ska review


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Like other major music genres, ska reflects, reveals, and reacts to the genesis and migration from its Afro-Caribbean roots and colonial origins to the shores of England and back across the Atlantic to the United States. Without ska music, there would be no reggae or Bob Marley, no British punk and pop blends, no American soundtrack to its various subcultures.

In Ska: The Rhythm of Liberation, Heather Augustyn examines how ska music first emerged in Jamaica as a fusion of popular, traditional, and even classical musical forms. As a genre, it was a connection to Africa, a means of expression and protest, and a respite from the struggles of colonization and grinding poverty. Ska would later travel with West Indian immigrants to the United Kingdom, where British youth embraced the music, blending it with punk and pop and working its origins as a music of protest and escape into their present lives. The fervor of the music matched the energy of the streets as racism, poverty, and violence ran rampant. But ska called for brotherhood and unity.

As series editor and pop music scholar Scott Calhoun notes: “Like a cultural barometer, the rise of ska indicates when and where social, political, and economic institutions disappoint their people and push them to re-invent the process for making meaning out of life. When a people or group embark on this process, it becomes even more necessary to embrace expressive, liberating forms of art for help during the struggle. In its history as a music of freedom, ska has itself flowed freely to wherever people are celebrating the rhythms and sounds of hope.”

Ska: The Rhythm Liberation should appeal to fans and scholars alike—indeed, any enthusiast of popular music and Caribbean, American, and British history seeking to understand the fascinating relationship between indigenous popular music and cultural and political history. Devotees of reggae, jazz, pop, Latin music, hip hop, rock, techno, dance, and world beat will find their appreciation of this remarkable genre deepened by this survey of the origins and spread of ska.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0810884496
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scarecrow Press (September 12, 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 180 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780810884496
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0810884496
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.29 x 0.74 x 9.26 inches
Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great book!
Review: The book arrived on time, in perfect condition. My friend was extremely excited for this present!

Reviewer: C. Benoit
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Perfect introduction to the history and impact of ska
Review: A wide-ranging, well-written introduction to ska - from its African roots and Jamaican inception to the 2Tone era in England, the NYC and West Coast sounds and today's world-wide ska scene. A perfect companion book to her excellent biography on Skatalites' Don Drummond. But read this one first for the big picture.

Reviewer: RFG
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great book, well written, and thoroughly researched! A must read!
Review: As a Ska musician and someone who has been involved in the "2nd and 3rd wave" of Ska I had a basic idea of the origins, but Heather's book filled in many gaps in my self education! If you are a fan of Ska, Roots, Rocksteady, or Reggae, I highly recommend this book!

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