On Tuesday evening April 24, I headed to Seattle’s artsy Fremont neighborhood to The Nectar Lounge – where legendary Ska band The Skatalites were playing. The Nectar Lounge is a great little club with an ample dance floor, a large loft and even a covered patio where patrons can go smoke and still watch the band. I’d never been to or even heard of the Nectar Lounge, but now that it’s on my radar, I hope they’ll bring in more ska acts. It was the perfect club for a ska show.
But before The Skatalites hit the stage, the audience was treated to Seattle’s own Georgetown Orbits. This was my third time seeing the Georgetown Orbits and I have not been disappointed in them yet. I doubt I ever will be. Front man Daryl Grandison is so gifted at working an audience, he must have been born on the stage. He is so at one with his audience and his band that it’s impossible for anyone not to be taken in by his oozing charm.
The Georgetown Orbits are an eight piece with a very animated keyboard player and a full horn section. For anyone who appreciates good old fashioned Jamaican influenced ska, I strongly urge you to check out the Georgetown Orbits. They’re on their way to being one of Seattle’s foremost ska bands. They are definitely one of my top three favorite Seattle bands.
After about a half hour and a short intermission show, The Skatalites came out. The Skatalites originally formed in 1963 in Jamaica and many of the current members still hail from there and sport the traditional, long dreadlocks roaming down their backs . As much as I love the newer bands considering themselves ska, like Streetlight Manifesto or Less than Jake, The Skatalites play pure, unadulterated Jamaican ska. They are another eight-piece, mostly instrumental band comprised of Lester Sterling – alto saxophone, Norma Fraser – vocals, Azemobo “Zem” Audu – tenor saxophone, Andrae Murchison – trombone, Kevin Batchelor – trumpet, Val Douglas – bass guitar, Natty Frenchy – guitar, Cameron Greenlee – keyboards, and Trevor “Sparrow” Thompson – drums.
About three or four songs into the set, vocalist Norma Fraser flits onto the stage like a wild butterfly and to use a clichéd phrase, sang like the proverbial nightingale. Her voice was as sweet as brown sugar and honey and nectar to the ears in the Nectar Lounge. Norma Fraser’s voice filled the club and wrapped everyone up like a warm blanket while the rest of the band’s music was the smooth rum and the warm fire to make the evening complete. She belted out songs while intermittently holding the mic into the crowd as they sang along. After several songs she said that it was time to go and to stop stealing everyone’s wives and girlfriends, then whipped into a stunning version of the Desmond Dekker and Leslie Kong tune, Israelites, complete with three-part harmony added by the horn players. There wasn’t a still body on the dance floor. This breath-taking song was followed by a stellar version of the old Bob Marley tune, No Woman No Cry. They not only did that song justice, but the soulful playing from the band and giving it horns made it better.
After Fraser left the stage, the band continued with more of their more popular songs like Latin Goes Ska followed by a resounding ska version of the old hymn, Amen, amen, say amen, amen, amen. Many in the crowd sang along.
One of the highlights (and there were many) was the trumpet player dedicating the next song to all the rude boys and rude girls in the audience before the opening notes to Rudy, A Message to You, the original JA tune from Dandy Livingstone which was later famously covered by the Specials.
The two-plus hour set (not counting the Georgetown Orbits) never got boring. The music, the musicianship, the entire performance, combined with the perfect acoustics of the club made the only four hours of sleep I would get very worth the while. I’ve been a Skatalites fan since the early eighties and it was a joy and an honor to see them perform. Seattle needs more ska.
All photos property of Holly Homan, all rights reserved.
Thanks to bobjr94 for these vids of the show:
Orbits – Heavyset –
Orbits- Date With Candy –
Skatalites – First Cut Is The Deepest –
Skatalites – Occupation –
Skatalites –
Message To You Rudy –
