An Homage to the Bass Lines of Lloyd Brevett of The Skatalites

The passing of Lloyd Brevett, bassist for The Skatalites, earlier this month marks the end of an era for the band at exactly the same time that Jamaica is gearing up to celebrate its 50th anniversary of independence. His contribution to the canon of bass playing and ska, reggae and rocksteady remains unmeasurable.  There is an excellent piece in The Jamaican Gleaner written by Herbie Miller, director/curator of the Jamaica Music Museum about the recently passed Lloyd Brevett's bass playing style.  It celebrates his self taught inventiveness and his enduring influence on multiple generations of bassists and musicians. If you are a fan of ska, then it is a must read.

I had the honor to meet Brevett, on the few occasions that my band opened for The Skatalites.  It was a thrill to shake his hand, and he was a easy going man who was happy to chat about anything, including his bass playing style. Though known for his many inventive and innovative bass lines, Brevett was self taught and did not read music.  This was always an added inspiration to me, as I picked up the bass with no training and learned to play completely by ear and through trial and error. According to The Gleaner story:

"An intuitive rather than a schooled musician, Brevett's playing was no less authoritative in terms of Jamaican bass attitudes than that of his counterpart Wilbur Ware's in American jazz. Discussing the origins of the Skatalites, McCook once told me: "Ya know, Brevett didn't read, he played by ear. But he was so talented. He was just a born musician.
All you had to do was play the tune, he would just pick up from there and give it that feel."
I also asked Brevett about his inability to deal with notated music. In his straight-talking manner he lamented his shortcomings, saying he was overlooked for gigs with the jazz guys because of this even though he didn't think any of those other bassists with all their orthodoxy, had the beat or spirit to match his."

Just listen to "Downbeat Burial" to experience the full weight of Brevett's deft melodic and rhythmic playing. On songs like Roll on Sweet Don and Man in the Street (which still sends a shiver down my spine each time I hear its amazing opening), his walking bass lass lines introduce the songs and hold them in place throughout as the other band members solo and weave in and out of the steady foundation he constructed.







The article provides a touching and wholly appropriate coda to Brevett and the impact of his bass playing style:

"His desire to remain rooted in the tradition rather than opting for cliché was what allowed him to extend the idiom because though he respected it, he was not imprisoned by tradition. He embraced it as the medium by and through which extension occurs."

Introducing The UltraInfidels!: Ex-Fishbone Member Chris Dowd's New Ska Project

Ex-Fishbone member Christopher Dowd has launched a new ska-influenced project titled The Ultrainfidels. The band, which at the moment appears to be a partnership between Dowd and bassist, guitarist and programmer Daniel Seeff, has released two songs via their Facebook page. Both songs, "Cubicle" and "Walking Dead" recall the hyper-ska and punky reggae of early era Fishbone as well as the more soulful side of Dowd penned songs like "Everday Sunshine" and "Change." The two songs are a taste of what promises to be full album from The Ultrainfidels that is expected some time this summer. Read an interview with Dowd about The Ultrainfidels.

As a singer and multi-instrumentalist, Dowd brought a different perspective to Fishbone. He was the sensitive soulster in a troupe of ska/punk/thrash/funksters. Dowd left the band after their "Give a Monkey a Brain and he'll Swear He's the Center of the Universe" album in 1994. After landing in New York City following his departure from Fishbone, Dowd connected with a collective of local New York City-based ska musicians (including King Django) and rocker Jeff Buckley to form The Seedy Arkhestra and released "Puzzle" in 1997. It remains a criminally overlooked ska album. Have a listen to 'A Thousand Tears" below:



The Ultrainfidels track "Cubcile: which sounds like it could have been on the first Fishbone EP, was included on the movis soundtrack of the excellent "Hot Tub Time Machine" and has slowly been going viral among the vast online network of Fishbone fans. That said, The Ultrainfidels is a grassroots band. Dowd himself has said, "This is a new band and we are literally starting from scratch. It’s really like starting over for me." With his musical pedigree and Fishbone credentials, I look forward to hearing more.

And so, without further ado I present for your listening pleasure...The Ultrainfidels!

