Roland Alphonso
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Roland Alphonso or Rolando Alphonso aka The Chief Musician (January 12, 1931 Havana, Cuba-November 20, 1998 Los Angeles, California, USA) was a Jamaican tenor saxophonist.
Alphonso came to Jamaica at the age of 2 with his Jamaican mother, and started to learn saxophone at the Stony Hill Industrial School.
In 1948 he left school to join Eric Deans' Orchestra and soon passed through differents other bands in the hotel circuit and first recorded as a member of Baba Motta's group in 1952. Around the mid 50s, he joined the band of Cluett Johnson named Clue J & The Blues Blasters and backed many sessions of Coxsone Dodd in a typical Jamaican R&B style. By 1960, he was recording also for many other producers such as Duke Reid, Lloyd "The Matador" Daley or King Edwards. During this period he played with in many different bands, The Alley Cats, The City Slickers, Aubrey Adams & The Dew Droppers... In 1963, after few months spent in Nassau, Bahamas, he took part in the creation of The Studio One Orchestra, the first session band of the freshly opened studio of Coxsone. This band soon adopted the name of The Skatalites.
When the Skatalites disbanded by August 1965, Alphonso formed the Soul Brothers (with Johnny 'Dizzy' Moore, Jackie Mittoo...) to become the Soul Vendors in 1967. He released the first album under his name in 1973 on the Studio One label.
During the 70s, 80s, and 90s, he kept on playing on numerous records coming out from Jamaican studio, especially for Bunny Lee and toured with many bands. He was awarded Officer of the Order of Distinction by the Jamaican government in 1980, and started to tour more and more often in the USA. He took part in the reformation of the Skatalites in 1983 with whom he toured and recorded constantly til his death in 1998.
[edit] Discography
- ABC Rock Steady (with The Originals Orchestra)- 1968 - Gayfeet/High Note - Produced by Sonia Pottinger
- The Best Of Rolando Alphonso - 1973 - Studio One (Compilation) - Produced by Coxsone Dodd
- King Of Sax - 1975 - Studio One (Compilation) - Produced by Coxsone Dodd
- Brighter Shade of Roots - 1982 - Imperial - Produced by Bunny Lee
- Roll On - 1984 - Wackies - Produced by Lloyd Barnes
- Something Special: Ska Hot Shots - 2000 - Heartbeat (Compilation) - Produced by Coxsone Dodd
