Ska Cubano is a

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

-based group which combines ska and

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

n music such as son and

mambo Mambo most often refers to: *Mambo (music), a Cuban musical form *Mambo (dance), a dance corresponding to mambo music Mambo may also refer to: Music * Mambo section, a section in arrangements of some types of Afro-Caribbean music, particula ...

, with elements of other genres including

cumbia Cumbia refers to a number of musical rhythms and folk dance traditions of Latin America, generally involving musical and cultural elements from American Indigenous peoples, enslaved Africans during colonial times, and Europeans. Examples include: ...

and calypso.

History

The group was put together by

investment manager Investment management is the professional asset management of various securities, including shareholdings, bonds, and other assets, such as real estate, to meet specified investment goals for the benefit of investors. Investors may be instituti ...

Peter A. Scott, who in his own words "decided to create an alternative history in which Cuban ska had emerged".ScottMeadley 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

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

) Rey Crespo and Ernesto Estruch, Jesús Cutiño (Las Tunas), Oreste Noda (Matanzas) and Kico Cowan (Camaguey), together with, from

Montserrat Montserrat ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, with roughly of coastline. It is n ...

, Dr Sleepy (Reuben White), from Spanish Town,

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

, Eddie "Tan Tan" Thornton, from Chiba City,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

, Miss Megoo (Megumi Mesaku) and

er Trevor Edwards, with Beny Billy commuting from

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

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. Trumpeter Jay Phelps also 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.Cartwright 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 (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbur ...

Big Day Out The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typically in January of eac ...

, and

WOMAD WOMAD ( ; World of Music, Arts and Dance) is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance. History WOMAD was founded in 1980 by English rock musician Peter Gabriel, w ...

, and toured to date, in 30 countries.NPR Music ''Bobine'' by Ska Cubano was used in the soundtrack of the first series of Dexter, an American television series set in Miami. In 2010/11, their song ''Soy Campesino'' was used extensively for television adverts for the UK electrical retailer

Comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ...

. The Ska Cubano project was suspended and the band stopped accepting touring requests in 2014.

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 - tres (Cuban 3x2-strung guitar) *Ernesto Estruch - piano, organ and violin *Oresta Noda -

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest) ...

s and pailas *Dr. Sleepy (Reuben White) - drumkit *Tan Tan ( Eddie Thornton ) -

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

*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

Notes

References

*Cartwright, Garth (2007)
SKA CUBANO
, BBC *Meadley, Phil (2005)
Ska Cubano: Revolution in the head
, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', 1 July 2005 *Scott, Peter A.
Ska Cubano History
, skacubano.com
Ska Cubano: A Parallel Musical Universe
, NPR Music, 6 August 2006 *May, Chris (April 20, 2010) "allaboutjazz"

External links

* {{Authority control English ska musical groups Musical groups from London