Alpha Boys School - The Roots of Reggae and Ska

I made this short film in 2007 after returning from a trip to Alpha Boys School. Having filmed an Alpha Boys re-union show in London in February that same year, I was attempting to make a documentary about the school. For various reasons, the film did not materialise, but instead, I co-wrote and independently published a book 10 years later, Alpha Boys School: Cradle of Jamaican Music (2017), with US ska historian Heather Augustyn. As of 2022, I am developing a comic book series about the life and times of Alpha's most celebrated musician, Don Drummond. Volume #1 of Trombone Man: Ska's Fallen Genius will be available towards the end of 2022. For further details please check out my Linktree: https://linktr.ee/adamreeves Adam: alkreeves(AT)gmail.com Background: The Alpha Boys School in Kingston has produced some of the finest musicians to come out of Jamiaca. Founded in the 1880s by Sisters of Mercy nuns, it has been the nursery for the luminaries of Jamaican jazz, ska and reggae. Four of the original Skatalies went there, Tommy McCook, Lester Sterling, Johnny Moore and Don Drummond as well as countless other great singers and players. The list reads like a Who's Who of reggae: Johhny Osbourne, Desmond Dekker, Yellowman, Leroy Smart, Rico Rodriguez, Leroy 'Horsemouth' Wallace, Eddie 'TanTan' Thornton, Owen Gray, Bobby Ellis, Tony Gregory, Floyd Lloyd Seivrieght, 'Deadly' Headley Bennett, JoJo Bennett, Winston 'Mr Fix It' Francis, Karl Bryan and Cedric 'Im' Brooks all attended Alpha. In the jazz world, Joe Harriott, Bertie King, Wilton and Harold Gaynair, and Dizzy Reece. Also, the first ever black man to conduct the London Symphony Orchestra, Dr. Leslie Thompson, back in the 1940s was an Alpharian. Mentored by Sister Ignatius who ran the music department for 64 years until her death in 2003, the undisputed Godmother of reggae and ska. In 2007, the Alpha Old Boys Association (UK) put on a concert in honour of her life, featuring 12 sliving legends of Alpha. Many of them had not seen each other for 40 years. The Alpha Boys set the benchmark for the standard of music coming out of Jamaica. Many of them worked in the studios of Kingston as session musicians and arrangers for literally thousands of classic and lesser-known tracks. Film credits: Producer: Adam Reeves Production Manager: Alice Ross Director of Photogrpahy: Ben Cole, Edited at Basik Products, Brighton Thanks to the late Milton Moore of The Alpha Old Boys Association (UK) for permission to film the concert. ‪@NorthEastSkajazzorchestra‬ ‪@MelbourneSkaOrchestra‬ ‪@BieTheSka‬ ‪@ssoftoonskahaniya‬ ‪@TomSka‬ ‪@nancyskajazzorchestransjo3913‬