Mash it Up! returns
Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 12:12 pm
http://www.mashitup.org.uk/
Contact: baldheadselector@mashitup.org.uk
Press Release - For immediate use
Mash it Up! returns in bid to save reggae’s ‘spiritual home’
The event: Mash it Up!
The cause: We give money to the Alpha Boys School and
orphanage in Kingston, Jamaica in tribute to Don Drummond and Alpha's
other great, musical graduates
The music: Upbeat, danceable reggae and straight up
funky-assed funk (expect James Brown, Studio One, Temptations,
Upsetters)
The date: Saturday 20th May 2006
The venue: A secret Islington location - all will be
revealed to those joining the mailing list at
http://www.mashitup.org.uk/
The time: 8.30pm until 2am
Booking: £5 per head - advance booking only
The drinks: Pub prices
Info and bookings: http://www.mashitup.org.uk/
Mash it Up! returns for a one-off night in May, playing the finest in
upbeat, danceable reggae and straight-up, funky-assed funk from the old
school. As always, we will be give at least 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 Baldy 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: baldheadselector@mashitup.org.uk
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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/
Contact: baldheadselector@mashitup.org.uk
Contact: baldheadselector@mashitup.org.uk
Press Release - For immediate use
Mash it Up! returns in bid to save reggae’s ‘spiritual home’
The event: Mash it Up!
The cause: We give money to the Alpha Boys School and
orphanage in Kingston, Jamaica in tribute to Don Drummond and Alpha's
other great, musical graduates
The music: Upbeat, danceable reggae and straight up
funky-assed funk (expect James Brown, Studio One, Temptations,
Upsetters)
The date: Saturday 20th May 2006
The venue: A secret Islington location - all will be
revealed to those joining the mailing list at
http://www.mashitup.org.uk/
The time: 8.30pm until 2am
Booking: £5 per head - advance booking only
The drinks: Pub prices
Info and bookings: http://www.mashitup.org.uk/
Mash it Up! returns for a one-off night in May, playing the finest in
upbeat, danceable reggae and straight-up, funky-assed funk from the old
school. As always, we will be give at least 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 Baldy 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: baldheadselector@mashitup.org.uk
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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/
Contact: baldheadselector@mashitup.org.uk
