Roland Alphonso, Something Special: Ska Hot Shots - 1h 1m 2s

Tracks & Durations

1. Four corners	2:41
2. From Russia with love	4:19
3. Dr Ring Ding	3:05
4. Jack Ruby	2:41
5. El pussy cat ska (Take 2)	3:16
6. Federal special	2:43
7. Do it good	3:18
8. Jah shakey	2:05
9. Pepe to	2:57
10. You trouble me	3:06
11. Rollie pollie	2:17
12. Proof rum	3:25
13. James bond	2:59
14. Provocation	2:19
15. Grand national	3:00
16. Hully gully rock	2:52
17. Something special	3:27
18. Rolando special	3:22
19. Groovy sax	3:14
20. Maria Elena	3:48

Note: The information about this album is acquired from the publicly available resources and we are not responsible for their accuracy.

Review

The late Roland Alphonso, who died in 1998, made his reputation as a ska sax player, and his instrumental work was a vital ingredient to that era. But his style went beyond the limitations of any genre, whether from the kitschy cover of the James Bond theme, "From Russia with Love," where he smoothed over the jerkiness of the beat with his mellifluous tone, to "Jah Shakey," where his breathy introduction echoes jazzman Lester Young. The 20 tracks here range from pre-ska boogie all the way to the early days of reggae, with heavy emphasis on Alphonso's days with the influential Skatalites and their successors, the Soul Brothers. But all put a very clear focus on Alphonso's inventive playing. Give him the chance to solo and he could produce the unexpected, always making the song more than it was before, and pushing things in a slightly different direction. An album like this shows why he's so deeply revered. --Chris Nickson

Other Versions

Albums are mined from the various public resources and can be actually the same but different in the tracks length only. We are keeping all versions now.

Something Special: Ska Hot Shots

Tracks: 20, Disk length: 60m 59s (-1m 57s)

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