SATCHMO

I have a love/hate relationship with ska.

When done well it's soul filling goodness, but when its done poorly it's the most campy bull**** ever. The whole third wave of American ska was the worst thing to ever happen to the genre. During the mid 90's it seemed like
I was swimming in a sea of Reel Big Fish-esque ska bands that came across as a bunch of former high school band geek frat boys that decided to start a band to help them get more pussy.

It was during this time that I was beginning to consider that cutting music education funding to public schools might actually be a good thing. There were just too many horny post pubescent boys running around with slide trombones for me to feel comfortable anymore.

I had all but given up on the genre figuring that nobody cared about true ska, Jamaican ska, anymore and I predicted that the rest of my life would be a long drawn out pathetic scene of me curled up in my bed clutching my Desmond Dekker & Don Drummond records as tightly as i could while trying to keep the Hawaii Five O theme song from playing over and over again in my brain. It was just then that I saw a bright and beautiful light shining from the west and it was coming from, of all places, Los Angeles, California.

First off Hepcat, as I'm sure some genre nazi would inevitably chime in, are technically not ska they're rocksteady, and for those of you that don't know the difference I'll gladly explain it to you just as soon as i start giving a **** about the minutiae that separate the two genres.

Hepcat as a band have done more to revitalize the roots of Jamaican ska/rock steady than any band I know. The prevalent style of this album is quite jazzy with a bit of doo-wop flair that is largely due to the glorious harmonies created by the two vocalists Greg Lee and Alex Desert. Out of Nowhere has a very contagious up-beat and positive vibe with songs like Dance Wid' Me and Earthquake and Fire find me resisting the urge to start dancing right where I stand. There is a bold and vivacious cover of early Bob Marley and the Wailers' Hooligans as well as an amazing ska interpretation of Duke Ellington's jazz classic Caravan.

This is really one of my favorite albums. I couldn't be more emphatic about recommending a piece of music, and if anyone's interested PM me and I will gleefully bust one out for you.

333

Beautiful choice, my friend. Great album. I, too, love Mr. Hunter. What other projects have you heard from him? I've really been into Mistico by Charlie Hunter Trio. It's got a real old school vibe. I was hooked at first listen. Also, I really loved Garage a Trois when C.H was playing with them. Heard of 'em?

SATCHMO

Oh, I'm pretty old-school (emphasis on the old)I remember when Charlie was playing with Michael Franti of Spearhead on Disposable heroes of hiphopracy in the late 80's early 90's, probably the first real instruments hip hop band that ever had any commercial success. His solo albums are hit or miss my favorites being his first "duo" album and Tales from the Analog Planet, and of course Natty Dread. I'd heard about his project Garaje A Trois w/ Stanton Moore a while ago, but I haven't had a chance to check it out. I'm sure its awesome and I'm a huge fan of Stanton's solo albums. Sadly I havent heard Mistico yet either, but its gaining a pretty solid reputation.
I've been lucky enough to work with Charlie a handful of times engineering shows and I will say that he is a very positive and humble human being and after seeing him live several times I have yet to see the man **** up a single note during a performance, and I get paid to pay attention.

333

You say old ... I'm wondering if it was a typo. Don't you mean ancient? :P Stanton Moore is also a wonderful musician, and if you dig him, then you'd definitely like G.A.T. Their earlier stuff is with Skerik, which if you haven't heard him, you need to. Amazing saxophonist! The three of them are amazing together, but Charlie left the band in '07. Though I like the later stuff with Marc Benevento and Mike Dillon, too, there's an energy about the original trio that cannot be mimicked.

So this is kind of long and a cover, but still awesome:

lucifer_sam

teehee.

btw YES. my ska collection currently consists of The Specials and 2-3 other good albums.

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Zarko

I would enjoy a PM also... Not really what I expecting so far list wise, but that isn't a bad thing

SATCHMO

What, pray tell, were you expecting?

Zarko

I don't know exactly

Just the choices weren't in line with what I thought would capture the essence of all that jazzy vibes. But as I said, I haven't been disappointed, just surprised.

jackhammer

I'm not sure if this is my favourite Hepcat album (that would probably be Scientific) and I have admit to them not being one of my favourite Ska bands. Have you heard the Japonicas? very very good old school Ska from Japan. Keep this up though. Some nice eclectic choices!

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SATCHMO

Yeah, I was a little bit torn between Scientific & Out of Nowhere. I like Out of Nowhere better simply because there's a lot of sentimental value attached to this album. Objectively Scientific is a better album albeit slightly less accessible.