Madden keeping ska sound alive

Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

Trumpeter David Madden was a teenager when the jazzy strains of ska first caught his attention. He never figured in the music's golden era but is determined to keep the sound alive in Jamaica.

Madden's passion for the sound that inspired him while he was a student at the Alpha Boys School is alive and well on Wow! www.Ska, his latest album which was recently released.

The 65-year-old trumpeter teams up with guitarist Mikey Chung on the 14-track set which contains several ska standards like Confucius, Eastern Standard Time and Freedom Sounds by The Skatalites, and Money Maker, the instrumental he composed with saxophonist Cedric 'Im' Brooks over 40 years ago.

"The whole objective is to add some colour to the Jamaican music landscape because it's got so computerised and commercial," Madden said. "It's my way of saying, 'Hey, a ya so wi come from'."

The tracks on Wow! were first recorded nearly 20 years ago for Madden's Cybercharged Ska album which featured him on vocals as well as trumpet. He gathered several established musicians for that project including trombonist Vin Gordon, saxophonists Glen DaCosta and Dean Fraser, drummer 'Ben Bow' Creary, guitarist Winston Bowen, and Wailers keyboardist Tyrone Downie. Cynthia Schloss and the TOQ (Touch Of Quality) harmony quintet contributed backing vocals.

Though Bowen and Dalton Browne played guitar on the original tracks, Madden said he brought in Chung for a different feel. Chung was a top session musician in the 1970s, playing guitar and bass for the Now Generation band and Peter Tosh.

"Mikey has always had a nice style and that style has enhanced the project," Madden said.

Madden discovered ska and jazz during his time at Alpha. He was taken with the sounds of The Skatalites, an all-star aggregation led by saxophonist Tommy McCook and the brilliant but troubled trombonist Don Drummond.

Drummond, who composed Eastern Standard Time and Confucius, died at the Bellevue asylum in 1969, three years after being convicted for murdering his lover. He remains one of Madden's biggest influences.

"As far as I am concerned, he's one of the greatest composers," Madden said.

Madden started his career as a studio musician at Studio One in the late 1960s shortly after leaving the Military Band. He appeared on Bob Andy's repatriation anthem I've Got To Go Back Home and Burning Spear's Door Peep, but also struck it big in 1970 with Brooks on the instrumental Money Maker.

In the early 1970s, he was a founding member of Zap Pow, a progressive reggae band that became famous for the hits Mystic Mood and This Is Reggae Music. He also recorded on Bob Marley's Exodus and Kaya albums, and toured with the singer for his 1979 Survival tour.

In recent years, Madden has toured with The Wailers and The Gladiators but also found time to record several solo albums like Going Bananas and Long Live Reggae Music which was released last year.