Stubborn All-Stars are an American,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

-based

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

band led by

King Django King Django (born Jeffrey Baker) is an American bandleader, singer, songwriter, arranger, engineer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, especially in the genres of ska, rocksteady, reggae, Dub music, dub, dancehall, rhythm & blues and soul music ...

, front man of

Skinnerbox Skinnerbox is a third wave ska band formed in New York City in the late 1980s by King Django. Discography Full Length *''Instrumental Conditioning'' (Stubborn) 1990) *''Now & Then'' (Stubborn) (1992) *''Tales of the Red'' (Stubborn) (1993) *''W ...

and owner of Stubborn Records. In 1994, Django assembled Stubborn All-Stars for a studio session which resulted in the four-song ''Old's Cool'' 7" EP. Choosing musicians carefully from the large pool of New York ska bands such as Skinnerbox,

The Insteps ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

The Slackers The Slackers are an American ska band, formed in Manhattan, New York in 1991. The band's sound is a mix of ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub, soul, garage rock, and jazz. The Slackers' notability is credited to their prolific career, tours of Nort ...

The Scofflaws The Scofflaws are a Huntington, Long Island, New York-based third wave ska band that debuted in 1988. Known for their rambunctious live shows, technically proficient horn solos and tight arrangements, the Scofflaws were one of the top third wav ...

, and Agent 99, for their familiarity with and ability to play traditional

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 His ...

n ska. Django hit upon the sound he was looking for: ska in a very traditional Jamaican style, reconnected with its own roots in

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Rhythm & Blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

. They released their debut ''Open Season'' in September 1995, featuring guest appearances by

Roland Alphonso Roland Alphonso OD or Rolando Alphonso "The Chief Musician" (12 January 1931 – 20 November 1998)Thompson, p. 262 was a Jamaican tenor saxophonist, and one of the founding members of the Skatalites. Biography Born in Havana, Cuba, Alphonso c ...

of the

Skatalites The Skatalites are a ska band from Jamaica. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, and recorded many of their best known songs in the period, including " Guns of Navarone." They also played on records by Prince Buster and backed many othe ...

, Chris Dowd (ex-

Fishbone Fishbone is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1979, that plays a fusion of ska, punk, funk, metal, reggae, and soul. AllMusic has described the group as "one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative rock bands of the late ' ...

), and

Robert "Bucket" Hingley Robert "Bucket" Hingley is lead singer and guitarist for the ska band the Toasters. Early life Robert Hingley was born in Weymouth, Dorset in the United Kingdom in 1955. His family relocated regularly due to his father's career in the British ...

the Toasters The Toasters are one of the original American second wave of ska bands. Founded in New York City in 1981, the band has released nine studio albums, primarily through Moon Ska Records. History Englishman Robert "Bucket" Hingley relocated to New Y ...

. Their second album, ''Back With a New Batch'', was released in 1997. The video for the single ''Pick Yourself Up'' went into heavy rotation on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

, and '' Alternative Press'' reviewed it as "the best reggae album of 1997". Their third album, ''Nex Music'', was released in 1999. The band also collaborated with famous punk band Rancid on the song ' I Wanna Riot' for the Beavis and Butt-Head Do America soundtrack.

Line up

(

) - Vocals, Trombone *

Jay Nugent Jayson Nugent (born 1972; also known as Agent Jay, and Crazy Baldhead) is a guitarist and DJ from New York who plays in the style of several Jamaican music genres. Nugent's experiments with ska, reggae, rocksteady, dub music, and skinhead re ...

(Agent 99,

) - Guitar *

Noah Shachtman Noah Shachtman is an American journalist, and musician. He is the editor-in-chief of ''Rolling Stone''. From 2018 to 2021, he served as the editor-in-chief of ''The Daily Beast''. He previously was the executive editor of the site. A former non-re ...

(No Shadow Kick) - Bass Guitar *Rolf Langsjoen (Skinnerbox) - Trumpet *Phil Wartell (

The Radiation Kings ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

) - Drums *Scott Palmer (The Radiation Kings) - Keys *David Hahn ( Dub Is a Weapon, Skinnerbox, The Slackers) - Guitar * Dave Hillyard (The Slackers, Dave Hillyard & the Rocksteady Seven) - Sax *

Vic Ruggiero Victor "Vic" Ruggiero, (also known as Rugaroo, Bad Vic or Lord Sluggo) is a musician, songwriter and producer from New York City who has played in reggae, blues, ska and rocksteady bands since the early 1990s, including The Slackers, Stubborn ...

(The Slackers) - Organ *

Victor Rice Victor Rice (born April 17, 1967) is an American musician, record producer and mix engineer from New York City. Raised in Huntington, New York, Rice attended the Manhattan School of Music and began his professional career in the late 1980s during ...

(

New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

) - Bass Guitar *

Eddie Ocampo Eddie Ocampo is a drummer of the Third Wave Ska movement. He performed in several bands, such as The Insteps, Stubborn All-Stars, Dave Hillyard Rocksteady 7, the Jammyland#Jammyland All Stars, Jammyland All Stars, the Fandanglers, and many mo ...

(

, Dave Hillyard & the Rocksteady 7, Crazy Baldhead) - Drums *Sheldon Gregg (The Insteps, New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble, Bluebeaters) - Bass *Erkin Husey (Skinnerbox,

The Rudie Crew ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

) - Sax *Danny Dulin ( The Boilers, Skinnerbox, Rudie Crew) - Trumpet *Dave Nelson (The Insteps) - Trombone *Paul Ackerman (

The Pietasters The Pietasters are an American eight-piece ska/soul band from Washington, D.C., with additional members from Maryland and Virginia. History In 1990, Stephen Jackson and Chris Watt met at Virginia Tech, through mutual friend Tal Bayer, who was at ...

, Skinnerbox) - Keys *Regina Bellantese (The Insteps, The Scofflaws) - Sax *Jason Glazer (Skinnerbox) - Trumpet *Eric Singer (The Slackers) - Sax

External links

''Stubborn Records''
{{Authority control American ska musical groups Musical groups from New York City Third-wave ska groups