10/18/2012 Rocket Ship Ska Trip

10/18 in a nutshell…

Starting again in the Home Stretch, our old friend Pachito (“Latin Goes Ska”) followed The Skatalites into the studio for the Island Jamaica Jazz remake that turns up on the Ball of Fire cd. That kicks off an all-Island Jamaica Jazz-label set that took us up to just past 5, in time for an unusual 5@5:05… late-period 2Tone-label punk funk, rap and disco featuring The Apollinaires, The Higsons, Special AKAwith Rhoda Dakar, The Friday Club and some outfit called JB’s Allstars!(Actually, that’s drummer John Bradbury after stepping out from The Specials.) A good wacky vibe took over in the runup to 6am… songs like “Kid-Nap, the Dreamer”, “One-Eyed Lodger” and “The Nurse” figure into the mix. Sherwood peppered his middle segment with a few recent Latin big-band stretch-outs including Clare Fischer’s 9:40 orchestration of Cal Tjader’s “Guarabe”, and this week’s Planet opened and closed with a dose of Shiina Ringo. Are you feelin’ a change in the air? The “Ooh” featured back-to-back Jamaica Skas. What more could you ask? Glad you asked. Howzabout Buster’s All Stars and all their Mules? I count at least eight… enough to make a train!