The Trombone Alternative Ska and Punk Trombonists of the 1990s: A Conversation with Rick Faulkner!

This Blog aims to shed some light on a little researched topic of trombone history:  The ska and punk trombonists of the 1990s.  During a period between 1992 and 2005, horn bands rooted in the rock sub-genres of ska and punk enjoyed a surge in popularity, and inspired a generation of young musicians to pick up the trombone.  I will introduce the roots of this trend, progression, and explore performance practices of some of the players who were prominent in this sub-genre.  Some of the players interviewed in the research included Daryl Burch (formerly of Radio Noise), Jon Blondell (trombone soloist on “Wrong Way” by Sublime), Rick Faulkner (formerly of the Toasters and the New York Ska and Jazz Ensemble), Buford O'Sullivan (of the Scofflaws, the Toasters, and a number of others), and Karl Lyden (of Streetlight Manifesto).  I have found that this is unexplored territory in terms of trombone historical research, in spite of its impact on rock and popular music, and some of that has continued to extend into today.  For younger trombonists, and those with interests beyond jazz and classical playing, this is a chance to explore different styles, different performance practices, and also affirmations of their own strengths as performers.  For older trombonists, this is a chance to see the trombone musically used in a way that may not have otherwise been even considered.  


On February 19, 2018, I conducted an interview over the phone with Rick Faulkner.  Rick Faulkner is a New York-based trombonist who performed with the Toasters from 1992 through 1998.  He later became one the founding members of the New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble.  He is still active in New York as a trombonist, bassist, and vocalist and teaches within the NY Department of Education.  Below is the text from the interview session:

When did you first start playing the trombone?

I started the summer before sixth grade.  I went in for trumpet, and then I switched to trombone. 

Who were your biggest influences?
Oh wow!  The list is at least a mile long.  I was mostly listening to jazz in high school and college.  Dixieland playing was my first contact outside of school band.  Al Grey, and J.J. were my favorites for jazz.  When it came to ska; Don Drummond, Rico Rodriguez.  Best of Don Drummond on Treasure Isle is a must listen.  Very fluid player.  Rico was a lot more gutty.

When you were first playing, what kind of trombone player did you initially want to be?

In 10^th grade, I got the idea of being a professional.  I had a hard time finding a teacher early on though.  I wanted to play primarily jazz, but I studied classical pretty heavily.  I’m originalluy from Charlottesville VA, which is one reason why it was hard to find a teacher.  In college, I got butt kicked at Indiana.  Dee Stewart was my primary teacher there, though I did have one lesson with Steve Turre.

What initially led you to the ska/punk band?
With the Toasters, it was mainly about timing.  I was more familiar with ska through reggae, the Skatalites, and Will Clark, who had played trombone with the Skatalites in the ‘90s.  Erick Storckman was the previous bone player in the Toasters.  Mike Christiansen was the other player that the Toasters had at the time, but Christiansen couldn’t do the road.  I learned the book, listened, and took over for him within a year.

Who was the first group you started playing with?  For how long? 

That was the Toasters.  I started in 1992, and stayed through 1998.  I was not full-time due to focusing on my Master’s studies.   My second band, the New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble was a spinoff.  It started very serendipitously as more of a “horn section for hire” kind of thing.  We ended up putting this all-star band together, complete with rhythm section.  The band was supposed to be a one-off thing, and then grew into something much bigger on its own.

What were the performances like?

The show had a whole wide-range of venues and audiences from the bottom to the top.  Some of them would be at discos, and people would disappear when the band started playing.  At others, the crowd would have a lot of high energy.  There would even be some moshing at other shows.  One of our events was playing for 10,000 people at an outdoor show opening for Soul Asylum.  At another show in Wyoming, we were cancelled in some kind “dirty dancing” place where the locals thought we would be a bad influence.  At one point in 1992 I think it was, we were scheduled to play in your hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.  I can’t remember the venue.  We had a leisurely drive, across Illinois, and thought we had just enough time to stop for gas and spend the night at Super 8.  Unfortunately we ran into van trouble in Iowa, so we had to stay at the airport in Des Moines, and rode in mortician limo to our gig there.  On the way to Omaha we hit an April blizzard!  In spite of the weather, we had a gig to get to, so we pressed onward.  When we finally got to club, we found out our show was cancelled.  Given everything that we had already been through to get there, we said “Oh no!  We are going to play!  If people want to risk coming out, they can, because we did!”

Describe the sound and style of the band as explained to you by the band leader?

