“...to sing real reggae you have to tell a story. It has to be about the roots.”

• Frederick "Toots" Hibbert

In the 1950s, a genre was born that would change the world of music forever. Learn about the roots of Ska with the west-coast premiere of “The Legends of Ska”, a film by Brad Klein, and discuss both the film and the genre during an open Q&A session following the screening.

Before the film, spend some time with the Western Standard Time Ska Orchestra, led by Eitan Avineri, who will take you on a descriptive tour of Ska as it made its way from Jamaica to Southern California. Avineri will also discuss how the genre integrated with and borrowed from the American music of the time (and vice-versa) to give birth to a truly multicultural genre that still shapes the face of music today. The Western Standard Time Ska Orchestra have built collaborative relationships with many artists past and present that played a role in Jamaican-rooted music. They will draw upon these experiences to provide a picture of the ska genre presently world-wide.