Allen discovers the Lost Books of Ska
Nothing was more riveting for a teenaged John Allen than watching members of the Skatalites band rehearse at their east Kingston base.
Allen migrated to the United States over 30 years ago and became a top session musician in New York City. A keyboardist, he has played on numerous hit songs including Oh Carolina and Boombastic by Shaggy and Super Cat’s Cabin Stabbin’.
In recent months, Allen has worked on a project close to his heart — Lost Books of Ska Vol 1. The album is produced by Skaville Music, a label he co-founded with singer Watty Burnett of famed roots group, The Congos.
“This label and the project is dedicated to the preservation and advancement of the classic and top-shelf Jamaican music art form known as ska, created by the greatest band ever formed in Jamaica…The Skatalites,” Allen told the Sunday Observer. “I grew up in eastern Kingston in the same area where the Skatalites use to rehearse. I could actually hear them rehearse and on occasions would sneak out to watch them, never dreaming one day I would be doing this project.”
Saxophonist Lester Sterling, the lone survivor of the original Skatalites, and guitarist Ernie Ranglin, a contemporary of the band, played on ‘Lost Books’. Ska legends Derrick Morgan and Stranger Cole, as well as Dean Fraser, were part of the sessions.
All songs on the set were composed and arranged by the 59-year-old Allen. The lead single is Old Fashion Way, featuring Ranglin.
Before moving to the Big Apple, Allen befriended two of his childhood heroes, Tommy McCook and Roland Alphonso, who were part of the Skatalites’ potent triple sax attack.
At the time of their deaths in 1998, Allen was an established member of producer Phillip Smart’s HC&F Recording Studio in Long Island.
Prior to joining Smart’s camp, he played in Monyaka, a band that was signed to A&M Records. Allen was pivotal to ‘HC&F’s reputation as NYC’s hit factory in terms of dancehall/reggae.
He also played on Shelly Thunder’s Kuff, Hot This Year by Dirtsman and Big N Ready, a hit for Super Cat, Heavy D and Frankie Paul.
Lost Books of Ska Vol 1 will be released in January.
