Ska Cubano
Encyclopedia
Ska Cubano is a London
-based group which combines ska
and Cuba
n music such as son and mambo, with elements of other genres including cumbia
and calypso
.
) Rey Crespo and Ernesto Estruch, Jesús Cutiño (Las Tunas), Oreste Noda (Matanzas) and Kico Cowan (Camaguey), together with, from Montserrat
, Dr Sleepy (Reuben White), from Spanish Town, Jamaica
, Eddie "Tan Tan" Thornton
, from Chiba City, Japan
, Miss Megoo (Megumi Mesaku) and London
er Trevor Edwards, with Beny Billy commuting from Santiago
for recordings and performances.
In 2006 Venezuelan Carlos Pena gradually took over as co-lead singer, although Beny continued to record and occasionally tour with Ska Cubano. More recently trumpeter Jay Phelps began to perform and record with the band. The second Ska Cubano album, ¡Ay Caramba!, was nominated for a BBC
World Music Award in the "Culture Crossing" category. The album was described as "imaginatively crafted, brimming with melody, wit and a joyous fusion of rhythms, this album’s about as much fun as you can have with your clothes on". According to the website all.about.jazz their third album, Mambo Ska, released in May 2010, is "A blast - a raucous, riotous, irresistible blast...high octane party and festival music of the first order".
Ska Cubano have performed at major festivals worldwide including Glastonbury
, Big Day Out
, and WOMAD
, and toured to date, in 30 countries.
In late 2010, their song Soy Campesino was used for the Christmas season adverts for electrical store Comet in the UK.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-based group which combines ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
and Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n music such as son and mambo, with elements of other genres including cumbia
Cumbia
Cumbia is a music genre popular across Latin America. The cumbia originated in the Caribbean coast of Colombia, where it is associated with an eponymous dance and has since spread as far as Mexico and Argentina...
and calypso
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
.
History
The group was put together by investment manager Peter A. Scott, who in his own words "decided to create an alternative history in which Cuban ska had emerged". He travelled to Santiago de Cuba with Top Cats singer Natty Bo (Nathan Lerner) in 2001 and there they rehearsed and recorded the Ska Cubano album over a two-year period mainly with local musicians including singer Beny Billy (Juan Manuel Villy Carbonell). In late 2004, Scott and Bo decided to go for a less Cuban sound and formed a line-up in London mainly using UK-based Cuban and other Caribbean musicians (three of whom were/are also members of Top Cats, Natty Bo's traditional ska band ). After some experimentation, with Natty Bo as leader and vocalist, the permanent core of Ska Cubano became : Cubans (from HavanaHavana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
) Rey Crespo and Ernesto Estruch, Jesús Cutiño (Las Tunas), Oreste Noda (Matanzas) and Kico Cowan (Camaguey), together with, from Montserrat
Montserrat
Montserrat is a British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies. This island measures approximately long and wide, giving of coastline...
, Dr Sleepy (Reuben White), from Spanish Town, Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, Eddie "Tan Tan" Thornton
Eddie Thornton
Edward Thornton , better known as "Tan Tan", is a Jamaican trumpeter whose career began in the 1950s.-Biography:Thornton was born in 1932 and attended the Alpha Boys School. In the 1950s, he played in the Roy Coulton band along with Don Drummond...
, from Chiba City, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Miss Megoo (Megumi Mesaku) and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
er Trevor Edwards, with Beny Billy commuting from Santiago
Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city of Cuba and capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province in the south-eastern area of the island, some south-east of the Cuban capital of Havana....
for recordings and performances.
In 2006 Venezuelan Carlos Pena gradually took over as co-lead singer, although Beny continued to record and occasionally tour with Ska Cubano. More recently trumpeter Jay Phelps began to perform and record with the band. The second Ska Cubano album, ¡Ay Caramba!, was nominated for a BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
World Music Award in the "Culture Crossing" category. The album was described as "imaginatively crafted, brimming with melody, wit and a joyous fusion of rhythms, this album’s about as much fun as you can have with your clothes on". According to the website all.about.jazz their third album, Mambo Ska, released in May 2010, is "A blast - a raucous, riotous, irresistible blast...high octane party and festival music of the first order".
Ska Cubano have performed at major festivals worldwide including Glastonbury
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
, Big Day Out
Big Day Out
The Big Day Out is an annual music festival held in several cities in Australia and New Zealand in late January. It started in Sydney in 1992, spread to Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth by 1993, with the Gold Coast and Auckland joining in 1994...
, and WOMAD
World of Music, Arts and Dance
WOMAD is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance.-History:...
, and toured to date, in 30 countries.
In late 2010, their song Soy Campesino was used for the Christmas season adverts for electrical store Comet in the UK.
Band members
- Natty Bo (Nathan Lerner) - vocals
- Carlos Pena - vocals and minor percussion
- Beny Billy (Juan Manuel Villy Carbonell) - vocals
- Miss Megoo ( Megumi Mesaku ) - alto and baritone saxophones
- Trevor Edwards - trombone
- Kico Cowan - tenor saxophone and flute
- Rey Crespo (musical director) - double bass and marimbula
- Jesús Cutiño - tresTresThe tres is a 3-course, 6-string chordophone which was created in Cuba. A tres player is called a tresero in Cuba and a tresista in Puerto Rico.-Cuban tres:In Cuba, the son was created as a song and a salon dance genre...
(Cuban 3x2-strung guitar) - Ernesto Estruch - piano, organ and violin
- Oresta Noda - congaCongaThe conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...
s and pailas - Dr. Sleepy (Reuben White) - drumkit
- Tan Tan ( Eddie Thornton ) - trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Jay Phelps - trumpet
Discography
- Ska Cubano (2003), Victor - reissued (2004), Absolute
- ¡Ay Caramba! (2005), casinosounds
- Ajiaco! (the remix album), (2008) casinosounds/Universal Portugal [ not, strictly, a Ska Cubano album but remixes of Ska Cubano tracks by independent DJ's ]
- "Mambo Ska" (2010), casinosounds