Duff Guide to Ska Fast Takes: Maroon Town, Tom Zé & Joey Altruda!

(Reviews by Steve Shafer)

It's a shame that we haven't seen much recorded output from Maroon Town since their magnificent Freedom Call album in 2018 (read my review of it here). But it seems like a new and growing collaboration with producer/musician Neil Anderson of Original Gravity Records may be changing all that. This past October, the band issued a killer remix by Anderson of "Bullit" from their Urban Myths LP (read my review of it here) retitled "Bullit (Proof Mix)."  Their latest release is a wonderfully bright and joyful rocksteady instrumental tribute to South African jazz trumpeter and long-time anti-apartheid activist Hugh Masekela titled "Maskela Skank" (Digital, self-released, 2021) that has light touches of Highlife and echoes of Desmond Dekker and the Aces' "Pretty Africa." Here's hoping there's more of where that came from--it's superb--and that some of these cuts receive a physical release (maybe Anderson could issue some of this on Original Gravity?). Also, if you've never heard their deadly cool cover of Prince Buster's "City Riot" produced by The Specials' John Bradbury and released back in 1987 (I still have my 45!), do yourself a favor and check it out on the Maroon Town Bandcamp page. (Fun ska factoid: The Scofflaws covered Masekela's "Grazin' in the Grass" on their Ska in Hi-Fi album back in 1995.)

While he's been busy working in other genres as of late, Joey Altruda hasn't been doing much in the ska realm since his extraordinary run with Jump with Joey (with partner in crime Willie McNeil) back in the 1990s (for you nitpickers out there, he did perform on Western Standard Time's Big Band Tribute to The Skatalites back in 2012). If you don't already have them, the albums Ska-Ba, Generations United (my fave!), and Strictly for You, Volume 2 are essential trad ska-jazz-Latin listening (and are painfully overdue to be issued on vinyl). So, it's fantastic to find the new single from Altruda firmly in ska territory, even if it's a bit of a detour through Brazil! "A Babá Ska" b/w "A Babá Dub" (Digital, Avocaudio, 2021; 7" vinyl single TK--though you have to sign up on the waiting list to get a copy) are versions of Brazilian Tropicália musician/singer Tom Zé's 1972 song, which translates from the original Portuguese as either "The Nanny" or "The Babysitter." The original was released during Brazil's long military dictatorship (1964-1985) and utilizes a children's nursery rhyme form and cartoon film references ("Rockefeller accused Snow White/The dwarfs split/Three yes and three no/But one died of fright/And asked, 'who is, who is'?") to mock/criticize the powers that be ("Who is making nightmares at the head [end or turn] of the century?/Who is putting lice on the head of the century?"). Altruda, who has collaborated with other Brazilian musicians like Seu Jorge, was able to persuade Zé to cut new vocal and guitar tracks for his ska version (interestingly, Zé was unfamiliar with the genre) and the results are pretty spectacular. These tracks feature Roger Rivas (Aggrolites) on organ and piano, Oliver Charles (Ocean 11) on drums, Artie Webb (Tito Puente) on flute, Marlone Sette (Jorge Benjor), and Altruda on bass and production. Everything was expertly mixed by Victor Rice down at his studio in São Paulo. According to Altruda, 100% of the sales of the digital single go to Tom Zé, and this is the first of several more hoped-for collaborations with Brazilian musicians. All I can say is please keep 'em coming! 

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Duff Guide to Ska Fast Takes: Various Artists "Peter Gunn EP" and "30-60-90 EP"

(Reviews by Steve Shafer)

Since I missed out on their first pressings last year, I eagerly snapped up the Original Gravity reissues of the Peter Gunn EP and 30-60-90 EP. If you're late to the game like I was and unfamiliar with the label, Original Gravity is run by musician and producer Neil Anderson, who has a deep love of '60s soul, funk, blues, R&B, Latin, ska and reggae. He has been releasing a series of extraordinarily good singles and 7" EPs of late with what appears to be a rotating cast of collaborating acts, but in reality are Anderson himself performing under different aliases (with several other studio musicians?). Each of these EPs focuses on a choice instrumental cut from the '60s--Henry Mancini's wickedly sinister 1959 theme song for the private eye TV show "Peter Gunn" (which was reworked a bit in 1960 for the theme for the cartoon series "Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse"--I watched it in late afternoon reruns when I was in grade school) and Willie Mitchell's strutting 1969 soul-funk workout "30-60-90"--as interpreted in four different musical styles.

Straight off, all four versions of "Peter Gunn" are smoking hot. Néstor Álvarez's take has all sorts of incredible Latin percussion running beneath the melody carried by the horn section and piano. If R&B's your thing, Chris Baker & The Braveheart's wild version is all buzzy, echo-ey bass and guitar with Booker T.-like organ really working it on top. Prince Alphonso & The Fever turn in a raucous ska version that sounds like something that Prince Buster might have produced with his All Stars had he covered this track. And the lead instrument in Melvin Craig's amazingly funky psychedelic ride is the sitar played by Chinthrinie Wijayakulathilaka, giving the cut a pleasurably intense '60s vibe. 

Prince Alphonso & The Fever give "30-60-90" a stately ska makeover (think The Skatalites with Justin Yap producing), while the Brentford Rd Soul Rebels lay down a cool skinhead reggae riddim for Dennis Alcapone to make his exhortations over. Néstor Álvarez again mixes big band horns with jazzy and Latin sounds and rhythms with wonderful results. But it's Curtis Baker & The Bravehearts' Stax-like version that's fearlessly badass and scorching. 

These cracking EPs are tailor-made to be part of the soundtrack for your next party or DJ night--whenever those can happen again. (Both singles can be bought via Original Gravity's Bandcamp page or Juno Records in the UK.)

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Duff Guide to Ska Fast Takes: "Reggae Dynamite, Volume 2" EP w/Melbourne Douglas, The Regulators, and King Deadly

Original Gravity
7" vinyl picture sleeve EP/digital
2020

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Anyone looking to satisfy a craving for late '60s/early '70s skinhead reggae sounds--Symarip/Pyramids, Harry J Allstars, Dave and Ansel Collins, The Upsetters, and countless others--need look no further than Original Gravity's brilliant Reggae Dynamite, Volume 2. Written, performed, and produced by Neil Anderson plus an ace collective of musicians and singers, this EP sports two fantastic vocal cuts by JA-based Melbourne Douglas, as well as killer instrumentals by The Regulators and King Deadly. At the start of "Rudy Skankin' on the Moon" (shades of "Moon Hop"/"Moonstomp" in theme and sound), Douglas exclaims, "Kingston, we have a problem!" and recounts the hilarious tale of a rude boy accidentally left behind after a moon landing who just has to "keep on moon stompin'' until the next scheduled moon shot can collect him (in three years!). As its title suggests, Douglas' "Rude Boy Don't Fight Tonight" is a mid-tempo, anti-violence plea "to be cool when you go downtown tonight" and features soothing hammond and trombone solos. The Regulators "Caymanas Park Rocket" (Caymanas Park is a racetrack in Portmore, JA, just outside of Kingston) is a spirited instrumental keyboard tribute to a (hopefully) speedy steed, while King Deadly's extraordinary "Joshua A Mek Riddim Run" could be a long-lost Sound Dimension cut--it's one of the best new instrumentals in this vein that I've heard in recent memory. 

(Keep close tabs on the Original Gravity label--they're releasing all sorts of great new ska, soul, funk, and R&B singles as of late. Ska fans should definitely check out Prince Alphonso & The Fever's "Tune Up Ska" single, as well as the other sides available from The Regulators!)