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"A
dance explosion waiting to happen....." -
London Times ------------------------------ "A
diabolical concoction of foot-popping ska, invocations
to the ancient Yoruba gods, swinging Latin brass and the
results of a fiendish extraction process performed on
the kings of mambo.... an instant party
classic." -
Fly
(UK) |
“During
ten years spent exploring Cuba, I completely fell in
love with Cuban music and culture", says Peter
A. Scott – Founder and Production Director of Ska
Cubano
. "In particular I got to know
Santiago de Cuba
, the cradle of Cuban music, and many of the great
musicians who originate there, so well that it become a
second home. Previously I had also spent a lot of time
in
Jamaica
and was/am a big fan of mento, calypso, ska, rock steady
and roots reggae.
The
oldest musicians in
Santiago
told me that, before the Cuban Revolution in 1959, there
had been a lot of musical contact between
Santiago
and the rest of the
Caribbean
. For instance, calypso was very popular in
Cuba
in the 1940's and early 1950's and a lot of Cuban
artists (including my friend, the late great Compay
Segundo) had made calypso records. After the Revolution,
Cuba
had other priorities and the level of interaction
reduced dramatically. As a result, Caribbean musical
developments from 1959 onwards mostly didn't reach
Cuba
.
I
began to imagine what would have happened if the same
level of interaction had continued. I became convinced
that ska, which itself borrowed quite a lot of Cuban
elements, would have been taken up enthusiastically by
Cuban musicians in the early 1960's. So, just for fun, I
started a new label, casinosounds, to explore new
directions in Cuban music and decided to create an
alternative history in which Cuban ska had emerged.
I
already knew some of the big names in ska in
London
such as Gaz Mayall (who encouraged me to go ahead with
the project), and, of course, Natty Bo of Top Cats. As
it turned out, Natty was not only a leading exponent and
devotee of ska but was also a huge fan of Cuban music,
with a collection of Cuban vinyl (including a lot of
mambo and early rumba that even I hadn't heard) from the
40’s and 50’s. He loved the idea. We got on a plane
to Cuba. I introduced Natty to the musicians and he
started to make it happen - we soon had three bands
experimenting with ska, with lots of other musicians
interested in what was going on.
The
crème de la crème
was crazy, charismatic mambo singer Beny Billy, whom
Natty met basking in the street.. Natty's ex-wife,
Megumi Mesaku, probably the world's top ska saxophonist,
also travelled to Santiago
to teach ska brass to the locals.
"
-----------------------------------
In
February 2002 most of the first album was recorded
"live", with Cuban musicians plus Natty and
Megumi, in the Egrem Siboney studios in Santiago de Cuba
onto 2" analogue tape. It was then mixed in
London
by ska and reggae producer Spider Johnson Etienne, Natty
and myself, mainly at Wolf Studios, Brixton, London.
Our
original first idea was to bring Cuban musicians to
Europe
to tour. But our thinking gradually changed and we
decided that we didn't actually want a 100% Cuban sound.
Natty and I knew most of the best Cuban, Jamaican and
other Caribbean musicians in
London
and, we decided to form the band there with Beny
commuting from Santiago
to complete what had now become Ska Cubano. The line-up
included Rey Crespo (a great bass player and old friend
of mine who by then had relocated from
Havana
to
London
); Jesus Cutino, a charismatic young tres player
originally from Las Tunas; congalero Oreste Noda,
recently arrived from
Matanzas
(the great centre of Afro-Cuban religion culture and
drumming): Dr Sleepy (Reuben White), a veteran rock and
reggae drummer originally from Montserrat, whose
explosive energy supplies much of the insistent drive we
needed, and legendary veteran trumpet player Eddi “Tan
Tan”
Thornton
, joined to create an amazing
Caribbean
band.
The
Ska Cubano line-up and our unique sound is therefore a
fusion of different traditions: mambo from Beny; ska
from Natty and Megumi; rumba from Noda; rock and reggae
from Tan Tan and Sleepy; son from Rey and
Jesus.
You
can hear
echoes of all of these rootstocks on different tracks
but the fusion is taking us somewhere completely
different as you can hear on the second album, !Ay
Caramba!, which explores yet more Caribbean rootstocks.
Natty and I share the same crazy, surreal sense of
humour and Ska Cubano is always mainly going to be about
having a huge amount of fun.
-----------------------------
Biographies
Nathan
Lerner (Natty Bo),
London
- Leader / Singer / Producer
-
"I’ve
always wanted to bring people together. Jamaican ska did
it - Ska Cubano does it even more, uniting races, people
and cultures throughout the Caribbean and across the
Atlantic - you can hear
New Orleans
, Africa and
Southern Spain
as well as the fusion of Jamaican and Cuban elements. I
own lots of Cuban music - mambo and son - and could
always hear its influence on ska; when I was in
Japan
supporting my friends the Skatalites (the biggest ska
band of the early 1960’s), I realised why: three of
the original members had Cuban roots, including Laurel
Aitken, who was actually born in
Cuba
."
