Various Artists - Treasure Isle Presents: Ska (2012)

Treasure Isle Presents: Ska is a two-disc compilation released in 2012 on Trojan Records / Spectrum Music as part of the "Treasure Isle Presents" series. The set brings together 40 Jamaican ska recordings produced in the early 1960s under Arthur "Duke" Reid, the former policeman and liquor store owner who founded Treasure Isle Records and became one of the defining forces in Jamaican popular music.
The musical core of the collection is The Skatalites and their extended circle. Widely regarded as the most gifted musical aggregation in Jamaica's history, the band featured a constellation of master players — Tommy McCook, Roland Alphonso, Lester Sterling on saxophones, Don Drummond on trombone — whose jazz training gave ska its sophisticated edge while their raw energy made it irresistible on the dance floor. Drummond's compositions "Eastern Standard Time" and "Street Corner," both present here, stand among the canonical works of the era.
The vocal side is anchored by Justin Hinds & The Dominoes, whose "Carry Go Bring Come" became a Jamaican number one and one of the defining songs of the ska era. Alongside them: Stranger Cole, Ken Boothe, Eric Morris, Alton Ellis, and The Techniques — a roster that effectively maps the human geography of Duke Reid's studio operation in Kingston. The Baba Brooks Orchestra provides much of the instrumental counterweight, its punchy brass arrangements a perfect complement to the Skatalites' more jazz-inflected work.
Remastered at Finyl Tweek Ltd. in London, the compilation is a thorough and well-sequenced document of Treasure Isle's ska years — one of the most creatively fertile periods in Jamaican music history.

Tracklist:
1-1 The Skatalites - Rough and Tough [3:02]
1-2 Baba Brooks Orchestra - Watermelon Man [2:52]
1-3 Eric Morris;The Baba Brooks Band - Strongman Sampson [2:34]
1-4 The Skatalites - River Bank, Pt. 2 [2:08]
1-5 Stranger Cole;KEN BOOTHE - Uno Dos Tres [2:48]
1-6 Eric Morris - Solomon Gundie [2:38]
1-7 Don Drummond;The Skatalites - Eastern Standard Time [3:15]
1-8 Leon Silveras;Owen Silveras;Roland Alphonso - How Many Times [2:21]
1-9 Frank Anderson;Roland Alphonso;The Skatalites - Musical Store Room [2:23]
1-10 Eric Morris;Reid's Selected Group - Penny Reel-O [2:30]
1-11 Leon Silveras;Owen Silveras;Tommy McCook;The Skatalites - Running Around [2:35]
1-12 Justin Hinds & The Dominoes - Carry Go Bring Come [2:45]
1-13 Tommy McCook;The Skatalites - Silver Dollar [2:56]
1-14 Owen Silveras;Leon Silveras;Tommy McCook;The Skatalites - The Fits Is On Me [2:13]
1-15 Justin Hinds & The Dominoes;The Skatalites - Corner Stone [2:25]
1-16 Don Drummond;The Skatalites - Street Corner [3:02]
1-17 Joe White;Chuck - Low Minded People [2:56]
1-18 The Baba Brooks Band;Don Drummond - Doctor Dekker [2:49]
1-19 The Melodites;The Skatalites - Vacation [2:17]
1-20 Lester Sterling;The Skatalites - Latin Goes Ska [3:02]
2-21 The Dreamletts - Really Now [2:23]
2-22 Baba Brooks & His Band;Stranger Cole - Run Joe [2:29]
2-23 The Skatalites - Occupation (Ring Of Fire) [3:02]
2-24 The Techniques;The Baba Brooks Band - Telling Me Lies [2:21]
2-25 Lyn Taitt;The Baba Brooks Band - Independence Ska (El Pussycat) [2:35]
2-26 Justin Hinds & The Dominoes;Tommy McCook;The Skatalites - Rub Up, Push Up [2:49]
2-27 Baba Brooks & His Band - Guns Fever [2:54]
2-28 The Techniques;The Baba Brooks Band - I Am In Love [2:28]
2-29 The Riots - Yeah Yeah [2:20]
2-30 The Baba Brooks Band - Girls Town Ska [2:52]
2-31 The Zodiacs;The Baba Brooks Band - Renegade [2:41]
2-32 The Baba Brooks Band;Roland Alphonso - Nuclear Weapon [2:56]
2-33 Don Drummond - University Goes Ska [2:47]
2-34 Derrick Morgan - Don't Call Me Daddy [2:33]
2-35 The Baba Brooks Band - Vitamin A [2:53]
2-36 The Flames;Alton Ellis - Dance Crasher [2:39]
2-37 Don Drummond;The Tommy McCook Band - Lucky Seven [2:52]
2-38 The Baba Brooks Band - Teenage Ska [2:41]
2-39 Alton Ellis;The Flames - Don't Trouble People [3:00]
2-40 The Silvertones;The Supersonics;Tommy McCook - My True Confession [2:44]