The Skatalites

With the exception of Bob Marley & the Wailers, no Jamaican musical group has been as important and influential as the Skatalites, and it's fair to say Marley's career would have been impossible without the groundwork laid by that group. More than a band, the Skatalites are an institution, an aggregation of top-notch musicians who didn't merely define the sound of Jamaica, but were the sound of Jamaica in the 1950s and '60s. Frequently credited as the originators of ska -- the musical mash-up of calypso, Caribbean mento, R&B, and rock & roll that pre-dated both reggae and rock...