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I can't tell the story of Don Drummond, because so much has already been said, yet many accounts lack reliable sources.

The stories I do know often present varying perspectives on the great Don Drummond, leaving him a mystery to me.

 

I want to focus on the musician, 

and his music—the music I love and listen to all the time.

I'm captivated by the soul, emotion, and mood in his sound. 

It’s a sound that you can truly feel, stories tells that he could bring tears in the eyes of the crowd when he was playing on stage.

He is known for his gloomy sound, which has evolved over time.

The early recordings didn’t convey as much sadness and pain as the later ones.

The sound changed over time, likely in step with his mental health.

And, of course, there’s his incredible technical skill.

Don is, without a doubt, the best trombonist I have ever heard.

 

He plays so cleanly, hitting every note with precision—even in his signature rapid-fire lines.

His style on the trombone is unique, and he plays with such smoothness. 

Sometimes he improvise as if it were written music, in perfect order.

And sometimes, he’ll jump around the scales, almost wandering off on his own path, leaving the listener nearly lost, but he always manages to tie everything together in a beautiful harmony.

While most musicians base their improvisations on scales,

Don Drummond tells stories.

 

Don was a formally trained musician, mastering his craft by the book.

He graduated from the Alpha Boys School with an exceptionally high level of musical proficiency.

He never stopped practicing—a passionate musician with big dreams during a time of great change.

 

Unfortunately, there isn’t much information available on Don Drummond’s recording history.

 

It is said that Don Drummond’s first recording was at Federal Recording Studio in 1957 with Owen Grey on the track “On the Beach”

(On the back of the album ‘In memory of Don Drummond’ 

Louis N. Gooden says that it was recorded in 1956)

(Many had seen Don Drummond perform on stage,

but that solo Don played on that recording, really caught everyones attention.

It is said that he really liked the solo himself.)

 

The earliest recordings I can find of him as a solo artist and composer are:

 

- Don Drummond & The City Slickers “Don Cosmic” 1960

(A mento-style tune might be one of his first recordings as a solo artist. 'Don Cosmic' was a nickname used by producer Clement Dodd, who said the name came about because Don had an abiding interest in space and planets. Don liked the nickname.)

 

- Don Drummond & The City Slickers “That Man is Back” 1961

(On the back of the album‘In memory of Don Drummond’ 

Louis N. Gooden says that it was recorded in 1957)

(Don Drummond left the Bellevue mental hospital, went to the studio, picked up his trombone, and played a line he had composed. That line became this tune, which was later titled by Clement Dodd.)

 

- Don Drummond “Reload” 1961

(Perhaps also with The City Slickers. Another version of this tune was released in 2013 as 'Gypsy Song.' That recording sounds older than 'Reload.')

 

The masterpiece 'Green Island' could be an early recording.

I can’t find any information on this production, but based on the sound and style, it may have been recorded before the dominance of “ska”.

 

In the spring of 1962, Don Drummond became the first instrumentalist to top the Jamaican pop charts with the hit:

 

- Don Drummond & The Greenlanders “Schooling the Duke” 1962

(A new group of musicians, names like  Johnny Moore,Roland Alphonso, Robert Gaynair,Jerry Haines and Jackie Mittoo.

These names are some of the musicians, who would soon make history together.)

 

1962 was also the year of Jamaica’s Independence, and with that came the independence of the music.

 

The music got a new style. The music got a name:

they called it “ska”.

The roots of this music began in the late '50s, but it truly blossomed with the independence.

It was a fusion of the sound from the North, the sound from the South, and the heartbeat of Africa—a new music that took the island by storm!

 

By this time, Don Drummond was already a well-known and talented musician, and he had the opportunity to help develop this new sound.

From 1960 to 1965, Don Drummond composed and recorded more than 100 tunes, despite spending about half of that time in the Bellevue Mental Hospital.

 

Jazz still flowed through Don Drummond's veins, but the powerful new sound of ska was irresistible.

People couldn't help but move to the beat.

The energy and excitement of this new dance music drove people wild.

 

As the Jamaican music industry grew rapidly, producers sought out the best musicians for their recordings.

Don Drummond quickly became one of the most sought-after musicians and arrangers.

When producers assembled recording bands, they often had to arrange auditions to find a vocalist, searching for the next star among countless young hopefuls, all eager to create the next big hit.

 

Don Drummond was incredibly productive, and instrumental music was highly popular in the dance halls, making up a significant portion of the recordings. 

