All-star ska orchestra brings big sound to the Chapel in San Francisco
LA-based ensemble Western Standard Time Ska Orchestra brings its compelling mix of jazz and uptempo Jamaican sounds to the Chapel Friday night with a guest appearance by local singer Karina Denike.
Founded in 2011 by trumpet player Eitan Avineri (The Allentons, Kingston 10, Mobtown) and saxophonist/arranger Benny Golbin, the large group was started as a way to pay tribute to early '60s Jamaican ska pioneers the Skatalites. That 10-piece band was an instrumental powerhouse that also backed such notable pre-reggae vocalists as Prince Buster and Bob Marley and the Wailers on hits like "Al Capone" and "Simmer Down" while laying the foundation for both the post-punk UK "2 Tone" ska movement of the late '70s and the subsequent Southern California's ska scene centered around Fishbone and the Untouchables in the decade that followed before the Orange County ska-punk explosion of the '90s.
Drawing on the rich pool of talent in the region, the players that filled out the expansive ensemble's massive 14-piece horn section were seasoned veterans with extensive experience playing in both ska-influenced groups (Hepcat, the Aggrolites, Sublime, Jump With Joey) and jazz big bands including the Bob Mintzer's Big Band and The Brian Setzer Orchestra. While mostly focusing on the classic songs made famous by the Skatalites, the group would also inject Jamaican flavor into jazz standards like Duke Ellington's "Eastern Standard Time," the tune that inspired the ensemble's name.
The orchestra released its first collection of recordings -- Western Standard Time Volume 1 in 2012 -- followed by A Big Band Tribute To The Skatalites Volume II three years later. The group suffered a serious blow in 2016 when Golbin was killed as an innocent bystander in a Los Angeles street-racing collision, but the orchestra has soldiered on, performing regularly at international ska festivals and releasing a series of 7-inch singles. Its most recent album, a collection of Christmas songs featuring Aggrolites singer/guitarist Jesse Wagner, came out in November.
For this show at the Chapel in San Francisco's Mission District Friday, the orchestra will feature Wagner and local vocal powerhouse Karina Denike. First coming to fame as a singer with Bay Area ska-punk outfit Dancehall Crashers in the early '90s, Denike has become a mainstay on the San Francisco music scene whether leading her own jazz group the Cottontails (who on occasion play full sets of ska tunes under the alias the Ska-tontails), taking the stage as a member of punk band NOFX or singing with local groups the Red Room Orchestra and Marc and the Casuals. Bay Area rocksteady band the Titan Ups was schedule to open the show, but has been forced to drop out due to illness. Wagner and guitarist Chris Brennan will perform an acoustic set of Aggrolites songs in their absence. DJ Dion Watts spins 45s before and between bands.
Western Standard Time Ska Orchestra with Jesse Wagner and Karina Denike
Friday, Jan. 5, 8 p.m. $25
The Chapel
