mittoo helped form both), which infuses a bit of dancehall energy into the proceedings. Hear the Skatalites take off into orbit at their official site, skatalites.com.

On the Right Track (AIM, 2007)

The ageless Skatalites return with as much zest as ever. Amazingly, of their 30-plus albums, On the Right Track is only the group's second all-original set.  There are no remakes to be found here, but you'd be hard-pressed to tell that these songs didn't originate back in the '60s. The vintage ska sound runs throughout this album -- with brief slowdowns on vocal tunes "Bye Bye" and the title track, featuring the classy, Marcia Griffiths-like voice of Doreen Shaffer.  "New York Minute" is an awesome opening and is perhaps the best track here, a guaranteed dancefloor filler that dares you to keep still.  Once you hear the brassy horns soaring over the skanking rhythm section, you know this is the same ol' Skatalites up to their ol' tricks.  Of course, you can't expect an album full of classics like "Guns of Navarone," "Eastern Standard Time," and the like, but "New York Minute," "Outback Ska," "Shock Trail," "Divine Conception," "Marguerita's Lament," and the lovely echoed "Outback Dub" are more than enough to satisfy longtime fans. On the Right Track was recorded in, of all places, Australia -- hence titles like "Outback Ska," "Outback Dub," and "Uluru Rock" (Uluru being a famous rock formation there) -- which seems to have inspired the band. It's like discovering a vibrant, long-lost Skatalites album, a treat for any listener.