STRETCHING OUT!!!

There's no need for some fancy introduction to this band. Just the name itself commands awe and respect, carries more weight than anybody else - THE SKATALITES.

In 1983 Herbie Miller, manager of Peter Tosh brought the original Skatalites (minus the late Don Drummond) back to Jamaica from all over the world to perform at the 1983 Jamaica Sunsplash.The Skatalites had broken up 18 years earlier, after their short career of two years (1963-1965). Personal disagreements, conflicts and animosities had driven these inventors of Ska and master musicians to seek their own future as individual artists.

Miller, who became their manager, owned a nightclub in Kingston, Jamaica called The Blue Monk Jazz Gallery. Here, after 18 years of separation they reconciled their differences, (for a time), and rehearsed for Sunsplash '83 and performed live at the club before a crowd of local fans, friends, and fellow musicians.There were no restrictions on the length of sets, no barriers on solos or improvisational experiments, and no recording studio limits on how long each song should last. They stretched out, played out, and had a joyous 18th anniversary celebration and reunion. Miller recorded the rehearsals and nightclub performances and captured for history all the spontaneity, fire, electricity, and good fellowship of that unique moment. Re-grouping after twenty years and in great form performing to a live and appreciative audience. There may have personal differences in the past but the band seemed to thrive on these frictions. When they met for rehearsals, all the old friends and close buddies came out and with them the numerous pipes, filling the air with the good aroma of ganja.

Following the release of "Stretching Out" as a cassette only album, it went on to become a collectors item and at the same time served as a call for the band's readiness to emerge as a working unit. A few years later, this album was re-issued a double disc album with five bonus tracks and at present, the album is also being sold in vinyl in two volumes. More than two decades after re-grouping, the originators of Ska reign supreme. They still continue to tour the world with the remaining original members together with their worthy continue the legacy of the greatest Ska band in the world.

All songs were recorded live using a TEAC 2 track tape deck and on a Sony cassette deck on June 27, 1983 at the final rehearsal for Reggae Sunsplash and on July 17, 1983 as The Skatalites performed in concert.

Band line up:

Tommy McCook- Tenor Sax
Roland Alphonso - Tenor & Soprano Sax
Lester Sterling - Alto Sax
"Dizzy" Johnny Moore - Trumpet
Jackie Mittoo - Piano
Jah Gerry - Guitar
Lloyd Brivitte - Acoustic Bass
Lloyd Knibbs - Drums
Lord Tanamo - M.C. and Vocals.

Guest Musicians:
Arnold Breckenridge - Trumpet
"Bubbles" Cameron - Trombone
Cedric Brooks (Special Guest) - Tenor Sax Solo on "Tear Up"

Disc 1

1. Freedom Sounds

2. Bridge View

3. Latin Goes Ska

4. Tear Up

5. Guns Of Navarone

6. Man In The Street

7. Come Dung

8. Big Trombone

9. Ska Ba

10. Road Block

11. Eastern Standard Time

12. Confucius

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Disc 2

1. Lee Harvey Oswald
2. Black Sunday
3. Mood For Ska
4. Fidel Castro (#1)
5. El Pussy Cat
6. Four Corners*
8. Exodus*
9. Old Fowl*
10. Fidel Castro #2*
11. Welcome Back Home*

*BONUS TRACKS

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