Listen to Ska, A Jamaican greatest Music to the World

Ska emerged in Jamaica as a kind of ham-fisted combination of American rhythm and blues and #Caribbean folk styles, such as calypso and mento, in the late '50s, but it flourished after the former British colony gained independence in 1962. A robust recording scene developed around open discos called sound systems. Most of the singers were backed by a group of self-taught virtuosos who also recorded instrumentals under the name the #Skatalites. Trombonist Don Drummond was an authentic tortured genius a la Charlie Parker.

#Music doesn’t stand still anywhere, and bluebeat transformed into rocksteady and #reggae. By 1969, nearly every ska performer had moved with the times, with ska not quite falling by the wayside, but certainly fading in popularity compared to its cousins. It wasn’t until the Two Tone movement hit Britain in the late 1970s that ska became popular again, performed by such groups as The Specials, The Selecter, Bad Manners, and Madness