Truthfully, there was no direction from Bucket on how to play with the band.  I listened to the demos, as well as a lot of Specials recordings.  Buford O’Sullivan was really the ideal trombone sound he wanted for the gig – someone much rougher around the edges.  Made melodic statement.  No bebop shit.  NY Ska-Jazz, coming from my own thing.  More expressive, artistic. Jazz approach.  Skavoovie tour in 1993.  Getting back to the Jamaican jazz roots, but more advanced jazz vocabulary, and energy of third wave.

Describe what you consider to be ideal for “ska” or “punk” trombone”?

There is a LOT of overlap between the two.  I consider Toasters to be more straight-up ska.  Players must use a full sound, and play with more bluntness.  The sound is not smooth and refined.  Be sure to make a statement with every note.  Players I suggest listening to are Rico (Rodriguez), (Don) Drummond, Buford (O’Sullivan), and Vinnie Nobile.  It’s very difficult to put into words.  Vin Gordon is another good one too.  Large or medium bore.  No trigger. 

If you were advising young students in the realm of becoming a ska/punk trombone player, what would you tell them?

First thing I’d tell them is to focus on fundamentals.  This includes long tones, breathing, and concentrating on tone and sound.  You must have them down otherwise you can do a lot of damage.  It’s also important to stay grounded.

What do you think were the biggest contributions were by the 1990s trombonists, and how do you think the era impacted how trombonists are perceived?

Many young trombonists I’ve met have heard stories from (me), and from Lucky Chops Brass Band.  Their bone player was also inspired by the ska sound.  The impact and perception that me and all the others have had is difficult to gauge.  Bucket (Hingley of the Toasters) once told me that, “Trombone is the archetypal reggae instrument.”

Faulkner’s solo on “Maxwell Smart” (shown below) is a very clean, precise example of a relatively simple, melodic solo over an instrumental two-tone ska work.  The form, which diverges from the melody, is a twelve-bar blues form following in the two-tone ska tradition of no more than two different chord changes overall.  (The F6 chord shown in bar 11 is an inversion of a Dmi7.)  Faulkner makes extensive use of the D minor blues scale, stressing the b5 often to give it that “hip” sound.  It is a very melodic, precise solo that sounds more like it could have been written out.  This emphasizes the importance of Faulkner’s philosophy that a player needs to “make a melodic statement.”  (Faulkner, interview.  2018.)  Faulkner demonstrates more technicality in his solos with the New York Ska and Jazz Ensemble, but for the purpose of the Toasters, that is not what is needed.  Instead, the solo is more reminiscent of Tom “Bones” Malone’s work on “Sweet Home Chicago” from The Blues Brothers soundtrack, rather than a full-on bebop solo.   

The Trombone Alternative Ska and Punk Trombonists of the 1990s: An Interview with Buford O'Sullivan!

This Blog aims to shed some light on a little researched topic of trombone history:  The ska and punk trombonists of the 1990s.  During a period between 1992 and 2005, horn bands rooted in the rock sub-genres of ska and punk enjoyed a surge in popularity, and inspired a generation of young musicians to pick up the trombone.  I will introduce the roots of this trend, progression, and explore performance practices of some of the players who were prominent in this sub-genre.  Some of the players interviewed in the research included Daryl Burch (formerly of Radio Noise), Jon Blondell (trombone soloist on “Wrong Way” by Sublime), Rick Faulkner (formerly of the Toasters and the New York Ska and Jazz Ensemble), Buford O'Sullivan (of the Scofflaws, the Toasters, and a number of others), and Karl Lyden (of Streetlight Manifesto).  I have found that this is unexplored territory in terms of trombone historical research, in spite of its impact on rock and popular music, and some of that has continued to extend into today.  For younger trombonists, and those with interests beyond jazz and classical playing, this is a chance to explore different styles, different performance practices, and also affirmations of their own strengths as performers.  For older trombonists, this is a chance to see the trombone musically used in a way that may not have otherwise been even considered.  

In May of this year, I conducted an interview via email with Buford O'Sullivan.  Buford O'Sullivan performed with the Scofflaws from 1988 to 2000, and is a founder of the Huffers, with whom he currently performs and tours.  He has also performed with the Toasters and the Skatalites, and remains a very active performer in the New York Ska Scene.  Below is the text from the interview session:

When did you first start playing the trombone?

6^th Grade, when they brought out the instruments to the home room class. I wanted something to make the same sound that I heard when I rode on the QE2 ocean liner (when I was 6). Big, deep, ocean liner horn sound. I had to choose between the bari sax and the bone.

