Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer
The Skatalites are among the forerunners of ska. Most of their performances are done overseas. - File
GUITARIST Jerome 'Jah Jerry' Haynes, original guitarist of the legendary Skatalites band, died on August 11 in Kingston. He was 86 years old.
The journeyman musician's rhythmic strums added flavour to a band which sound was based on the triple saxophones of Roland Alphonso, Tommy McCook and Lester Sterling, trumpeter Johnny 'Dizzy' Moore and trombonist Don Drummond.
Jah Jerry is the sixth member of the original Skatalites to die. Drummond, singer Jackie Opel, keyboardist Jackie Mittoo, Alphonso and McCook predeceased him.
Musicologist Bunny Goodison knew Jah Jerry for more than 40 years. He sai his rhythmic strums were overshadowed by the heralded horns of his bandmates in The Skatalites, he paid his dues.
"He was a rhythm guitarist, never a soloist. So, in the presence of Drummond, Mittoo and McCook it was hard for him to stand out," Goodison told The Gleaner.
The American musicologist David Katz, in a tribute to Jah Jerry in Britain's The Guardian newspaper, traced his work to the late 1950s when Jamaica's popular music scene was taking shape.
He recorded mainly for producers Prince Buster and Leslie Kong. His patterns can be heard on hit songs like Oh Carolina by the Folkes Brothers (produced by Buster) and They've Got to Go, one of Buster's biggest hits.
Session musician
In the early 1960s, Jah Jerry continued to work as a session musician, playing on sides for Clement 'Coxson' Dodd and Vincent 'Randy' Chin.
He was one of the early members of The Skatalites, a super band formed in 1964 by Moore. It also included drummer Lloyd Knibb, bass player Lloyd Brevett and vocalist Doreen Schaefer. The original band lasted less than two years but they cut some of the most influential instrumentals in Jamaica including Freedom Sounds, Guns of Navarone and Jack Ruby, all of which Jah Jerry played.
The guitarist was not a part of the reformed Skatalites which still tours with Sterling, Schaefer and Knibb the original members in the current line-up.
The thanksgiving and funeral for Jerome 'Jah Jerry' Haynes, attended by his wife and seven children, was held on August 29 at Dovecot.
