
Ska - The Grand Father of Reggae
Before there was reggae there was ska. This music genre is the grand daddy of Jamaican music and launched what is known today as the golden era of Jamaican music. Although short-lived, it was the music that helped ushered in Jamaica's Independence from Britain and would set the tone and direction for Jamaican music for decades to come.
Prior to 1960, Jamaicans had no pop music of their own and listen mainly to American R&B and New Orleans jazz. The local bands likewise played American music because that what the people listened to and wanted to hear. But 1960 was a turning point in Jamaica for several reasons. The island had been their seeking independence from Britain was told that they would eventually get it. This created a sense of pride and a spirit of nationality that eventually swept over the entire island.
In the period leading up the 1960s, the protestant church in Jamaica had split and created a Penticostal movement out of which the revivalist church evolved. The music of the revivalist church was characterized by pronounced up-beat tempo that emphasized the second rather that the first beat of bar. Most of the musicians of the 1960's grew up in the church and was directly influenced by the music. It was, therefore, inevitable that this up-beat tempo would eventually found its way into Jamaica pop music.
Whether it was happenstance or by design, with independence euphoria sweeping the island, in 1962 a local musician with the stage name "Prince Buster" began emphasizing the second or after beat instead of the first or downbeat. This offbeat rhythm was played over a walking bass pattern that was used to keep time rather that add emphasis. On top of all these was a heavy dose of horn and saxophones jazz soloing and improvisation. Before long, all local musicians began playing this new style of music and new sound was born which they called ska.
Along with the new ska music style came a new dance style called skanking. With ska-nking, the knees are slightly bent, with the body slowly swaying from side to side, the arms swinging briskly from side to side (crossing each other) as well as from back to front. When ska first hit the streets, it was popular only among the ghetto youths or "rude boys", as they were called, in Kingston. But before too long, ska fever was sweeping Jamaica from coast to coast. Although there were many popular ska band such as Skatalites and the Heptones, just about every recording artists of the early 1960's recorded the genre. This included a group called the Wailers which included Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Livingston hits such as 'Simmer down" and "Love and affection".
The ska era in Jamaica was not very long and lasted from 1961 until mid 1965. The "rude boys" it turns out did not like to sweat on the dance floor and were telling the DJs to slow things down. The slowing down of ska ushered in the "rock steady" era - which was the precursor to reggae. Although it didn't last long when compared to reggae and "dance hall", ska will always be remembered as the first commercial music to come out of Jamaica.