What N16 magazine said about the SKA Bar Ska – a heady fusion of boogiewoogie blues, R’n’B, calypso, jazz, mento and Rasta-inspired African rhythms – developed into the first truly indigenous Jamaican music in the early 1960s. Its leading proponents were the Skatalites (who were taught to play their instruments in a convent), and this legendary band laid the foundations for rock steady, blue beat and reggae, profoundly influencing such performers as Desmond Dekker, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Toots and the Maytals and Bob Marley. Immigration into the United Kingdom from the West Indies in the 1960s helped promote the rapid spread of ska across London, with one of the most famous venues being our own Stoke Newington Town Hall. On Saturday nights the venue throbbed with this new beat, the sound systems belting out blues and ska across the neighbourhood, then home to a very different social and cultural mix of people to today’s Church Street of three-wheeled buggies, designer flats and bijou boutiques. Tomas Leydon, landlord at the Auld Shillelagh, David (‘Thebigknightoutski’) Knight, the bar’s impresario and Tad Tomlinson, DJ and bespoke leather designer, are leading a campaign to bring ska back to Stoke Newington. On alternative Sundays the Shillelagh is hosting its Ska Bar in the back garden, with Tad spinning some rare, classic records from the original ska bands – including the Ethiopians, the Upsetters, the Heptones and, of course, the Skatalites – while cold bottled beer and cocktails are served at the outside Waikiki Bar. Jerk chicken, snapper, rice and peas and other Jamaican food, prepared by celebrated chef Ethel Minogue, are also on offer. The first two events have packed the pub, the garden buzzing to the sound of the Caribbean. The next Ska Bar is on 15 August, with another following two weeks later on the August Bank Holiday weekend, and the final event this year takes place on 12 September. Stokey’s getting back to its roots. N16 Magazine