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 would become 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.

• Alton Ellis/Hortense Ellis
• Cornell Campbell
• Derrick Morgan
• Desmond Dekker
• Hopeton Lewis
• Justin Hinds
• Ken Boothe
• Laurel Aitken
• Monty Alexander
• Owen Grey
• Phyllis Dillon
• Prince Buster
• The Blues Busters (Ska)
• The Jamaicans
• The Techniques

• Big Joe Turner
• Count Basie
• Dizzy Gillespie
• Duke Ellington/Count Basie
• Duke Reid
• Fats Domino
• Jimmy Rushing
• Lord Invader
• Lord Kitchener
• Louis Jordan
• Machito
• Roy Brown
• The Jolly Boys
• The Mighty Sparrow/Kitchner
• Wynonie Harris

• Bad Manners
• Bim Skala Bim
• Bob Andy
• English Beat
• Hepcat
• Jimmy Cliff
• Mephiskapheles
• SKAndalous All-Stars
• The Scofflaws
• The Selecter
• The Slackers
• The Special AKA
• The Toasters
• The Wailers (Reggae)
• Toots Hibbert

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