The English Beat Interviewed by Dick Clark on American Bandstand

The passing of Dick Clark just two months after the death of Don Cornelius in February, is the end of an era in American music history and another reminder of the inevitable passing of time.  Both Soul Train and American Bandstand were integral parts of my musical education and I looked forward to them both equally. Soul Train taught me so much about music and Black American culture and the Soul Train line taught me if you were a good dancer you could meet more girls!  American Bandstand allowed me to see many of the bands I was passionately dedicated to, perform live in front of my own eyes. And so on many Saturday mornings during the early 1980's my burgeoning music fandom was rewarded by Clark who booked most of what we now lovingly call 80's new wave, including A Flock Of Seagulls, Squeeze, Haircut 100, Simple Minds, The Go-Go's, ABC, Adam & The Ants and of course, The English Beat.

The English Beat appeared on American Bandstand twice in the span of just seven months, which is testament to their growing popularity here in the U.S. and their appearance at both US Festivals. In fact,  they were the only band to be invited to play both the 1982 and 1983 US Festival's. The two invitations are a testament to the hard work they put into breaking the U.S. The release of 'Special Beat Service" in the US in 1982 had solidified them as a "new wave" band rather than a ska band and that helped to expand their audience here.

The band first appeared on the show on September 18, 1982 performing "Save it for Later" and "Sugar and Stress", from Special Beat Service.  Amazingly, they shared billing that day with Australia`s Men At Work.  The band were at the height of their game during this time and from what I remember, the American!Bandstand performances were equally impressive.  I immediately purchased "Special Beat Service" soon afterwards.

The band was back again on April 23, 1983 when they performed "I Confess"" & ""Save It for Later."   Sadly, the would break up a mere two months later.  Though their performances are not currently available, you can watch the legendary Clark interacting with the band during his charming 2-minute interviews.

Dave Wakeling shared the following about Clark on the band's Facebook page:  "dick clark was charming, learned all our names in advance and came in the dressing room to thank us all individually for being on his show. being on american bandstand was a feather in my cap. thanks dick clark for your kind ways, and RIP x"

Madness Play First Of Two Coachella Festival Shows

Madness finally made it back to the U.S.! The band's first show in many years, made an impression on crowds gathered at the first weekend of Coachella, as they performed a set of their must loved classics. Though I wished I could be there in person, I enjoyed the band's set (as well as Jimmy Cliff and Tim Armstrong and The Artic Monkey's) live on the Coachella YouTube feed, which shows every band performing at the festival in real time, live.

In case you missed last night's set, the band are back at Coachella again next weekend and play a week's worth of shows across the West Coast this week. Check out the band performing a blistering set finale of "Night Boat To Cairo" below:

English Beat To Release Career-Spaning Five-disc Box Set This July

Rolling Stone magazine is reporting that The English Beat will finally release a career-spanning five-disc box set to be titled The English Beat: The Complete Beat on July 10th.  The set contains previously unreleased extras, including a rare version of "Save It for Later" the band recorded for a Peel Session as well as the magnificent "Which Side of the Bed," (which is one of my favorite songs by the band  and one that guitarist Dave Wakeling calls an "ironic celebration of the battle of the sexes." The track was only released as the B-side to the another rare song "Hit It" which was released as a single in the U.K. in 1981 and has been previously unavailable in the U.S.  You can stream both versions of the songs from RollingStone.com. Watch a video of the song below:



Back in 1983, as the band was focused on breaking their 'Special Beat Service' LP in the U.S. (and were in the process of breaking up themselves), they returned to the U.K. to record a session for the Kid Jensen radio show on BBC 1. Rumor has it that the band recorded up to 4 new and never released songs during the session, including a lovely cover of Cole Porter's 'Night & Day'. As the band disintegrated and reformed as General Public and Fine Young Cannibals in 1984, the tracks recorded for those sessions were lost to the annals of time.

Though the tracks have remained elusive and hidden away, their existence has never been in doubt. In fact as far back as 1999, Dave Wakeling was quoted in a Rolling Stone story about the possible release of a greatest hits retrospective that would include rare tracks. "I'm told the labs in England had found some live tapes and maybe we'll put some of that on it," he says. "Somebody said there was an idea that they'd found a couple of tracks on the master reels that we'd never finished. Ah, 'contains previously released tracks.' It's probably because they were s---." Here's to hoping that some, if not all of these songs, end up in this box set!

The Return Of Mephiskapheles!: Band Members Reunite For Acoustic Show In New York

Well not exactly (but it was close as we could get to a reunion of one the most popular ska bands to ever come out of New York City). Last night at the Underground Lounge on Manhattan's Upper West Side, members of the original band calling themselves "Doomsday: The Ultimate Mephiskapheles Tribute Show" played an acoustic ska show.

