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Mash it Up!, in bid to help save reggae,s spiritual home,
Mash it Up!, returns in February 2004, playing the finest in
upbeat, danceable reggae and straight-up, funky-assed funk from
the old school. We,ve
got brand spanking new dates, a new venue and a very good cause:
We will be giving a tenth of all profits to the Alpha Boys School
(and home) in
Kingston, Jamaica - in tribute to Don Drummond, Tommy McCook and
Alpha,s other great musical graduates (see footnotes).
Children in need of care and protection come to Alpha through
the Family Courts in Jamaica, (some abandoned, abused, orphaned,
incorrigible). Without
Alpha and its continuing music program, there would have been
no Skatalites, no reggae as we know it and no Mash it Up!,. But
now, the economy of
Jamaica has put the school and its children in jeopardy.
Club organiser and DJ, John Craddock said:
"We are delighted to have the opportunity to give a little
back to the school which gave us so many of the musicians that
we love to jump around to at
Mash it Up!
Sister Susan Frazer at Alpha Boys School said:
"Alpha needs money URGENTLY at this time. Continuing with
these severe financial problems will not be possible without some
serious and consistent
level of financial support. We are working now to build a trust
that will secure Alphas' future into the next century. I'm grateful
for any help
that Mash it Up!" may be able to give. God knows right now
we need it. God Bless.
Briefing on Alpha Boys School and its famous graduates
1. As well as some famous names in jazz, the school fostered:
Tenor saxophonist Tommy McCook, who figured in both of the two
most important bands in Jamaican music. He was leader of the
Skatalites and also
featured in Lee Perry,s Upsetters,,
Legendary trombonist Don Drummond, whose minor-key arrangements
and solos brought greater fame to the Skatalites. Their influence
was incalculable.
Their 1964 debut Ska Authentic ruled Jamaican airwaves throughout
the year, and in addition to leading sessions with all of the
island's top solo
artists, they also helped launch the careers of newcomers including
Delroy Wilson, the Wailers, Lee "Scratch" Perry and
Ken Boothe.
Skatalites founding member Johnny "Dizzy" Moore who
remains with the band today and has retained links with Alpha.
Vin Gordon who played trombone on innumerable reggae tracks including
classic albums such as The Upsetters - Super Ape, Burning Spear
- Marcus
Garvey, Culture Two Sevens Clash, The Heptones Party Time
Current Skatalites saxophonist Cedric Im, Brooks who played on
countless Studio One sessions and also played on Bob Marley,s
Kaya, album.
Trombonist Rico Rodriguez, a notable soloist who has collaborated
with groups as diverse as Jools Holland,s Big Band, The Specials,
The Super Furry
Animals, Toots and the Maytals and U Roy.
Drummer Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace who has recorded
with such notables as Augustus Pablo, Beres Hammond, Frankie Paul,
Burning Spear, Dennis Brown,
The Abyssinnians, Prince Far-I and Sugar Minott.
Lester Sterling aka Mr Versatile, founding member of the Skatalites
and still in their line up today on alto saxophone and trumpet.
2. As Geoff Parker points out at:
http://www.reggaezine.co.uk/skanotes.html
The Skatalites had dominated the music of Jamaica in the brief
period between their formation in June 1964 and the breakdown
the next year
of.trombonist Don Drummond. They defined ska as a driving, assertive
and truly home grown music appropriate for the newly independent
island. These
veteran musicians had worked together for many years before the
formation of the Skatalites, even before the birth of the Jamaican
recording industry
itself, making their living in the big bands, dance bands and
jazz bands that preceded an indigenous Jamaican music. With the
demise of the
Skatalites, these men simply continued as before to freelance,
now
as session musicians for every major producer and artist on the
island, thereby exercising immense influence over Jamaican music
as it developed from
ska to rocksteady and into what the world has come to know as
reggae. The history of these musicians is literally the history
of Jamaican music
itself.
3. From: A Brief History of the Skatalites,
http://www.skatalites.com/music/liners_foundation.htm
A nun with the Sisters of Mercy, and an instructor at the Alpha
School for Boys, Sister Ignatius met Don Drummond, Lester Sterling
and Johnny Moore in
the first and second form, when she was their teacher.
"I didn't have Tommy as a student, as he was older. I
knew Don Drummond, I knew Lester Sterling and I knew Johnny Moore",
Sister explains. "Music is a
big part of the curriculum here at the school. Back when Tommy,
Don, Lester and Johnny were students, we would have all day classes
in music.
Nowadays, the music classes are a half day."