Natty
Bo, director and producer of Ska Cubano, is an artist
without boundaries - talented painter and sculptor,
one-time circus performer, D.J., songwriter, producer
and singer with major
London
ska band, Top Cats. "I’ve been crazy about ska
since I was 10 years old and discovered a bundle of ska
singles in a jumble sale," he says, "but with
Ska Cubano I’ve had the opportunity to take it in a
completely new direction - well, actually, along with
these great musicians, to create a completely new kind
of music. Although the band is based in
London
, its birthplace is
Santiago de Cuba
, where life is hard, but also rich and real and
vibrant. I go there to write songs, work out
arrangements, absorb the vibe - and clean the cultural
pollution out of my head."
“I’m
into roots - unlike
Havana
,
Santiago
is really roots - and I encouraged the musicians to use
elements which are mostly really African: instruments
such as the marimbula and the botijuela, as well as
Yoruba percussion, which I’ve then used on the record.
Re-integrating two very musical cultures was, wow! an
amazing experience and I have the sense that we might
have done something quite important - as well as having
a huge amount of fun."
Eddie
“Tan Tan” Thornton
-Trumpet
-
Casual
superlatives suck, but “legendary” is just how
everyone describes Tan Tan. Born in 1932, he found
himself at
Kingston
’s
Alpha
Boys
School
where the “jazz nun”, Sister Ignatius, was the
inspirational guide and teacher
who turned wayward boys into
Jamaica’s greatest musicians; ABS was consequently the
cradle of ska, reggae and Jamaican jazz.
After
several years in the emerging jazz scene of
Germany
, Tan Tan arrived in
London
, where his extraordinary talent was quickly recognised.
For producers and big-name rock musicians of the sixties
and seventies his became the most sought-after trumpet
of the era .His recording and performing credits include
The Beatles, Bob Marley, the Rolling Stones, Boney M,
Georgie Fame and his all-time favourite, Jimi Hendrix, while
he continued to play in between times with top
jazz, ska and reggae names (Aswad ,Rico Rodriguez etc.).
More
recently he has feautured in the horn section anchors of
the Jools Holland Band, as well as Jazz Jamaica and the
Jazz Warriors. At 73, are his lip, his wind, his
technique and his imagination still great? Just listen
to his many wild, witty solos and believe.
Megumi
Mesaku -Alto sax / Baritone sax
-
From
Osaka
via
Chiba
City
near
Tokyo, at 9 years old “Miss Megoo” was already
saxophonist with a brass band and by 14 was solo-ing in
a festival orchestra. Later in her teens she began
blowing her horn with Tokyo-based township jive and East
African rumba bands before moving on to a jump blues
group ( meanwhile making a better living as the musical
diversion in honkytonks). She fell for Ska while DJ-ing
in
Tokyo
clubs and sought out Gaz Mayall, then touring
Japan
with his Trojans. The Trojans included husband–to–be
Natty Bo, with whom she moved to
London
where they put together
Britain’s wildest ska outfit, Top Cats. Although no
longer married to Natty, she still plays with Top Cats,
features occasionally with the Trojans and has played
with Mervyn
Afrika and more recently, Hawkwind founder Nick
Turner’s All Stars (Glastonbury 2004).
One
of her big influences is Big Jay McNeely, with whom she
jammed as a teenager, an experience which persuaded her
to turn professional. Big Jay is the intensely energetic
master of the honking sax, whose ability to whip
teenagers into a frenzy got him banned from performing
in 1950’s
L.A.
The pupil has now become the master: hold on to your
seats for Megumi’s screaming, squeaking alto sax
solos. Said The Independent on Sunday "elegant and
strikingly beautiful.. a star in her own right whose
quirky, intense solos get the biggest cheers..." as
well as her grinding, growling baritone.
Rey Crespo
-Double bass
and co-musical director-
Born in Havana
to a mother who herself
was a
famous singer, Rey spent 10 years at Cuba’s premiere
music academies, studying composition, arrangement,
guitar and bass. His emergence as a professional
musician -bass virtuoso and bandleader- came via
recording and performing with great Cuban artists such
as Omara Portuondo, Elena Burke, Cachao, sonero mayor
Raul Planas and the legendary Ruben Gonzalez. During
this time he also worked with Peter Scott of
casinosounds. In 1997 he re-llocated to London
and participated in tours by major stars including Gran
Combo de Puerto Rico and Africando, later forming his
own bands.
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