Jamaican Ska

Jamaican ska is the original, first-wave form of ska, created in Kingston around the turn of the 1960s as local musicians fused American rhythm and blues and jazz with mento and calypso. It is defined by a brisk walking bass line, piano and guitar chops accenting the offbeats, and horn sections playing riffing unison lines behind singers or as featured instrumentalists. Produced for sound-system dances by figures such as *Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd*, *Duke Reid* and *Prince Buster*, it soundtracked Jamaican independence and stands as the direct precursor of rocksteady and reggae.