Known as 'Jamaica's Nursery For Brass Band Music', the Alpha
Boys School band has earned an international reputation for excellence
through 'Music in
Education'. The school is on South Camp Road in Kingston, and
inside its spacious Lennie Hibbert Music Hall, the walls are adorned
with photos and
memorabilia honoring the achievements of Alpha School graduates.
Don Drummond has his own corner amid fellow Alpha 'old boys' such
as Joe Harriot,
Bertie King, Dizzy Reece, Dudley Farrier, Harold 'Little G' Gaynair,
Joe Bennett, Wilton Gaynair, Headley Bennett, Eddie 'Tan Tan'
Thornton, Raymond
Harper, Ron Wilson,
Manuel 'Rico' Rodriguez, and Bobby Ellis. Johnny Moore recalls
his days at Alpha fondly, "They [the nuns] were serious people
and don't take to
joking, but I enjoyed it at the Alpha School. I was there with
Don and Lester and I remember Don always study music by reading
piano books. He played
trombone but he would sit under the dibby-dibby tree studying
his piano book for hours." Moore also recalled being close
to Sterling while at Alpha,
"Sterling was kind of a teacher of mine. We were close in
age, he was in the next form, and he played trumpet in the Alpha
band."
Moore left Alpha in 1955, and "a couple of months later I joined the military band."
Tommy McCook also warmly recalls his days at the Alpha School,
"My brother was already at Alpha when I first went there
with my Mom to visit. Frank
was a little older than me and he was a good singer. Alpha helped
bring that out and later Frank was a singer with Roy Coburn's
Blue Flames Orchestra.
When I started at Alpha in the band, I played tenor right away,
and it was my teacher,s sax. It came about because his time was
up. I was given the
school sax to use as my first."
McCook recalls his start at Alpha, "The nuns took good
care of us. Sister Marie Therese, who was the caretaker and superintendent
of the school when I
started there in '39, was a very stern person. We called her Sister
Martarez. She was kind of cool, saintly. Sister Alphonso was her
helper, and she
was big and robust, like a man. Sister Ignatius came next."
As for Don Drummond, according to school records, he entered
Alpha at age nine, "because his mother could no longer tolerate
his truancy". It also
states that he spent three years in third form, and completed
level five before he left on September 12, 1950 to join the Colony
Club Orchestra, which
was led by Eric Deans. Eric Deans was a popular bandleader who
recruited heavily from Alpha. His bands played American swing
and Latin rhythms which
emanated from Cuba and points south.
"Eric Deans had a way of grooming young kids into playing
the music", states Tommy McCook. "Us kids kept going
in the band, whenever we see a member
left the band, he would come to Alpha and audition a young chap
to fill in". During the forties and fifties, most of the
Skatalites spent time
working in his bands after they first left school.
4. An Extract from interview with "Dizzy" Johnny
Moore of the Skatalites conducted by Mohair Slim, 11 May 2000
in Kingston, Jamaica. Source:
http://niceup.com/interviews/dizzy_johnny_moore
Johnny tell me how you started out to be a musician
Well, it's a long story. That's from my early childhood days.
I grew up in a home where there was some music there. But, according
to the folks it
wasn't for me to be a part of. So I wound up in Alpha Boys School
where I learnt to play some music and I took it from there you
know?
How did you end up in Alpha School for Boys?
Well, I had to pull a couple of pranks. My folks wasn't the
type who would have liked to dump their kids there y'know? So
I had to pull a couple of
pranks so that they figure I was going haywire.
You did it on purpose?
Yes, because I had to learn the music and ever since I was
a kid I told them hey I didn't want to do anyting else. I used
to like use the leaf of the
pumpkin and make like flutes, papaya stalks that kind of stuff
there and combs, sardine cans with elastics, anything that would
make a sound.
How did you know the Alpha School was the place to go?
Funny. I seen some kid next door to me. Beating off a mean
drum. I say "Bwoy, where did you learn to do that?"
and he said "Alpha". I said "Where
is that". He says "You can't go there", coz my
folks they weren't the worst off. They weren't the type of people,
were seventh day adventists, they
don't go with the Roman Catholic sentiment of things anyway, y'know?
I says "Whoah, I got to get to that place". Like I
said, I had to pull a couple
of pranks (laughs).
5. To donate to Alpha, or buy Alpha merchandise, or get more
information, please see:
http://www.alphaboysschool.com/
6. The dates for Mash it Up! In 2004 are:
28th February
19th June
21st August
23rd October
18th December
Contact: John Craddock 07986 282 495 baldheadselector@yahoo.co.uk