Reggae roots sprung from order of nuns
By Thomas H. Green
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Published January 17, 2006
LONDON
The reputation of the Catholic Order of the Sisters of Mercy is
about 200 years of good deeds in some of the most underprivileged areas
of the world. Less well known, and more bizarre, is that this order of
nuns is also partly responsible for the birth of reggae music.
The sisters had been working in Kingston, Jamaica, for 12 years
when they founded the Alpha Boys' School in 1892. Its purpose was to
house and educate "wayward boys," most of them from backgrounds of dire
poverty.
With instruments donated by a benefactor, a drum and fife corps was
set up, which as the years passed became a martial brass band. By the
mid-20th century, the connection with military music was still a
constant, but the Alpha Boys' bandmasters were increasingly influenced
by swing and jazz.
"Without the school, there just wouldn't have been the blossoming
of talent on the island in the key period of the '60s and '70s," said
Laurence Cane-Honeysett, a music consultant to reggae label Trojan
Records, who has compiled the album "Alpha Boys' School: Music in
Education 1910-2006." "When the Jamaican music industry took off, it
was totally dependent on those who studied there."
A quartet of Alpha alumni -- Tommy McCook, Johnny "Dizzy" Moore,
Lester Sterling and the celebrated trombonist Don Drummond -- were
founder members of the Skatalites and, as such, co-creators of
Jamaica's first indigenous pop music. Reggae eventually would bloom
from these roots at Clement "Sir Coxsone" Dodd's hugely influential
Studio One -- all built on horn sections featuring Alpharians.
Another old boy, Winston "Sparrow" Martin, has been the school's
bandleader for the past 18 years, having also worked with artists from
Otis Redding to Bob Marley. He attributes the sound of Mr. Marley's
original '60s versions of "Stir It Up" and "One Love" to ex-Alpha
musicians.
Mr. Martin well recalls life at the school in the '50s. "We worked
six days a week," he said. "Some boys were on the morning shift, some
on the evening shift. Those on the morning shift would go to band
practice in the evening, and those on the evening shift would go to
band practice in the morning."
Despite the strict discipline, the school's musical reputation was
such that trumpeter Mr. Moore faked tantrums just so his parents would
be forced to send him there.
There were, of course, times when the children weren't so willing
to buckle down to work. "I was one of the boys who used to try to
escape practice," Mr. Martin said with a laugh. "There was a tree they
used to have by the name of the monkey puzzle tree, and I climbed up
this tree, hid up this tree.
"Rain was falling when Sister Ignatius found me and said: 'Come out
the tree, you naughty little sparrow. What will your mother do if you
stay there and drown?' From that day until now, that name is mine --
'sparrow.' "
Sister Mary Ignatius Davies perhaps best encapsulates the spirit of
the school. She joined the Sisters of Mercy in 1939 at age 18 and
remained at Alpha until her death in 2003, but it was her devotion to
the music program for which she is remembered. Hard as it is to
imagine, this nun also ran sound-system dances on weekends, where she
would spin records from her vast collection.
"Sister Ignatius preferred secular music to anything," said Sister
Susan Frazier, the school's current director. "She was really a blues
fan and loved jazz music.
"In the early days in Jamaica, whenever there was any significant
event such as a hurricane or earthquake, a 45-rpm record would
immediately be cut about it. Iggy, as she was affectionately known,
would send out a couple of boys to buy these records. She had an
expansive collection, which eventually went to the Seattle music
museum."
Mr. Drummond's 1964 number "Eastern Standard Time" was Sister
Ignatius' favorite piece of music -- and a key moment in the
development of the Skatalites. As the Alpha Boys' School album runs in
chronological order, it's possible to trace the astonishing musical
impact of Mr. Drummond and his fellow Skatalites.
Proceedings open with '50s British jazz recordings by Alpharians
such as Joe Harriott and Dizzy Reece, but as the school's graduates
develop their sound, such music gives way to something far rootsier and
uniquely Jamaican.
It seems that nuns -- and a boys' brass band -- inadvertently
helped release the spirit of one of the most musical islands in the
world.
My copy arrives this week but it's a promo with 25 tracks not 20 as on
release version and I don't know whether it will have any notes.
Here is something to read in the meantime.....
