The Skatalites

Formation

The Skatalites came together in early 1964 in Kingston from the musicians who were already playing on most Jamaican sessions of the period. The founding line-up was Tommy McCook and Roland Alphonso (tenor saxophones), Lester Sterling (alto saxophone), Don Drummond (trombone), Johnny "Dizzy" Moore (trumpet), Jackie Mittoo (piano), Jah Jerry Haynes (guitar), Lloyd Brevett (bass) and Lloyd Knibb (drums), with Doreen Shaffer as vocalist and Lord Tanamo also singing with the band. Their first public show was at the Hi-Hat Club in Kingston in May 1964.

Studio work

As a unit and as individual session players they recorded for Coxsone Dodd at Studio One, Duke Reid at Treasure Isle, Prince Buster, Leslie Kong and Sonia Pottinger. Instrumentals such as "Freedom Sounds", "Ball of Fire", "Eastern Standard Time", "Dr. Kildare" and "Occupation" came out of these sessions. They also backed singers, including Bob Marley and the Wailers on "Simmer Down" (1964), Toots & the Maytals, Delroy Wilson and Desmond Dekker.

Split

The band played its last show in August 1965, months after Don Drummond was arrested and institutionalised. Members split into two house bands: Tommy McCook led the Supersonics at Treasure Isle, and Roland Alphonso and Jackie Mittoo formed the Soul Brothers, later the Soul Vendors, at Studio One.

Guns of Navarone

Their ska arrangement of the theme from the 1961 film The Guns of Navarone, issued in the UK by Island, entered the UK Top 40 in April 1967, after the group had already broken up.

Reunion

The Skatalites reformed at Reggae Sunsplash in Montego Bay in June 1983 and toured and recorded from then on. The albums Hi-Bop Ska (1994) and Greetings from Skamania (1996) received Grammy nominations, and the band played on Toots and the Maytals' True Love, which won the Grammy for Best Reggae Album. Personnel changed over the decades as original members died, including Lloyd Knibb in 2011 and Lloyd Brevett in 2012.