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Ithaca Ska & Reggae Bands
Syracuse - Ithaca - Rochester - Buffalo - Albany - Hudson Valley - World

The Crucials
Style: Roots reggae
Links:

Last update: 11/2022

Mosaic Foundation
Style: Roots reggae
Links:

Last update: 11/2022

Thousands of One
Style: Soul-funk-dub-reggae-hiphop
Releases:

"SoulForce" 15 song album released 2008 on I-Town Records
"Thousands of One" 10 song album released in 2005 on I-Town Records

Notes: Always a musical collective, the genesis for the group were weekly jams known as Steppers Lounge for a full year in Trumansburg which evolved into ridiculous dance parties around the Ithaca area which led to 4 national tours in 2 years from coast to coast and included 8 amazing shows in Hawaii.
Links:

Last update: 4/2022

¡Viva Mayhem!
Style: "Avante-garde ska-punk"
First show: Late 2013
Releases:

"Hello Hello" single released March 17, 2023
"Love Me Still" 6 song EP released April 20, 2019
"We Get No Rest" 5 song EP February 10, 2018
"Fool On Fire" 5 song EP released March 11, 2017
"The Gracefully Insane" 5 song EP self-released in 2014 as "Mayhem Attack Squad"

Notes: Still doing live shows in 2023 with a smaller line-up (seen above) which includes a saxophone and trumpet. From late 2013 through 2014 they were called Mayhem Attack Squad.
Links:

Last update: 3/2023

Inactive Ithaca Ska & Reggae Bands

John Brown's Body
Style: Roots reggae-dub-ska
Last shows: Saturday, December 30, 2017 at Anthology in Rochester NY with Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad and Thunder Body and Friday, December 29, 2017 at The Haunt in Ithaca NY with Thunder Body
First show: 1995 in Jamaica.
Releases:

"Fireflies" full length CD on Easy Star Records in 2016.
"Kings & Queens" full length CD on Easy Star Records in 2013.
"Amplify" full length CD on Easy Star Records in 2008.
"Pressure Points" full length CD on Easy Star Records in 2005.
"Spirits All Around Us" full length CD on Shanachie Records in 2002.
"This Day" full length CD on Shanachie Records in 2000. Has sold over 8,500 copies to date.
"Among Them" full length CD on Shanachie Records in 1998. Has sold 6,000 copies to date.
"All Time" CD (SR) on I-Town Records in 1996. Has sold 4,000 copies to date.

Notes: Core members of this band were originally in the Tribulations.
Links:

Last update: 4/2022

Chester
Style: Ska-rock-reggae
Influences: Reel Big Fish, Mad Caddies, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Less than Jake
First show: Sat, March 18, 2006 at Castaways in Ithaca NY
Notes: All members were in high school
Booking: contact@chesterlives.com
Websites: www.myspace.com/moreska and www.chesterlives.com and www.purevolume.com/chesterny
Last update: 9/06

The Portside Pirates
Style: Ska-rock
Last show: Friday, February 17, 2006 at The Nines in Ithaca NY
First show: ???
Notes: Based at Cornell University
Booking: booking@portsidepirates.com
Website: www.portsidepirates.com
Last update: 1/2022

The Uplifters
Style: Roots reggae and dub, with ska influences
Last show:Saturday, August 2, 2003 at Nuyorican Poets Cafe in New York City. They cancelled all following scheduled shows.
First show:Fall 1999 in Ithaca NY
Releases:

"Burning Bush" 13 song CD self-released in 2002.
"Look Out Now" 12 song CD released in 2000 on Rub-A-Dub Records and recorded at Electric Wilburland in Ithaca NY.

Notes: Featured former members from The Dominant Seven and Agent 000 and after starting in Ithaca, they fairly quickly relocated to New York City where they played most of their shows. They also played a number of festivals, including one in Langenselbold, Hesse, Germany in August 2001.
Link:

www.theuplifters.com (archived)

Last update: 1/2022

Double Irie
Style: Roots reggae
First show:
Notes:
Contact: band email
Last update: 5/01

Agent Double O Zero
(1999-2002)
Style: Third wave ska mixed with reggae/ska and swing
Notable bookings: Stroke 9, The Pilfers, Scofflaws, Bim Skala Bim, Skavoovie & the Epitones, The Skoidats, The Gadjits, Jiker, The Allstonians.
Notes: All Cornell students, after they all graduated, they tried to base the band out of NYC for a short time before they broke up.
Website: www.ithaska.com/adoz/
Contact: Jon at jvl4@cornell.edu
Last update: 7/03

The Dominant 7 (1998?-1999)
Style: Ska-jazz with breezy mixed vocals
Last show: May 1999 at Slopefest on the Cornell campus.
Releases:

"Is there ever a time not to question?" 12 song CD (SR) in April 1999.
"Skarmageddon 4: Armageddeon Time!" comp CD w/ song "A While" on Moon Ska Records in April 1999.

Notes: Cornell students known for smooth original arrangements and a very attractive female flute player.
Contact: Dave (guitar).

Concrete Gibsons (1993-1997)
Style: Ska-jazz
Last show: 4/97 at the Haunt
Notable bookings: Issac Green & the Skalars and many more
Achievements: They wrote a complete ska opera for a senior class project and performed it on the Ithaca College campus on 2/15/97.
Releases:

S/T cassette tape.
Bootleg tape of their 10/10/95 show at the Haunt in Ithaca.

Notes: Ithaca College music students playing very odd original ska-jazz from sheet music at shows, mostly at the Haunt in Ithaca.
Last update: 2/2023

Twice on Sunday (1994?-1995?)
Style: Ska-rock
Last show: ???
Notable bookings: The Toasters, The Scofflaws, Too Hectic
Notes: Cornell University students playing ska, mostly on campus, the history of this band is mostly unknown. Presumably the name is based on Prince Buster’s notoriously sexist "Ten Commandments" song from 1967.
Last update: 2/2023

The Tribulations (1986-1993)
Style: Reggae
Last show: 1993
Achievements: In 1992, they won the Yamaha Soundcheck Competition, beating out 4,000 other bands that enter. They are flown to Japan to compete internationally and placed 2nd out of 24 bands worldwide.
Releases:

"Daddy Good Pieces" live CD in 1993.
"The Gate" full length CD in 1992. Ends up selling 2,000 copies.
45 single "City" in 1987

Notes: Core members of this band went on to form John Brown's Body.
Last update: 11/03

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