Album of the Day: Jazz Ska Attack

Album of the Day: Jazz Ska Attack - Don Dummond

Jazz Ska Attack (1999) - Don Drummond

I learned all of this in seconds:

A track from Jazz Ska Attack pops up on my Apple radio station. The track is great, and name Don Drummond sounds familiar, so I head to Wikipedia. Ah, he's a founding member of The Skatalites--I love The Skatalites! And he stabbed his girlfriend four times in the chest, killing her. This was 1965. He's found guilty, ruled criminally insane, and imprisoned in a Jamaican asylum where he died four years later. His death may have been due to improper medication or a poor diet, but it could also have been a revenge killing at the hand of gangsters. Or it was the Jamaican government.

Oh, and there's a ballet depicting his life. And Delfeayo Marsalis wrote the foreword to his biography, Don Drummond: The Genius and Tragedy of the World's Greatest Trombonist (2013), a book that now sits in my wish-list next to People Funny Boy: The Genius of Lee 'Scratch' Perry (2009).

Hard not to constantly think of this info dump while listening to this masterful compilation album fusing jazz improvisation with ska rhythm. I've been spinning this shit for days now. The first three tracks ("Alipanga", "Thoroughfare", and "Burning Torch") are laid-back, trombone-led jams. "Rocket Ship" includes stray lyrics (basically "Rocket Ship" and assorted noises), as well as an explosion sound effect. "Occupation" cops the horn section of "Ring of Fire" and mixes it into a dancehall bopper.

Label: Charly Records

Track for monthly playlist: "Burning Torch"

Listen: https://music.apple.com/us/album/jazz-ska-attack-by-don-drummond/156030264

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