Carlos Malcolm – Skamania, The Sound Of The Soil

I was inspired to dig up and rip this influential instrumental ska album from the early 1960s after seeing the cover art in the cover of the Bedouin Soundclash album, Street Gospel. The exact date of this Up-Beat label (101) recording is unknown, but it was produced and arranged by Carlos Malcolm and engineered and recorded by Graeme Goodall. I found a nice 128-kbps mp3 rip from the RPH Productions 2001 CD re-issue, ripped by You and me on a Jamboree. If you prefer, you can still download the LP rip at 192-kbps. More details on the album are available from Roots-Archives.com and All Music Guide.

Carlos Malcolm – Skamania, The Sound Of The Soil:

1. Skamania
2. Run For Cover
3. Hunchback N°1
4. Tiptoe
5. Earthman
6. Skokian
7. Sweetie Charlie
8. Head Shrinker
9. Skaramouche
10. Hopalong Kassidy
11. Wings Of A Dove

Biography from CarlosMalcolm.com:

In August 2000, Carlos Malcolm, the legendary Jamaican trombonist, composer, arranger, bandleader, was brought home by the Government of Jamaica and presented with the prestigious Prime Minister’s Award. Referring to him as “a national treasure”, The Hon. P.J. Patterson, Prime Minister, awarded Malcolm the silver platter in recognition of the many outstanding contributions he has made to the development of Jamaican music. This award also acknowledgedhis musical influences upon young artists during the pivotal period, 1960 – 1965, when Jamaican Mento music was fused with the New Orleans (back-beat) Shuffle Rhythm to produce a throbbing Jamaican urbanized music called Ska.

In 1959, the Jamaican Government started preparing for Independence in 1962 and established the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation, a national radio station, to develop and showcase Jamaican talent. From a cadre of writers, producers, musicians, Carlos Malcolm was hired as arranger for the JBC 10-piece studio orchestra and co-director of a program called “The Jamaican Hit Parade”.

The program molded the careers of many hitherto unknown artists such as Jimmy Cliff, Owen Gray, Jackie Edwards, Derrick Morgan, Alton Ellis, and Joe Higgs. These individuals and other Jamaican musicians took Ska to London. The rhythm was warmly embraced and eventually evolved into the international phenomenon of Reggae Music, the most enduring exponent of which is generally recognized to be Bob Marley.

Early Ska music was recorded from head-arrangements of studio musicians. Through his formal musical training, Carlos Malcolm became the first arranger to bring his pen to organized arrangements of Ska music, by transcribing the music from 7″-45r.p.m. discs and re-arranging it, so that the JBC 10-piece band could accompany artists on the “Jamaican Hit Parade”, (adapted from Dick Clark’s show), which was broadcast “live” from the stage of a local theatre in Kingston every Friday.

In 1962, Eon Production of London hired Carlos to arrange and compose original background music for the first James Bond movie, “Dr. No,” which was filmed in Jamaica.

As Carlos Malcolm and His Afro-Jamaican Rhythms, he divided his time between writing scores for musicals with his 10 piece band and establishing a musical production company which, with success, recorded commercial jingles for name brand products such as Shell Oil, Texaco, Vickk’s Vapor Rub, Ovaltine and Maxwell House Coffee. These successes also extended into other American advertising agencies marketing in the Caribbean.

While in New York, Carlos produced 3 albums: “Don’t Walk, Dance” for Roulette Records, “Bustin’ Outta De Ghetto” for AJP Records and “Jamaica Brass”, for Scepter Records. In 1996 Carlos was inducted into the Ocho Rios Jazz Festival Hall of Fame, along with James Moody, world-famous Jazz flautist and alto-saxophonist.

Carlos Malcolm now lives in San Diego, California, where he is a state sponsored Artist In Residence and has also teamed up with Anthony Ackee, Certified Drug Counselor/Therapist and Dr. Michael Lardon, Board Certified Clinical Psychiatrist (advisor) on a community-based project called “Music?Yes!/The Age of Reason.”

The program, which uses music as the gateway to critical thinking, is very popular with young people. Carlos Malcolm’s forthcoming book, “Reggae Roots” will contain personal recording studio experiences (as arranger/musical “live” radio director) on the genesis of Jamaican urban music (Ska), the precursor of today’s Reggae Music. The book will be a welcome source of information to ethnomusicologists who regularly consult with him on the subject.

Contact Carlos Malcolm at reggaeroots2003@yahoo.com | www.carlosmalcolm.com