Latest Release
- 8 MAR 2024
- 2 Songs
- The Skatalite! · 1997
- The Skatalite! · 1997
- Ska Jam: The Rude Boy Mixtape · 2016
- Ska Anthems · 2017
- Treasure Isle Time · 1966
- Duke Reid Presents · 2009
- Latin Goes Ska - Single · 1964
- Duke Reid Presents · 1966
- Hi-Bop Ska · 1994
- The Skatalite! · 1997
- 2016
- 2013
- 2002
- 1998
Music Videos
- 2015
Artist Playlists
- Ranking rulers of ska and forerunners of the reggae scene.
Compilations
- 2016
- 2013
- 2011
- 1997
Appears On
- The Big Browns
- DANCE EARTH PARTY feat. The Skatalites+今市隆二 from 三代目 J Soul Brothers
More To Hear
- The DJ-producer highlights women in ska, roots, and reggae.
About The Skatalites
Ska is to reggae as blues is to rock & roll, and as ska's founders and foremost practitioners, the Skatalites are the single most influential group in Jamaican music. Starting in the mid-'60s, the Skatalites forged a horn-led sound that merged Jamaican mento and calypso with American R&B and jazz, inverting the boogie woogie rhythm for an upbeat accent that became the trademark of all subsequent reggae. Besides being a self-contained unit -- that over the years and various incarnations has included luminaries Don Drummond, Ernest Ranglin, Roland Alphonso, and countless others -- the Skatalites also served as a house band for Coxsone Dodd at the legendary Studio One, backing a long line of singers on early ska, rocksteady, and reggae hits.
- ORIGIN
- Kingston, Jamaica
- FORMED
- May 1964
- GENRE
- Reggae