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Post by prajna on Feb 22, 2006 20:09:10 GMT
The skatalites are playing here in NZ in April ( a week after Damian Marley, which has a nice synchronicity). Their web-site lists this as the current line up:
Lloyd Knibb
Doreen Shaffer
Lester "Ska" Sterling
Karl "Cannonball" Bryan
Vin Gordon
Devon James
Ken Stewart
Kevin Batchelor
Val Douglas
Has anyone seen them recently? Is this the correct line-up? It would be particularly cool to hear Mssrs Knibb, Sterling, Bryan and Gordon, as well as Ms Shaffer.
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Post by professor on Feb 22, 2006 20:49:07 GMT
That's pretty much who I expect to see here - I'm spewing that Lloyd Brevett isn't with them but I'm there with bells on, they've never been out here before.
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Post by lankou2 on Feb 22, 2006 23:36:25 GMT
actually, though i will sound like a complete heresy to many - including myself a few months back - Mr Brevett leaving the band has rendered them much tighter than they had been for many a moon.
let's face it, he was more and more hard of hearing.
though it is a bit odd to see them play with an electric bass, i'd say Val Douglas does a good job but it is definitely Vin Gordon and Kevin Batchelor (a great trumpeteer in his own right)who run the show these days.
if you want to check how they sound nowadays, i suggest you order their Live In Argentina CD, much better than what i'd have expected, despite a track-listing lacking any originality - rather sad when you look back on the vast body of work these musicians have recorded : they have added some VG and KB tunes, for instance, and Mrs Schaffer's time in the spotlight is always much too short,imho).
one of the best way to get it is at :www.grover.de (the german label that released it in europe -sorry but i don't know if any argentinian site sells it , as it was originally released there, maybe it'd cost less postage-wise???)
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Post by professor on Feb 22, 2006 23:45:51 GMT
Cheers lankou - I think I can wait until the show though. Lloyd Brevett is a King, it would have been a treat to see him play just the once.
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Post by lankou2 on Feb 23, 2006 0:06:35 GMT
for his past achievements, he is a king.
but his performances onstage had been rather poor for quite some time, his instinctive playing with Knibb managed to bluff the more recent devotees,it seems, but having seen them at least 8 times through the years, i must say the losses of TMC and RA were huge blows : no real captain at the helm!
as proof of what i say there is a live album which was released a few years back on a french label, and it really is a shame to the band's legacy.Should never have been issued, imho.This is how they sounded 3 or 4 years ago.
i'd rather remember LB's playing in the days when i first saw them (it was Lloyd Knibb's son singing then).
i really hope mr Brevett manages a way to have a good retirement, a fate which has eluded too many JA veterans.he deserves it so much for the good times he has offered us.
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Post by ironwill on Feb 23, 2006 3:04:41 GMT
Ms. Doreen Schaffer can no doubt still belt it out. At least she was a few years ago when I saw her perform.
Wondering what sort or size of venue the Skatallites draw when their down-under? Or wherever they may be performing.
When in Toronto they are usually booked into venues holding 300 max.
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Post by professor on Feb 23, 2006 3:40:32 GMT
They're playing twice at the East Coast Blues and Roots Festival at Byron Bay and I reckon they'll be watched by up to 10,000 there depending on which stage they play. In Sydney they are doing one show at a mostly sit down jazz venue called the Basement. It is a rotten overstuffed. overpriced, and broiling venue with crap sightlines unless you pay for dinner and get a table, which I'm gonna do this time, then return to my boycott.
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Post by prajna on Feb 23, 2006 3:58:56 GMT
in auckland they're playing at a new venue / club which has a max capicity of about 1000. it'd be great if they filled it. good (or indeed, any) reggae acts are so far and few between they probably will.
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Post by lankou2 on Feb 23, 2006 23:01:28 GMT
i got their trumpeteer 's new album in the mail the other day and it turned out to be very pleasant rocksteady and soul reggae music.He tends to sing more than blow his instruments, but he and his guests certainly get the rocksteady sound right.It reminds me a little of Bitty Mc Lean at times, as many tunes are covers of well-known classics, but very sweetly done.
some guests are Mikey Jarrett and JD Smoothe.I wish they'd recorded more originals.Yes, Kevin Batchelor is a talented guy, indeed.
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Post by Varese on Feb 24, 2006 14:52:02 GMT
I saw them in Brighton a couple of months ago- I wouldn't necessarily call them the Skatalites, but it was good fun. Everyone I went with (who are less reggae obsessed) really enjoyed themselves, and it was good to see Vin Gordon, who, as someone said before, definitely makes it a show now along with Kevin Batchelor (if thats the trumpeters name).
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Post by lankou2 on Feb 24, 2006 18:22:45 GMT
yes, that's his name.Lanky guy with dreadlocks.
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Post by krzysiek on Mar 4, 2006 18:44:48 GMT
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