Exuberant Fans Join Skatalites in Orbit

As reverently inspired as the latest wave of ska practitioners may be, the amped-up, punked-out, pop-focused compositions of No Doubt, Goldfinger and company substitute a bold, cartoonish attack for the stylistic subtleties the Jamaican-born music originally absorbed from jazz and Caribbean music forms. The Skatalites were among the earliest architects of ska, and the group’s performance at the House of Blues on Monday was a vibrant reminder of the genre’s dynamic roots.

The group’s 30-plus years together showed not only in the rich mixture of influences coursing through the music but also in the easy confidence with which the septet played. The Skatalites’ original singer, Doreen Shaffer, added her soulful vocals to a few songs, but the otherwise instrumental set certainly wasn’t wanting for voices. Saxophonists Roland Alphonso and Lester Sterling spun juicy solos, energetic and nimble, fueled by the fluid, powerful rhythms that bassist Lloyd Brevett and drummer Lloyd Knibb stirred up. Nathan Breedlove’s trumpeting was as brisk as his between-songs comments, which set many of the tunes in time and place.

Throughout the evening, the youthful audience responded with festive enthusiasm, cheering the solos, erupting in jubilant chants of “rude boy” and amiably bobbing en masse to the rhythms--signs that suggest the history of ska isn’t in danger of being lost just yet.