Who were your biggest influences?

Rico Rodriquez (Specials) because he played slow, laid-back lines, Joseph Bowie (Defunkt) because he played fast, impossibly ultra-high register. Grachan Moncur III, because of ‘Evolution’. Vinnie Nobile, because his playing is simple and flawless.

When you were first playing, what kind of trombone player did you initially want to be?

Classical. My parents were theater people, Dad taught Greek philosophy, Shakespeare, and so I was immersed in talk of what is ‘real art’, and what is not. So, following their lead, I liked classical, but was distracted by ‘60s and ‘70s electronic music, like Morton Sobotonick. Then, it was prog rock, which had nothing to do with trombone. When I got to college, I almost quit, but some friends and I started jamming, started a band, and ‘Niteklub’ and ‘Ball of Fire’ were on the setlist. Then I started to get into reggae and ska. My own track. Amen.

What initially led you to the ska/punk band?

See Above. But Ska Punk was ‘90s, which is later on. I saw Fishbone open for Red Hot Chilli Peppers in ’86 in NYC, and when that trombone went sailing over the stage, I knew there was something to this crazy shit. But really, it was Richie Brooks and Mike Drance who pulled me off the street to play with The Scofflaws. If I hadn’t met them on Houston St. that day, none of it would have happened.

Who was the first group you started playing with?  For how long? 

First band was Big Noise, a new wave dance band in the ‘80s Hudson Valley. Formed with the above-mentioned friends, we played Specials, Skatalites, but with other kinds of music too. The first ska band was Scofflaws.

What were the performances like?

Off-the-chain rev-up shows. Lots of dancing, distortion on the system, beer flying about. Sometimes there were fights, which I enjoyed watching because two grown men had made such bad decisions, I had to watch and admire their folly. The Long Island shows were three sets, and I would take the 3am train back into NYC. The City shows were hard core, with the NYC Skins always onsite, tough, ready to fight for their honor – they were mixed race skins, so there was no Nazi bullshit. They were unpredictable. Sometimes they were friendly, but sometimes they got mad. Sometimes they would set off stink bombs at the shows if they didn’t like the music. Once I got a beating by a bass player from a band called “Oxblood”… on the floor of a Skatalites show. I hear he’s in real-estate now.

Describe the sound and style of the band as explained to you by the band leader?

Richie Brooks: “Hey man, we’re all having a good time here. Don’t be a pain in the ass, just play and have some drinks.”

Describe what you consider to be ideal for “ska” or “punk” trombone”?

Don’t be a pain in the ass, just play and have some drinks.

If you were advising young students in the realm of becoming a ska/punk trombone player, what would you tell them?

Don’t be a pain in the ass…

What do you think were the biggest contributions were by the 1990s trombonists, and how do you think the era impacted how trombonists are perceived?

Chris Dowd threw his trombone across the stage! Vinnie Nobile was (is) up front, brash, and fearless. He plays loud, doesn’t get all be-boppy, melodies, screaming high notes. There are types of ska, reggae, punk, where a player can go into the jazz, like The Skatalites, NYSJE, even Mephiskapheles where chops are on display. But Ska/Punk isn’t usually so cerebral, rather it’s a party with bodies flying through the air. Watch that someone doesn’t run into the slide and bend it.

While a good portion of the Scofflaws book consists of head charts with some wonderful extended solos, “William Shatner,” a song written by O’Sullivan himself, best demonstrates the soloist role that he had with the band, as well as highlighting the use of programmatic expression in ska playing.  All-Music critic Peter D’Angelo describes is as a “fantastic romp that is as playful as it is funny.”  (D’Angelo.  Allmusic.com.)   A transcription of O'Sullivan's solo is shown below.

O’Sullivan’s solo makes use of the trombone slide right at the beginning to create a very convincing facsimile of the red alert klaxon that is famous on the original Star Trek series.  The final extended glissando from bars 6 through 9 makes use of the same delay “studio magic” that Rodriguez utilized on the “Ghost Town” solo, however it also serves a programmatic purpose, simulating the warp engines.  

The remainder of the solo largely emphasizes the use of the G major scale over both the D and G major chords.  Bars 9 through 11 show an abundance of smearing as O’Sullivan chooses to emphasize the nuances of the trombone slide rather than use the natural slurs of alternate positions here.  Bars 14 and 15 were particularly difficult to notate due to O’Sullivan laying back rhythmically over the half-time feel.  It is difficult to discern whether he is playing eighth-notes or quarter-note triplets.  Following the trombone solo, the tempo returns to the fast ska. 

Even though he left the Scofflaws in 2000, Buford O’Sullivan is still active as a ska musician to this day continuing to perform and tour with the Skatalites and the Toasters among others.  

The Trombone Alternative Ska and Punk Trombonists of the 1990s. Origins, Rico Rodriguez

This Blog aims to shed some light on a little researched topic of trombone history:  The ska and punk trombonists of the 1990s.  During a period between 1992 and 2005, horn bands rooted in the rock sub-genres of ska and punk enjoyed a surge in popularity, and inspired a generation of young musicians to pick up the trombone.  I will introduce the roots of this trend, progression, and explore performance practices of some of the players who were prominent in this sub-genre.  Some of the players to be interviewed in the research included Daryl Burch (formerly of Radio Noise), Jon Blondell (trombone soloist on “Wrong Way” by Sublime), Rick Faulkner (formerly of the Toasters and the New York Ska and Jazz Ensemble).  I have found that this is unexplored territory in terms of trombone historical research, in spite of its impact on rock and popular music, and some of that has continued to extend into today.  For younger trombonists, and those with interests beyond jazz and classical playing, this is a chance to explore different styles, different performance practices, and also affirmations of their own strengths as performers.  For older trombonists, this is a chance to see the trombone musically used in a way that may not have otherwise been even considered.  

Another prominent figure in the early years of ska was Rico Rodriguez.  Rodriguez was a trombonist who would leave his mark during the 1970s performing with the Specials, as well as leading his own reggae projects.  Like Drummond, Rodriguez was Jamaican bred, and was also educated at the Alpha School for Boys. 

Rico Rodriguez was enrolled in the school by his mother, hoping to give him a solid education that his family couldn’t otherwise afford.  He spoke about his experience there as being tough, but the end result was certainly positive.  “The upbringing was very hard, and not really happy.  All the juniors wanted to be as good as the seniors, and we didn’t have much joy because we didn’t have an instrument; to get an instrument, you got to be very excellent, and those who cannot play so good don’t have no instrument.  So, the competition was so high, and a lot of development come through that.  If you have ten trombone players, maybe you have four trombones, so to get a trombone, you have to be better than two or three people.” (Katz, 2015)

Rodriguez turned out to be one of those better players, and was mentored by Don Drummond during his time at Alpha.  “The most I know on trombone is what he taught me.  He was the only musician that I could sit and practice with every day.  More than any other musician from Jamaica, he was my friend, and I was one of the closest musician friends he had.  I got a lot from Don Drummond.”  (Katz, 2015.)  After working as an apprentice mechanic, Rodriguez continued his musical education at Stony Hill Industrial School.  He eventually joined the Eric Deans Orchestra, and played on many of the earliest Jamaican recordings that were ever made.  (Katz, 2015.)

Rodriguez relocated to London in 1961, and helped fuel ska’s overseas expansion backing Laurel Aitken and Prince Buster.  As a solo artist, he began cutting his own reggae releases including Blow Your Horn and Rico in Reggaeland.  It was Man from Wareika which was considered to be his most significant breakthrough, and after that he opened for Bob Marley in Europe, and became a part of the Specials, performing the defining solo on “Ghost Town.”  (Katz, 2015.)  “Playing with the Specials was a good atmosphere.  It was very good to be with a band that was so successful.”  (Katz, 2015.)

Rodriguez is recognized by his “slow, laid-back lines” (O’Sullivan, Interview 2018.)  as well as with a definitive smooth articulation.  This is demonstrated clearly in the “Ghost Town” solo, the first sixteen bars are shown below.  The progression is a relatively simple I-V progression in C minor.  Rodriguez emphasizes the C harmonic minor scale over the bulk of it, emphasizing the seventh on the V chord.  Rhythmically he lays back, playing far behind the beat.  His use of quarter-note triplets is not common in jazz solos, but highlights the juxtaposition of the ska/reggae eighth-notes against the triplet feel, and also allows him to stay behind the beat.  Not shown in the transcription are his use of glissando, which are emphasized in bars 12-16.  This is one instance of Rodriguez utilizing what would be considered as typical trombone technique.  “I don’t play trombone like a trombonist,” he has said.  “I play trombone like saxophone.  I really never studied the trombone technique, and maybe if I studied the trombone technique, I wouldn’t be so popular; I would have been sounding like one of the other technicians.  Because I don’t play with that amount of technique – it’s more soul feeling.”  (Katz, 2015.)  That feeling is also stressed in how he uses the “studio magic” to his advantage.  The recording is engineered with a high amount of reverb, which is characteristic of a lot of ska and reggae recordings.  Rodriguez uses space, and stresses the long notes in order to highlight the effect.  With technical runs, he manages to create the illusion of harmony.  Later ska trombone solos that used this effect included Mike DeLeon’s solo on “The Re-Burial of Marcus Garvey” (Let’s Go Bowling.  Freeway Lanes. Asian Man, 1998) and Buford O’Sullivan’s solo on “William Shatner” (The Scofflaws.  Ska in Hi-Fi.  Moon, 1995).

The Trombone Alternative Ska and Punk Trombonists of the 1990s. Origins, Don Drummond

This Blog aims to shed some light on a little researched topic of trombone history:  The ska and punk trombonists of the 1990s.  During a period between 1992 and 2005, horn bands rooted in the rock sub-genres of ska and punk enjoyed a surge in popularity, and inspired a generation of young musicians to pick up the trombone.  I will introduce the roots of this trend, progression, and explore performance practices of some of the players who were prominent in this sub-genre.  Some of the players to be interviewed in the research included Daryl Burch (formerly of Radio Noise), Jon Blondell (trombone soloist on “Wrong Way” by Sublime), Rick Faulkner (formerly of the Toasters and the New York Ska and Jazz Ensemble).  I have found that this is unexplored territory in terms of trombone historical research, in spite of its impact on rock and popular music, and some of that has continued to extend into today.  For younger trombonists, and those with interests beyond jazz and classical playing, this is a chance to explore different styles, different performance practices, and also affirmations of their own strengths as performers.  For older trombonists, this is a chance to see the trombone musically used in a way that may not have otherwise been even considered.

During the 1960s while rock and roll was dominating the airwaves in the United States, new styles of music were arising in the Caribbean with the birth of ska.  At the forefront of this was a trombonist by the name of Don Drummond.  Drummond was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1932, and attended the Alpha Boys School, where he would also connect with many of the musicians who would eventually form the Skatalites.  At the school, Drummond learned a number of different skills and trades, but eventually chose to make music his career on the trombone.  By 1950, Drummond was performing with Eric Dean’s Orchestra, which was Jamaica’s top big band at the time.  (Katz, 2013).  Eventually, Drummond would perform with Sarah Vaughn and Dave Brubeck before joining the Skatalites at the Federal studio in Kingston.  (Katz, 2013)  It was from there where his career really took off as the Skatalites emerged on the Jamaican music scene in 1964.  

Clement Dodd, who would later found Jamaica’s Studio One, had this to say when describing Don Drummond’s playing:  “It was a pleasure listening to Don solo.  His execution was mild’ he wasn’t blaring, he was a very neat and first-class soloist.  (Katz, 2013.)  Dr. Derek J. Molacek has observed that his tone is actually a little harsher, when compared with jazz and classical trombonists, and has almost a “blatty” quality. In classical or jazz, this sound is typically not desirable, but in ska and the ska-punk bands that followed, this was more of a defining characteristic as bands tend to be louder, and horns have to overcompensate for volume either due to an unbalanced rhythm section, and either a lack of or inefficient micing for the horn section.  

Compositionally simple, the music of the Skatalites typically consisted of a melody/head like a jazz chart, open solo section, and a head out.  Unlike a jazz chart, the music of the Skatalites was harmonically simple, with no more than maybe a couple of chord changes in a chart.  “Confucious,” is played entirely over a C minor vamp.  Drummond’s solo over that piece utilizes the C minor pentatonic scale almost exclusively.  Glissandos in bars 10 and 11 stand out, and are the time that they are used within the first sixteen bars.  Drummond also emphasizes natural slurs, particularly between the G and F in the upper register.  

This solo also demonstrates the extent of his range, topping out at the C one octave above middle C.  Solos like these from Don Drummond would set the mold for what trombonists would follow within the genre over the course of the next thirty years.  As Dodd observed, the solo is very well executed:  the phrasing is neatly stated, and it has a gradual build up towards a more technical, dramatic climax.  

As a person, Drummond himself was an extremely volatile individual and was often incarcerated.  (Katz, 2013.)  On New Years Day, Drummond was arrested for the murder of his girlfriend, Anita Mafhood, and was sent to the Bellevue Insane Asylum, where he died four years later at the age of 37.  (Katz, 2013.)  His impact on the music would live on, and serve as an inspiration for ska, punk, and reggae artists around the world for the next fifty years.