Friday, November 10, 2006

Ska

Ska is a form of music that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950's and early 60's. It is the first popular form of music indiginous to Jamaica and gave rise to other more familiar types of music such as rocksteady and reggae.

From About.com:
Ska music was made for dancing. The music is upbeat, quick and exciting. Musically, ska can be characterized with a drumbeat on the 2nd and 4th beats (in 4/4 time) and with the guitar hitting the 2nd, 3rd and 4th beats. Traditional ska bands generally featured bass, drums, guitars, keyboards and horns (with sax, trombone and trumpet being most common).
According to alt.music.ska, the word ska comes from bassist Cluet Johnson (Clue J), who used to walk around greeting people with the phrase, "Love Skavoovie."

Ska also has a sort of particular dance known as skanking. I found a video clip of a guy skanking, but unfortunately it has no music. Link here.

Some ska from Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra:

Sources: alt.music.ska FAQ, About.com

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