The sound of Mephiskapheles was unprecedented -- even today there really is nothing that compares to their unique take on ska. Along with The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Mephiskapheles was the look and sound of 90's American ska. Eschewing the 2-Tone foundation of 80's ska, the original band line-up (Brendog Tween, Mikal Reich, Brian Martin, Alexander McCabe, Nubian Nightmare, Rick Sanford, Osho Endo, Dave Doris, Gina Latessa, Mike Berger and Vattel Cherry) took a devil worship concept and built it on top of traditional ska with liberal doses of punk, jazz, oi, alternative rock and metal. Visually the band's image and look were just as startling (it certainly didn't hurt that a few band members worked for a cutting edge New York ad agency), featuring a singer with the voice of a death metal screamer, trained jazz horn players and a motley crew of punk rockers who quickly took the 90's New York and American ska scenes by storm. (Read more about the band in an interview I did with Tween last year).

So, without further ado, enjoy the band's popular song"Saba." And leave it to Brendog to sum up the reunion and the inevitable passing of time: "Ten years ago you guys would have been kicking the shit out of each other. Now you all have iPhones."

Black Uhuru Bring Roots Reggae To Early 80's Mainstream America

While much of the mainstream success that The Clash and The Police enjoyed was based on their rock and punk fueled reggae hybrids, both bands took great pains to bring reggae bands and performers on tour with them in order to pay back the musical favor.  Indeed, both bands, looking to capitalize on the popularity of reggae in the early 80's brought Black Uhuru, the "it band" of the moment, on back-to-back U.S. tours with them in 1982 (check out the picture above of the band performing "So Lonely" with The Police).   They were on a roll at the time, having released the widely acclaimed Red in 1981, one of that year’s best albums and their finest moment. Whether the realized or not, Black Uhuru exposed many young, impressionable American teens (like me) to a whole new world.  I was changed forever by seeing them live.

And so, 30 years ago this month, I was one of the lucky, young concertgoers inside the old Brendan Byrne Arena, whose mind was blown by the deep bass and drum riddims of one of the best reggae bands of all time. Brendan Byrne Arena (now the Izod Center) is a concrete fortress-like coliseum situated on the side of the New Jersey Turnpike.  It has always been a bit of an eyesore and it 1982, was as an unlikely place to hear the militant steppers reggae of Black Uhuru, then at the top of their game. Yet there they were, front and center, deep in the belly of "Babylon's" belly.  The irony still amazes me.

With Black Uhuru opening the show for The Police, this was one of the very best and most complimentary double bills I have ever seen. From what I remember, a good portion of the Police's predominantly white audience didn't quite know how to take the dreads onstage belting out their provocative anthems. Fortified by the indomitable Sly Dunbar on drums, Robbie Shakespeare on bass, and the classy rhythm guitar of Mikey Chung, Black Uhuru's trio of Michael Rose, Puma Jones and Ducky Simpson churned out a collection of fierce roots rockers. Unfortunately, the crowd's perplexity kept them slightly apart from the action. However, by the set's end, Black Uhuru had made its impression.

According to a review of the April 1982 show:

It was the biggest place Black Uhuru had ever played in, though not the biggest number of people. The vast majority of the audience were still in their cars driving towards the gig when Black Uhuru took the stage, at the dot of 7.30pm. The Police, they knew, wouldn't be on till 9.30pm.

So Black Uhuru sang to those who were there, and worked their magic well. Michael Rose danced around the way he does, an inspired shaman, full of grace. Puma danced around the way she does, an elegant, sturdy, strong woman. Duckie stood glowering the way he does, a tight-lipped, almost silent partner. They look bright and beautiful, draped in colours that could carry over distance.

The guitars rang out, a clear compelling sound, and the keyboards played inventive flourishes all over the melodies, and it was sweet music. At the end Sly and Robbie did their dub outro - dubwise at the Meadowlands! - and the audience applauded. Not thunderously, not enough to get them an encore, but they didn't just run off to get another hotdog. This was by no means a small victory.

Though no recordings of Black Uhuru's early 80's U.S, tours are available, check out the band's live headlining gig from Essen, Germany right before their U.S. tour to experience their amazing energy, musicianship and hypnotic live show.



Set List

1. Shine Eye Gal
2. Plastic Smile
3. Puff She Puff
4. I Love King Selassie
5. Mondays
6. Youth Of Eglington
7. Chill Out
8. Darkness
9. Happiness
10. World is Africa
11. Sponji Reggae
12. Sensemilla
13. Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner