Melbourne Ska Orchestra

Formed in 2003 the multi ARIA Award winning Melbourne Ska Orchestrais an orchestra with a difference. Comprising up to 26 members this juggernaut contains some of Australia’s finest musicians and performers. The band can perform with as little as 20 members and as many as 36. Lead and directed by the energetic and charismatic Nicky Bomba (John Butler Trio, Bomba, Bustamento), they are a force to be reckoned with.

 

The band's debut self-titled release resulted in sell-out national shows, multiple major festival appearances, three international tours and a host of awards andnominations. Since the first release, the band have released another six albums in just five years, including the ARIA Award-winning ‘Sierra-Kilo-Alpha’ and “One Year Of Ska” Bringing their discography to seven albums, in their short recording history of just six years. Showcasing a new trajectory’s sonically, Melbourne Ska Orchestrarespect the roots of the Ska genre with 2Tone styles while introducing new hybrids that are international, fresh and exciting.

 

Melbourne Ska Orchestra’slive performance is explosive and infectious. Their unique take on the genre of Ska and lively stage show has wowed audiences all over the world. From Montreal to New York, Istanbul to London and with the approval of Reggae and Ska pioneers like Stranger Cole, Owen Gray, Carlos Malcolm, Ranking Roger and Neville Staples, to name a few, the Melbourne Ska Orchestrais resonating with audiences worldwide –young and old.

 

Paying respect to the Jamaican Sound System phenomenon, where artists would record and release new tracks on a weekly basis, Melbourne Ska Orchestracommitted to doing the same in 2018. For one whole year, 52 songs were released over 52 weeks!We are not sure if any other band has done this before. It sure seems like a record of some kind has been broken.

 

The final tally of the year’s recording of 52 songs, worked out as 4 x 13 track albums. The first one rolling out like an education of Ska, was the band's rendition of 13 ‘Ska Classics’, that had inspired the band's inception. Album 2, presented the band's renditions of TV & Movie themes (a tradition in the Ska genre), it included current scores like ‘Game Of Thrones’ and ‘Narcos’, alongside classics such as ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Doctor Who’. At the halfway mark the band focused its full attention on original material, writing new songs for the project on practically a weekly basis. As a result, two albums ‘Read All About It’ and ‘Transmission Fridays’, totalling 26 songs shows the maturity and dedication to putting a unique and relevant stamp on the Ska genre. A respectful edition was the Orchestra joining JoeCamilleri on ‘Shape I’m In’, which is considered to be the first bona fide Reggae hit in Australia.

 

2019 has seen the band hit the road yet again in Australia, making this their 6thNational tour to date. Melbourne Ska Orchestraalways performs in venues with capacities of over 1000 in Australia and their international touring schedule is alive and well with tours currently being scheduled in Europe and the US for 2020.