Reggae veteran Jah Jerry passed into Jah’s hands last week at a ripe old age of 80. 80 years of skanking around Babylon is not bad, not bad at all. Jah Jerry was one of the founding members of the Skatalites, reggae and ska’s most prolific band as well as the pioneers of the ska sound. Infamous for their years as the house band at Studio One, The Skatalites were formed around 1963 by Jah Jerry, Tommy McCook, Don Drummond, Jackie Mittoo, Johnny Moore and Rolando Alphonso, but many more legendary musicians participated in the band during its continuous career. It was The Skatalites that created and developed the ska sound with bass guitar, rhythm guitar, drums, and horns. Most of the music coming out of Studio One in the 60’s, and probably the 70’s too, featured the Skatalites playing all kinds of reggae styles as the backing music for the many different vocalists who would come in to record a record. The band consists of new members these days, as most of the founding members have passed on, but they continue to tour and record, carrying the ska torch into the future. ([More →])