Byron Lee: Triple Ska Meltdown

Byron Lee and the Dragonaires - Sunjet Jump Up
Byron Lee and the Dragonaires - Love Me Forever
Byron Lee and the Dragonaires - Wings of a Dove
From 45 rpm singles - The Blues Busters 2001, 2002, 2003

We finish this series of "Carribean Mondays" with a triple whammy from Byron Lee and the Dragonaires. Born in 1935 to an afro-Jamaican mother and Chinese father, Byron Lee is one of the many legends of Jamaican music, a consummate performer and astute businessman, and was probably the most internationally recognised star of Jamaican music in the 1960s.

Before Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Lee "Scratch" Perry, many westerners got their first taste of Jamaican popular music when Byron Lee and his band was featured in a nightclub scene in the 1962 James Bond film Dr No. Byron Lee went on to found the Dynamic Sounds studio in Jamaica that attracted musicians such as the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and Paul Simon (who recorded Mother and Child Reunion there). And he's still performing today.

Jazzheads will probably recognise the melody of Sunjet Jump Up as "St Thomas", the tune recorded by Sonny Rollins. Sunjet was used as the advertising theme for British West Indian Airways in the 60s.