Justin

Carlos Malcolm, a Jamaican band leader, like his contemporary Byron Lee, was the 'acceptable' face of the new Jamaican dance craze, ska, that burst into life at the end of the 1950's and into the new decade. A decade that kicked off with organising the islands independence from Great Britain. Ska producers like Prince Buster, Coxsone Dodd, Justin Yapp and Duke Reid were all from a far different backgrounds to both Carlos and Byron, although the band leaders and the producers shared some of the musicians who performed in upmarket hotels and rough Kingston venues alike. This record, like Byron Lee's And The Dragonaires album, 'Plays Jamaican Ska', that was released a couple of years later in 1964, are certainly not the two best ska albums available by any stretch of the imagination, Prince Busters' albums for instance are far more satisfying. But both Carlos Malcolm and Byron Lee's albums have an important position in the promotion of ska music in Jamaica and Great Britain, getting the music to people that would not have ever visited Jamaica, or Kingston, or indeed the real areas within Kingston, where the grass roots of the ska scene were blossoming at Chocomo Lawn, based in the dangerous streets of West Kingston's notorious slum, 'Back'O' Wall for example. This record does not come out of my collection often, but I have placed it up on YouTube as it is one of the early full length albums that contained songs performed in the ska style. From the late 1950s Carlos Malcolm worked professionally as a musician in conjunction with his 'other job' as a photo journalist with the West Indian Review magazine in Kingston. His first music gigs were with the Vivian Hall All Stars which featured Don Drummond on trombone. Carlos and Drummond became good friends and quite often would practise the trombone together. With independence looming in the future the Government of Jamaica resolved to develop its native talent in the visual and performing arts. Carlos (invited by Sonny Bradshaw) was among the first cadre of writers, producers and musicians to develop and showcase local talent in the performing arts on live shows broadcast from local theatres, produced by the newly constructed J.B.C (Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation). As head arranger in the Variety Department Carlos Malcolm was the first arranger to write formal arrangements of Jamaica Ska music. Many of the early Ska musical arrangements for singers were 'head arrangements' improvised by the accompanying musicians 'at the mic'. Carlos would transcribe music from 7" records and formally re-arrange the music for the J.B.C studio band to accompany singers on live shows. The popular Jamaican Hit Parade program partially developed by Malcolm, spawned and influenced the careers of many Jamaican artists such as Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley, who became international Jamaican music icons. Along with musicians such as Bertie King and Lennie Hibbert, Malcolm formed a short-lived school of jazz with the aim of producing home-grown jazz musicians who could make music that would sell overseas; recorded music at that time was mostly imported. Combining the experiences of his journey in music, Carlos formed his own band in 1962 called the Afro-Jamaican Rhythms, with members including Karl Bryan (saxophone), Larry McDonald (conga drums), Boris Gardiner (vocals, bass), Lascelles Perkins (vocals), and Winston "Sparrow" Martin (drums). Other members during the 1960s included Joe Higgs, and Eddie Parkins. The band played a blend of ska, mento, African and jazz music and recorded several albums in the 1960's. They enjoyed a big hit in Jamaica in 1964 with their version of the theme from Bonanza, re-titled 'Bonanza Ska'. In 1963 Eon Production went to Jamaica to film Dr. No, the first James Bond movie, and employed Carlos Malcolm to write incidental tropical music for the film. He was appointed director of 'Island content' of the musical score.

• published: 12 Jun 2016
• views: 1417