Category:Ska

From Jamaica Wiki

Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s. It is the father of rock steady and reggae. Ska is a combination of Caribbean mento and calypso, American jazz and rhythm and blues. The main characteristics of this music style are the walking bass line, accented guitar, or piano rhythms.

Ska was the most popular music genre of the early 1960s. Since that time it has developed and evolved. For that reason music historians divide the history of ska into three periods: the original Jamaican ska (the ska played during the 1960s), the 2 Tone ska (developed in the late 1970s), and the third wave ska movement (started in the 1980s).

The Jamaican ska of the 60s started as a Jamaican interpretation of the American music. Many Jamaican people already had radios and were able to listen to rhythm and blues music from Southern United States cities such as New Orleans.

The original Jamaican ska featured a guitar chop on the back beat, with horns and piano later playing the same riff. Drums kept 4/4 time and the bass drum was accented on the second and fourth beats.

The first ska records were released in Studio One and WIRL Records in Kingston.

The 2 Tone ska period began in the 1970s in England. It was a combination of traditional Jamaican ska rhythms and melodies with punk rock's lyrics and aggressive guitar chords. The 2 Tone ska music had faster tempos then the ska of the 1960s. it was also richer in instruments. This ska genre was named after 2 Tone Records, a record label founded by Jerry Dammers of The Specials.

The bands that played 2 Tone ska music became very popular in England during the racial tensions. This was also reflected in their music. Some of the most popular 2 Tone ska artists of that time were Prince Buster, Toots & the Maytals and Dandy Livingstone.

The Third wave ska period started in the 1980s. Third wave ska bands started to form in the USA and other counties. The first well-known American ska revival band was The Toasters who are considered to be the founders of third wave ska. The Uptones, Fishbone, Operation Ivy, Choking Victim, and Sublime were other very popular third wave ska bands.

The third wave ska sound is a rich mix of ska, 2 Tone ska and punk rock. On the other hand part of the third wave ska artists played traditional ska from the 1960s.

By the early 1990s there were many third wave ska bands formed mainly in the USA. One of the most popular nowadays is No Doubt that brought the mainstream attention to that genre.