Before dreaming up Ska Cubano, Peter A. Scott had spent years researching music in Jamaica and Cuba, where he had to realise, among other things, that before the Cuban revolution there was a strong overlap between Cuban music and other forms of music from the Caribbean region. (As an example, Compay Segundo also had a calypso band.) To enliven this tradition Scott teamed up with one of the main figures of the London ska circles, Natty No, who is also obsessed with Cuban music. They gathered together a number of open minded musicians, such as the mambo singer Beny Billy, and by the unlikely marriage of mambo, ska, rumba, son and reggae, Ska Cubano was born. They released their self titled album in 2004 and !Ay Caramba! two years later. It’s due time they showed their amazingly entertaining fusion live on the Sziget.
