Skatalites

This DVD presents two concerts five years apart at Belgium's Lokerse Feesten with ska's originators, or what's left of them. The concerts feature the band's usual mix of movie themes (such as from the James Bond series and The Guns of Navarone) and '60s classics ("Eastern Standard Time," "Swing Easy"). The music is so tight and deceivingly simple that you forget this band are made up of heavy jazz players until each makes their statement with a solo. And while the band are primarily remembered as an instrumental act, Doreen Shaffer, who sang occasionally with them in the '60s, shows up to add her voice to tracks like "Can't See You" and "Simmer Down." The footage is good and the concerts entertaining but seeing the Skatalites at the end of their career only makes you wish you could have really seen them at the beginning. Extras include a text biography and discography, and a short featurette that follows the band on tour and interviews some of the members.