The Skatalites are about as ska as it gets.
And those who were quick on the draw will see the legendary band from Jamaica on Saturday at Ska Brewing Co.’s 19th Anniversary Party and Brewers Invitational, which is sold out. The Pietasters, a great ska/soul act from Washington, D.C., will open, along with The Rebel Set from Arizona, a rockabilly band.
Ska Brewing is sticking to the annual agenda by hosting three bands and about 30 microbreweries, mainly from around the Four Corners, as well as out-of-state Stone Brewing Co., from San Diego.
The Skatalites, which are on their 50th anniversary tour, aren’t strangers to Durango. They were last here in 2012 at the then-Abbey Theatre. The band was aware of Ska Brewing, and while the band was in town, the musicians went to the brewery’s tasting room. The band must have liked what they tasted, because they reached out to the brewery about working together.
“They are a dream band and an inspiration for everything we do,” said Dave Thibodeau, president and co-founder of Ska Brewing. “They called and asked about possibly doing a special beer for their 50th anniversary.”
When Thibodeau began homebrewing in the 1980s, ska was in its two-tone phase, and he and his friends listened to a lot of it while they made beer. Eventually, they would give bottles of their product to friends for Christmas with labels that said “Brewed by Ska Brewing Company,” Thibodeau said. The rest, as they say, is history; Ska Brewing Co. has since grown into a Durango institution in the craft brewing scene.
And on Saturday, Ska Brewing is releasing a collaboration beer, Hi-Hop Ska Rye IPA, with The Skatalites on the label. The name is a play off the band’s successful 1994 album “Hi-Bop Ska.” Hoppy beers are the band’s favorite, so that was taken into consideration when the brew was concocted, Thibodeau said.
Ska’s roots are in Jamaica. During the 1940s and ’50s, musicians on the island were influenced by blues and jazz musicians they heard on American radio stations and began folding those sounds into their music. Eventually, ska took form with its telltale horn sections and strong offbeats, and reggae and rocksteady followed.
In the early days, The Skatalites worked with all the big-name Jamaican artists like Desmond Dekker, Lee “Scratch” Perry and Bob Marley. They played on The Wailers’ first hit “Simmer Down.”
Most of the band’s founding members have died, but two remain: Lester Sterling on alto saxophone and Doreen Shaffer on vocals. They’ve been riding a wave of popularity around the world that they helped create.
The band, which started in 1964, took a hiatus from 1965 until 1983 before regrouping, and they’ve been touring since with a rotating lineup. All told, they’ve recorded 16 albums, the latest being “Walk With Me,” which released in 2012.
The band isn’t showing any signs of slowing down, and they’re helping people skank across the globe. The band has several stops in the U.S. this month, as well as stops in South America, Europe and Australia for the remainder of the year.
mhayden@durangoherald.com
If you go
Ska Brewing Co.’s 19th Annual Anniversary Party and Brewer’s Invitational, featuring performances by The Skatalites, The Pietasters and The Rebel Set, will take place at 3 p.m. Saturday at Ska Brewing, 225 Girard St., 247-5792. Tickets are sold out.
