TO PARAPHRASE the band Fear, Jamaica’s all right if you like saxophones. What is ska, you ask, being deaf from birth? It’s a musical masala of jazz, calypso and mento (which had to be banned by the government because the audience tended to explode if they were drinking diet coke, but that’s another story). The Skatalites are best known for their covers of movie soundtracks like John Barry/Monty Norman “James Bond Theme,” Barry and Lionel Bart’s “From Russia With Love” and Dmitri Tiomkin’s “Guns of Navarone.” These tunes are just part of the repertoire of these grand old men, who have been playing for 46 years. First coming together as a Catholic bad-boys school band, the Skatalites are the main thread that connects the bigger tapestry of Jamaican music. There wasn’t a second wave British ska band of the 1980s that didn’t owe something to the Skatalites, and you skankers of today get to see them for free.
Music in the Park
Cesar Chavez Park, San Jose
Thursdays
5:30pm; free
