BULLETIN BOARD

The event: Mash it Up!
The music: The Baldhead Selector presents the finest in upbeat, danceable reggae and straight up funky-assed funk from the old school. (expect James Brown, Studio One, Temptations, Upsetters)
The cause: A tenth of all profits will go to keep the legendary Alpha Boys School open in Kingston, Jamaica - in tribute to Don Drummond, Tommy McCook, and Alpha's other great, musical graduates.
The date: Saturday 23rd October 2004
The venue: Lowdown at the Albany Pub, 240 Great Portland Street
The time: 8.30pm until 2am
The door tax: £4 before 10pm, £6 after
The vibe: Laid back, friendly, cosy, house party
The drinks: Pub prices
Info: http://www.mashitup.org.uk
Email: baldheadselector@mashitup.org.uk
Tel: 07986 282 495
***********************************************
Press Release
For immediate use 26th August 2004

Page 1 of 4

Mash it Up!, in bid to save reggae,s spiritual home,

Mash it Up!, returns on 23rd October 2004, playing the finest in upbeat, danceable reggae and straight-up, funky-assed funk from the old school. We give 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.

Contact: John 07986 282 495 baldheadselector@mashitup.org.uk


Page 2 of 4

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.

Contact: John 07986 282 495 baldheadselector@mashitup.org.uk


Page 3 of 4

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.

Contact: John 07986 282 495 baldheadselector@mashitup.org.uk


Page 4 of 4

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:
23rd October
18th December

Contact: John 07986 282 495 baldheadselector@mashitup.org.uk

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