Video Footage of the Skatalites’s Standout 2022 Los Angeles Performance

When: June 18, 2022
Where: Los Angeles CA
Reporter: Stephen Cooper
Footage/Photos: Stephen Cooper – Edited by Teacher@ReggaeVibes
Copyright:  2022 – Stephen Cooper
Any use of any photos or artwork contained herein -without prior authorization- is strictly prohibited.

Commenting on the passing of Skatalites bassist and co-founder Lloyd Brevett, a tribute in Rolling Stone magazine observed: “The original Skatalites only existed for 18 months between 1963 and 1965, but were essential in popularizing their genre, which included elements of R&B, jazz, calypso and Cuban music. The band’s best known songs included Guns of Navarone and Eastern Standard Time, both of which helped to lay the groundwork for the emergence of rocksteady and reggae.”

Now, I’ll be honest: Hardly ever do I read Rolling Stone, much less rely on it when it comes to reggae; but, when it comes to the Skatalites’s undeniably massive influence on the development and popularization of Jamaican music, Rolling Stone was right.

And, as my friend, legendary percussionist and current Skatalites member Larry McDonald told me, in an interview (you can read at your leisure on the Reggae-Vibes website):

“The Skatalites is Jamaica’s only ‘legacy band.’ Legacy band in terms of, like—the Duke Ellington Band is still playing. The Count Basie Band is still touring. So it’s not a matter of who’s here [playing], but the music. This is the only Jamaican band that I know that the repertoire is being played, you know, interpreted, albeit by modern players and with a different voice, but, basically, the songs are the same.”

Watching and listening to the masterful, electric performance Larry and the rest of the Skatalites gave last month—at Los Globos nightclub on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles—the truth of Larry’s opinion was, I think, undeniable; furthermore, I think there’s a decent chance all Jamaican music fans out there will also agree, especially after reviewing on YouTube this videotaped footage I shot, exclusively for Reggae-Vibes, of the Skatalites’s standout 2022 L.A. performance. Enjoy!