In 1963, he composed and recorded tracks such as "Close of Play" "Far East","Jet Stream","Rock Away","Royal Flush","Scandal", "Scrap Iron","Snowboy","Spitfire","The Shock" and many more.

His music was deeply influenced by the jazz and R&B he loved.

 

Don Drummond and the musicians around him were playing day and night, both in recording sessions and at nightclubs.

They dominated the music scene, continuously shaping and refining the popular new sound of ska.

 

By 1964, the distinctive ska beat had fully taken shape. It featured a pulsating rhythm, with the saxophone playing the riff alongside the guitar and piano. The musicians who pioneered this sound had been there from the beginning, inventing and developing it.

Many great individuals contributed to this, and though there are many names to mention.

I want to highlight two : 

Don Drummond and Lloyd Knibb.

 

Lloyd Knibb was a drummer with a unique style, a style that became a fundamental part of the ska beat.

His playing was so distinctive, you could identify it just by listening. There's a story that his unique sound came from a broken cymbal, but to me, it sounds like he was rolling on the hi-hats, making them sing. He would always hit the crash cymbal on the fourth beat instead of the first.

He had an unusual technique for that time. 

Don Drummond and Lloyd Knibb were a perfect match, and their years of collaboration with other musicians helped drive the evolution of ska music.

 

Don Drummond’s music was evolving. 

He recorded his compositions with various musicians and producers, experimenting with new approaches. His sound became darker, often in minor keys, with some tracks featuring just one or two chords.

Recordings like "Bellevue Special"/“No More","Burning Torch",“Confucius”,“Smiling”,“The Reburial”,"Heaven & Earth","Rain or Shine",“Downbeat Burial” and "Marcus Jr." and many more of then reflected a moody, introspective quality, perhaps echoing the state of the musician himself.

 

He frequently recorded with the Baba Brooks Band, led by Oswald "Baba" Brooks on trumpet. Like many other bands of the time, its lineup changed frequently. Don recorded several of his compositions with them, such as "Cool Smoke","Treasure Isle","Dr. Decker" and "Stampede"/“University Goes Ska".

He also featured on tracks like "Country Town","Nightmare", "Spider","Seven Guns Alive" and "Teenage Ska."

Some of these could be composed by Drummond…

 

The Baba Brooks Band also backed many of the vocalists of the time, including Justin Hinds & The Dominoes, Derrick Morgan, Owen & Leon Silveras, Stranger Cole, and many more.

 

In May 1964, Don Drummond joined a new band formed by Clement Dodd and Tommy McCook—The Skatalites. This band consisted of the best of the best.

 

They began composing and recording music as a band, with Tommy McCook as the bands leader, maybe because of the unstable presence of Don Drummond, the most prolific artist of the previous years, serving as the band’s main composer.

 

The list of recordings with The Ska-talites credited to Don Drummond is very long, he composed music like never before.

“Addis-Ababa”,”Alive & Well”,”Ally Pon”,”Chinatown”,”Dandy Don D”,”Don’s Tune”,”Don’t Bury Me”,”Don D Lion”,”Street Corner”,”Sudden Attack”,”Silver Dollar” and many more…

And also these without credits to The Ska-talites…

“Occupation”,”Eastern Standard Time”,”Lucky Seven”,”Cool Shade”,”Coolie Boy”,”Garden Of Love”,”JFK Memories”,”Love In The Afternoon”,”Man In The Street”,”Surplus”,”Guns Of Navarone” and many more…

I hear Don Drummond as the man behind “Cotton Tree”,”Around The World” and “Dick Tracy”..

 

The Skatalites became Jamaica’s superstars.

Every show they played was packed, and the crowd was entertained like never before.

This group of musical masters rocked the island. 

 

But the magic only lasted for seven months, on New Year's Eve 1964/65, Don Drummond stabbed his girlfriend to death and turned himself in.

 

Don Drummond’s last recording was probably his arrangement of “Guns Of Navarone”…

This was recorded by the end of 1964, The Ska-talites debuted with this tune on stage in January 1965, without Don Drummond… and without Don Drummond, The Ska-talites was never the same…

“Guns Of Navarone” is still today the most famous instrumental tune, in the world of ska music…

 

It is impossible to understand what the music could have been, if the murder never happened…

 

In my opinion, this tradegy was the end of the “ska”.

and by 1966, the music in Jamaica had evolved into the slightly slower 'rocksteady’