| It's not often that nearly four-decade-old music manages to be both seminal and cutting edge, but these 32 hits from Jamaica's--and the world's--greatest ska outfit are just that. Early ska blended R&B shuffle with mento (Jamaican calypso)--Jamaica's antic response to stateside boogie-woogie. Don Drummond, Roland Alphonso, the late Tommy McCook, and the other Skatalites injected the swinging sophistication of jazz-honed chops, and this set captures the band just starting out, during their '64-'65 tenure at Coxsonne Dodd's legendary Studio One. Ska's buoyant appeal has never died, merely gone underground now and then, and it's raging at an all-time high today. Foundation Ska shows why the Skatalites still dominate. Every track's a burnished gem, and fans will get extra kicks from the band's backing turns for Bob Marley and the Wailers ("Simmer Down") and Stranger Cole and Ken Boothe's "World's Fair" duet. --Elena Oumano |