Trojan's much anticipated 'Alpha Boys' School' compilation hits the
shelves on 30th January and it is definitely one to look forward to.
The following excerpts are from some of the press reviews to date:
"Alpha Boys School, a Jamaican school for disadvantaged children,
counts some of the island's finest session musicians among its alumni.
As this enjoyable compilation of jazz, ska and reggae mady by old
Alpha boys shows, it has specialised in producing ace brass players,
for here are the trombonists and saxophonists who fleshed out the
sound of bands like the Skatalites and The Upsetters, and whose
backstage work added such lustre to Jamaica's astonishingly rich
musical history." - Ludovic Hunter-Tilney - The Financial Times
"The Alpha Boys School was formed in the 1880s in Kingston, Jamaica,
as a school for wayward boys. Its musical programme was responsible
for training many of the island's most influential and important
musicians. Artists like Cedric "Im" Brooks, Don Drummond and other
members of the Skatalites and are all old boys. This compilation
features top-notch reggae made by former students and its quality
speaks volumes for the success of the school." **** - TOUCH Magazine
"Crucial compilation of alumni from legendary Jamaican school. Known
as Jamaica's Nursery for Brass Band, The Alpha Boys School had an
immeasurable influence on Jamaican music as well as British Jazz, and
this excellent compilation makes its enormous importance clear." ****
- David Katz, MOJO Magazine
"Sister Ignatius was no ordinary nun. Over six decades she was the
driving force behind the band at the Alpha Boys' School, set up in the
1880s to further wayward boys' education. During the '40s and '50s,
old boys such as Joe Harriott and Bertie King recorded the kind of
supper jazz you'd expect in a Jack Lemmon movie, but her greatest
musical bequest came when four alumni - Don Drummond, Tommy McCook,
Johnny "Dizzy" Moore and Lester Stirling - co-founded The Skatalites.
Sr Ignatius died in 2003, but this is a fascinating and fitting
tribute to the mother of Jamaican music." **** - Andy Fyfe, Q Magazine
"Founded as a school for wayward boys under the tutelage of the
Sisters Of Mercy, Jamaica's Alpha school became a hotbed of
brass-playing musical talent. Painstakingly compiled, with fascinating
and detailed sleeve notes, this collection showcases many of the best
players, some of whom - like Rico Rodriquez and Don Drummond - became
stalwarts of the ska scene; others, like Wilton "Bogey" Gaynair and
Dizzy Reece, bolstering the island's reputation for be-bop with a
tropical twist." **** - Martin Townsend, Sunday Express
A recent edition of the Telegraph newspaper had a feature about the
Alpha Boys' School, which you can access here.
http://www.trojanrecords.net/pics/newsi ... egraph.jpgMy promo copy arrived today. No liner notes but 5 extra tracks. This
is the track listing on the release....
Blue Lou - Bertie King
Just Friends - The Joe Harriott Quartet
Now's The Time - Dizzy Reece And His Quintet
Wilton's Mood - Wilton 'Bogey' Gaynair
Eastern Standard Time - Don Drummond
Rocket Ship - Tommy McCook
Safari - Raymond Harper
The Dirty Dozen - Vin Gordon
Soul Voyage - Lester Sterling
Pure Soul - Lennie Hibbert
Tribute To Sir Alex - Johnn 'Dizzy' Moore
James Ray - Bobby Ellis
Soul Pipe - Karl 'King Cannonball' Bryan
The Warrior - Johnny Osbourne
Hot Coffee - Hedley 'Deadly' Bennett
Rainbow Into The Rio Mino - Rico Rodriquez
Skankey - Leroy 'Horsemouth' Wallace
Leaving Rome - Jo Jo Bennett
Sea Breeze - Cedric 'Im' Brooks And David Madden
The Hipster - Harold McNair
Pure Soul by Lennie Hibbert is a beautiful track with nyabinghi drums
......these are the extra tracks on the promo......
Musical Pressure - Jo Jo Bennett
(great, great track!)
I love you so - Tony Gregory
(forgettable ballad)
Blackboard Jungle - uncredited
(not surprising no one wants to claim ownership of this dreadful
melodica dirge...)
New found love - Glen da Costa
Alpha boys school - Eddie 'Tan Tan' Thornton
Upward and onward we go - Alpha Boys band
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