By Tom Watson, ContributorTHE SKATALITES' original members Lloyd Brevett, Lester Sterling and Lloyd Nibb were joined by veteran Studio One saxophonist Cedric Brooks and vocalist Lord Tanamo and a host of celebrities for a sell-out show at London, England's prestigious Jazz Café.
A crowd of expatriate Jamaicans, middle-aged remnants of the British skinhead movement and a host of younger fans welcomed the Skatalites to the stage as if they were royalty, a fitting tribute to a band recently described by none other than Prime Minister P.J. Patterson as the most talented amalgamation of artistes the island has ever produced.
The sands of time have robbed us of acts like Don Drummond and more recently Jackie Mittoo, Tommy McCook and Roland Alphonso, but an evening with the Skatalites is still a musical experience par excellence.
The Skatalites' music can still be heard pumping out of the many clubs in London devoted to vintage Jamaican music and the band's younger fans were delighted to be able to see their heroes play for the first time.
HITS OF YESTERDAY
The band treated the crowd to some of their biggest hits like Guns of Navarone, Latin Goes Ska and Occupation, all of them sounding as fresh and vibrant as the day they were first cut, almost four decades ago.
Bass man Lloyd Brevett then called on Lord Tanamo to give the crowd "some real old time music." The veteran singer took one look at the young crowd and said, "Old thing? A new thing this!" before tearing into I'm In the Mood For Ska, taking a moment to pay tribute to the talent of the late great Don Drummond.
The band looked a little frazzled at the start of the set, no doubt due to the effects of old age and extensive touring. However, soon into the set, crowd and band alike were firing on all cylinders. Lord Tanamo joined the band for I'm In the Mood for Ska, before the band stormed into the classic Phoenix City, which turned into Let's Twist Again and then finally The Young Ones, sparking a massive sing-along and even an invasion of the stage by some of the more excitable members of the audience.
ROAR OF APPROVAL
After a rousing rendition of Freedom Sounds, the band left the stage to a huge roar of approval from the crowd.
Minutes later the band was back, this time with legendary singer Desmond Dekker in tow for a rendition of the big United Kingdom chart hit The Israelites, which blew the roof off the club, paving the way nicely for a DJ set from BBC TV presenter and ska fanatic Mark Lamarr, who kept the crowd rocking until the early hours with a heavy selection of hits from the golden era of ska and rocksteady.
SIGNIFICANT SUPPORT STILL
Ska may have been eclipsed by rocksteady, reggae and finally dancehall in Jamaica, but the genre still has a massive following in Europe and America, with countless acts trying to replicate the sound that encapsulated the spirit of young Jamaica at the dawn of Independence, yet none of them have come even close to the professionalism and sheer dynamism of these most talented of musicians.
One need only look at the list of artistes the Skatalites backed during their heyday Bob Marley, Ken Boothe, Alton Ellis, Toots and the Maytals, Delroy Wilson the list is endless.
It is a tragedy that these giants of the Jamaican recording scene never received adequate financial reward for their most popular recordings, which still sell bucketloads across the world, yet bring the band little in the way of royalties.
