One of the genre’s most legendary performers, Jamaica’s own Skatalites highlight “Skappleton 2003,” Lawrence University’s annual salute to ska Saturday, May 17.
The Skatalites will close an 11-hour “skavaganza” that features 13 bands on two stages in Lawrence’s Buchanan Kiewit Recreation Center. Doors open at 12 noon, music begins at 1 p.m. Tickets for the event, at $10 each, can be purchased in advanced by calling 920-832-6749.
Formed in the early 1960s, the Grammy-nominated Skatalites — the one-time backing band for reggae great Bob Marley — are counted among the earliest founders of the ska sound, an upbeat, danceable brand of music, an up-tempo cousin of reggae, with an affinity for horns and socially conscious lyrics. It combines the musical influences of calypso, jazz, blues and swing.
Another ska pioneer, The Toasters, who have churned out more than two dozen CDs and albums in their 20-year history, take the stage just before the Skatalites.
