The Caribs, including Australian-born musicians, helped shape early ska in Jamaica.[i] They were at the forefront of the evolution from Jamaican rhythm and blues to ska from the late 1950s.[ii] But The Caribs’ story actually began in 1958 on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. That’s when guitarist Dennis Sindrey, drummer Lowell Morris, pianist Peter Stoddart, saxophonist Max Wildman, and Haitian-born percussionist Albert Laguerre became the house band at the Paradise Hotel.[iii],[iv] Max, also the band leader, gave The Caribs their name in a nod to their largely Latin repertoire and the palm trees lining the club’s stage.[v]

Max subsequently accepted the position of manager at the famous Glass Bucket nightclub in Kingston, Jamaica and invited The Caribs to become the house band. And so in November 1958, the young men left Australia for Jamaica on a one-way ticket. Dennis said: “We had no contract, no idea of where we would play, what we’d be paid, or anything like that. But we wanted to travel, so we took a chance.”[vi] The Caribs were joined by stand-up bass player Lloyd Brevett, who would later help found legendary ska outfit The Skatalites.[vii]

The Caribs quickly became “the pre-eminent group on Kingston's burgeoning hotel circuit in the early 1960s”.[viii] When the Glass Bucket closed in 1959, The Caribs began a three-year residency at the upmarket Myrtle Bank Hotel followed by a residency at the Sheraton Hotel.[ix] Their playbook extended to calypso, mento and rhythm and blues, as they performed with local singers and dancers.[x] The Caribs, without Max, also worked as a backing band for recording sessions, starting at Ken Khouri’s Federal studios.[xi] They went on to record at Clement Dodd’s Studio One –  where they worked alongside another Australian, engineer Graeme Goodall – and for producers Chris Blackwell, Prince Buster and Duke Reid.[xii]

Dennis believed he was the first to play ska on a recording. Clement Dodd requested a heavy off beat and Dennis responded by playing the upstroke on his guitar. “They said, ‘Yeah! That’s it! Ska!,” he recalled. “Now, I don’t know whether that was the first time, and obviously they knew what they wanted, but I do claim to be the first guy that recorded ska, if not the guy that invented it.”[xiii]

The Caribs featured on many of the first records made in Jamaica, including Laurel Aitken’s hit Boogie in My Bones. They contributed to early ska recordings like Roland Alphonso’s Hully Gully Rock and Don Drummond’s Schooling The Duke.[xiv] They also recorded Taboo, with “hints of early ska, reggae, surf and exotica”[xv], which was backed by Matilda Cha Cha,[xvi] a shuffle version of the Australian bush ballad Waltzing Matilda.[xvii] In addition, The Caribs recorded under the names of Starline Troubadours and The City Slickers.[xviii] The Caribs worked alongside and became friends with some of ska’s best-known musicians, producers and sound system operators. They also played with visiting US acts including The Impressions and Ben E. King.[xix]

When The Caribs broke up in 1962, Dennis and Peter joined Byron Lee and the Dragonaires. Dennis went on to a solo career, billed as “the Calypsonaire with the blonde hair”[xx] and released a number of recordings on the Federal label. He and Peter re-formed The Caribs – with drummer Billy Dean, bassist Lloyd Mason and vocalist Carl Reynolds – and they became the house band at the Sheraton in Kingston.[xxi] They also contributed three tunes to Let’s Have A Red Stripe Party, a 1963 compilation album featuring popular hotel bands in Jamaica, and recorded the 12-track LP Caribbean Capers in 1964. Dennis went on to record three calypso albums and a single before moving to the United States in 1968. Afterwards, Peter kept The Caribs going as a hotel band. Meantime, Lowell formed a short-lived soul-jazz group before joining the Kes Chin and the Souvenirs showband.[xxii] In 1962, he moved to New York for a time before returning to Australia. He played with touring artists including Millie Small[xxiii] and Wilfred ‘Jackie’ Edwards, with whom The Caribs recorded in Jamaica in the early 1960s.[xxiv]

Despite their contribution to early ska, The Caribs were almost unknown in Australia until Lowell contacted Melbourne-based radio presenter, music promoter and DJ Lloyd ‘Mohair Slim’ Dewar in 2003. An aficionado of Jamaican music, Lloyd interviewed Lowell to capture the band’s story for an article[xxv] and a documentary that’s a work in progress. Lloyd also helped organise gigs showcasing The Caribs and local ska bands. In 2008, The Caribs reunited to play a gig in Richmond, Melbourne to mark the fifth anniversary of the Melbourne Ska Orchestra. The mixing was done, appropriately, by Graeme Goodall.[xxvi] Five years later, The Caribs performed at a ‘Celebration of Melbourne ska’ where they celebrated their 50th anniversary while Melbourne bands Strange Tenants and Ska Vendors marked 30 years and 10 years respectively. Finally, thanks to Lloyd and Melbourne’s ska community, The Caribs were given their due in Australia.     

The Caribs were also under-appreciated in Jamaica until 2012, when the band, and Graeme, were honoured at the annual Tribute To The Greats awards. Organiser Kingsley ‘King Omar’ Goodison began the awards to acknowledge unsung heroes of early Jamaican music – musicians, producers, engineers, studio owners and even former Prime Ministers – who weren’t financially compensated at the time or recognised in the years since.[xxvii]

Over the past decade, Peter, Lowell and Dennis have all passed away, leaving a rich catalogue and an extraordinary legacy as pioneers of ska.