Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the off beat. It was developed in Jamaica in the 1960s when Stranger Cole, Prince Buster, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, and Duke Reid formed sound systems to play American rhythm and blues and then began recording their own songs. In the early 1960s, ska was the dominant music genre of Jamaica and was popular with British mods and with many skinheads.
Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was the dominant style of music in Jamaica for nearly two years, performed by many of the artists who helped establish reggae, including harmony groups such as the Techniques, the Paragons, the Heptones and the Gaylads; soulful singers such as Alton Ellis, Delroy Wilson, Bob Andy, Ken Boothe and Phyllis Dillon; musicians such as Jackie Mittoo, Lynn Taitt and Tommy McCook. The term rocksteady comes from a popular (slower) dance style mentioned in the Alton Ellis song "Rocksteady", that matched the new sound. Some rocksteady songs became hits outside Jamaica, as with ska, helping to secure the international base reggae music has today.
The Congos are a reggae vocal group from Jamaica which formed as the duo "Ashanti" Roy Johnson (tenor) and Cedric Myton (falsetto), later becoming a trio with the addition of Watty Burnett (baritone), and have been active on and off from the mid-1970s until the present day. They are best known for their Heart of the Congos album, recorded with Lee "Scratch" Perry.
Lorenzo "Laurel" Aitken was a Cuban-Jamaican singer and one of the pioneers of ska music. He is often referred to as the "Godfather of Ska".
People from the Caribbean have made significant contributions to British Black music for many generations.
Lester "Ska" Sterling OD, also known as Mr. Versatile, was a Jamaican trumpet and saxophone player.
Vin Gordon is a Jamaican trombone player.
Better Late Than Never is the debut album by the ska/reggae band the Slackers. It was released in 1996 on Moon Ska Records. It was remastered and re-released with three additional tracks from the original recording sessions on March 19, 2002, through Special Potato Records.
Dalton Sinclair Bishop, better known as Jackie Opel, was a Barbadian singer who possessed a rich, powerful voice with a high octave range. He was known as the "Jackie Wilson of Barbadian culture" and was also a gifted dancer. Bishop was born in Bridgetown, Barbados.
Dr. Ring Ding is a German reggae, ska and dancehall artist.
Derrick Morgan OD is a Jamaican musical artist who was popular in the 1960s and 1970s. He worked with Desmond Dekker, Bob Marley, and Jimmy Cliff in the rhythm and blues and ska genres, and he also performed rocksteady and skinhead reggae.
Marcia Llyneth Griffiths is a Jamaican singer. One reviewer described her by noting "she is known primarily for her strong, smooth-as-mousse love songs and captivating live performances".
Tommy McCook was a Jamaican saxophonist. A founding member of The Skatalites, he also directed The Supersonics for Duke Reid, and backed many sessions for Bunny Lee or with The Revolutionaries at Channel One Studios in the 1970s.
Ruder Than You is an American ska band that was founded in 1989 at Penn State University and, in 1991, the group relocated to Philadelphia. While ska and reggae stylings have always provided the common musical thread, over the past 15 plus years Ruder Than You has been mixing in dancehall, hip hop, rocksteady, and rub-a-dub – even adding elements of funk, jazz, and punk.
The Skatalites are a ska band from Jamaica. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, and recorded many of their best known songs in the period, including "Guns of Navarone." They also played on records by Prince Buster and backed many other Jamaican artists who recorded during that period, including Bob Marley & The Wailers, on their first single "Simmer Down." They reformed in 1983 and have played together ever since.
Joseph Abraham Gordon, better known as Lord Tanamo, was a Jamaican-Canadian singer and songwriter best known for his mento and ska work.
Cedric "Im" Brooks was a Jamaican saxophonist and flautist known for his solo recordings and as a member of The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari, The Sound Dimensions, Divine Light, The Light of Saba, and The Skatalites.
Kenneth L. Farquharson known professionally as Ken Parker is a Jamaican musician who first recorded in the 1960s.
Gladstone Anderson, also known by his nickname "Gladdy", was a Jamaican pianist, keyboard player, and singer, who played a major part in the island's musical history, playing a key role in defining the ska sound and the rocksteady beat, and playing on hundreds of recordings as a session musician, a solo artist, and as leader of Gladdy's All Stars, featuring bassist Jackie Jackson, drummer Winston Grennan, guitarist Hux Brown, and keyboardist Winston Wright. As Harry J All Stars the band had a massive hit in Jamaica and United Kingdom with the instrumental song "The Liquidator" 1969.
Ventrice Morgan, better known by the stage name Queen Ifrica, is a reggae singer and disc jockey from the hills above Montego Bay, Jamaica. She is the daughter of ska musician Derrick Morgan but was raised by her mother and stepfather.
