Carlos Malcolm
Encyclopedia
Carlos Malcolm is a Jamaica
n trombonist
, percussion
ist and bandleader who was most popular in the late 1950s and 1960s.
c.1935 to Jamaican parents and grew up in Kingston
. His father, Wilfred Malcolm , went to Panama and worked as a bookkeeper in the Panama Canal Zone. He became a prominent business man in the city of Colon, established homes in both countries and sent his 5 children back to Jamaica to be educated. Having studied the liturgy and music of the Anglican (Episcopalian) Church, Wilfred Malcolm was an Anglican Church choir director for many years. He also played trombone in the “Jazz Aristocrats”, a Panamanian Dixieland band for which he was manager, and he took the band to Jamaica in 1936.
Wilfred Malcolm had quite a collection of eclectic music that extended from Bach and Handel to Duke Ellington and Count Basie. Reflecting upon this period of his life, Carlos often mused that he probably “subliminally osmosed” the musical styles and arranging formats of various composers as he whistled back at the music wafting through the house every evening his father came home. This probably accounts for Carlos’ notoriety among peers as a ‘musical chameleon’ because he arranges music and functions comfortably in a variety of musical cultures and genres. Carlos’ father and a few prominent West Indian businessmen in Panama formed a committee that brought to Panama world-class Black American artists in the performing arts. As a child, Carlos recalls listening from the bedroom to conversations and laughter from guests, including celebrated artists Paul Robeson-baritone, Marian Anderson-Contralto, Hazel Scott –Powell (wife of Adam Clayton Powell Jr., of Abyssinia Baptist Church of Harlem) as they came to late dinners after recitals at a local theatre.
Carlos’ father taught him to play the trombone. He also recognized Carlos’ natural gift for creating and arranging music and supported his son’s desire to pursue an education in the arts. Carlos holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Union Institute and University of Cincinnati, Ohio.
From the late 1950s Carlos worked professionally as a musician in conjunction with his ‘other job’ as a photo journalist with the West Indian Review magazine in Kingston. His first music ‘gigs’ were with the Vivian Hall All Stars which featured Don Drummond on trombone. Carlos and Drummond became good friends and quite often would practice the trombone together.
With independence looming in the future the Government of Jamaica resolved to develop its native talent in the visual and performing arts. Carlos, (invited by Sonny Bradshaw) was among the first cadre of writers, producers and musicians to develop and showcase local talent in the performing arts on live shows broadcast from local theatres, produced by the newly constructed Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation. As head arranger in the Variety Department Carlos Malcolm was the first arranger to write formal arrangements of Jamaica Ska music. Many of the early Ska musical arrangements for singers were “head arrangements” improvised by the accompanying musicians “at the mike”. Carlos would transcribe music from 7-inch 45RPM records and formally re-arrange the music for the JBC Studio Band to accompany singers on live shows. The popular Jamaican Hit Parade program partially developed by Carlos, spawned and influenced the careers of many Jamaican artists such as Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley, who became international Jamaican music icons.
Along with musicians such as Bertie King
and Lennie Hibbert
, Malcolm formed a short-lived school of jazz
with the aim of producing home-grown jazz musicians who could make music that would sell overseas; recorded music at that time was mostly imported.
In addition to his contract at the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation Malcolm also worked as a composer and arranger for other clients such as the Jamaica Little Theatre Movement for whom he created original musical for the libretti of two pantomimes: “Banana Boy” in December 1958 – libretto by Ortford St John and “Banana Boy” in 1960 – libretto by Samuel Hillary. In 1962 Carlos became the first musical director of the Jamaica National Dance Theatre Company created by the late Dr. Rex Nettleford of the University of the West Indies, for which Carlos and Oswald Russell created original works for the debut performance of the Company at the Inaugural Celebrations of Jamaica’s Independence.
In 1963 Eon Production went to Jamaica to film Dr. No the first James Bond movie and employed Carlos Malcolm to write incidental tropical music for the film Dr. No
.He was appointed director of "island content" of the musical score.
Prior to forming his own band, Carlos Malcolm’s music company, Carmal created musical commercial jingles for several American and English brand products publicized by advertising agencies in Kingston: Vick’s Vapourub, Shell Oil, Texaco, Oil Tek Toothbrushes, Milo Cup of Health, Berger Paints, Maxwell House Coffee and many more. Combining the experiences of his journey in music, Carlos formed his own band in 1963 called the Afro-Jamaican Rhythms , with members including Karl Bryan (saxophone), Larry McDonald (conga drums), Boris Gardiner
(vocals, bass), Lascelles Perkins (vocals), and Winston "Sparrow" Martin (drums). Other members during the 1960s included Joe Higgs
, and Eddie Parkins. The band played a blend of ska
, mento
, African and jazz music and recorded several albums in the 1960s. They enjoyed a big hit in Jamaica in 1964 with their version of the theme from Bonanza
, retitled "Bonanza Ska". Other hits included "Rukumbine" (1963). Malcolm also spent time in New York in the mid-1960s where he recorded the albums Don't Walk, Dance! (1964) and Sounds of the Caribbean (1966), mixing Caribbean and American styles. His 1970 album Bustin' Outta the Ghetto concentrated on funk with only a slight Jamaican influence. The “Bustin’ Outta the Ghetto” CD is still much-sought by Deep Funk collectors of the full-fledged funk arrangements.
From the late the 1970s through the 80s Carlos took a hiatus from to bring up a family. He went back to publishing and worked for a large newspaper in Orange County, California selling display advertising.
In 1995, Carlos Malcolm was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the Ocho Rios Jazz Festival, along with James Moody, the celebrated Jazz alto saxophonist/flautist.
In 1998 Carlos collaborated with US violinist and producer Robert Michael Way, aka, "Zimbobway" on a projected pair of albums, The Return of Skalypso and No Forget The Bamboo Man. During this collaborative work, Carlos arranged twenty four songs including four new compositions of ska and mento as well as four original works by Zimbobway. Musicians in the King Kingston Orchestra included Jamaican music legends Lloyd Wilkes (lead vocals) from The Sheiks, Pluto Shervington (bass/vocals), Trevor Lopez (guitar/vocals), Larry MacDonald (percussion), Fred Campbell (drums), and Cedric Im' Brooks (tenor saxophone)(all original members and players with Carlos Malcolm and the Afro-Jamaican Rhythms).
In 1999, Carlos Malcolm was appointed an Artist in Residence by the California Arts Council for the City of San Diego, California. He created alternate educational learning programs, taught in middle schools and mentored “at-risk” teenagers in community centers with his program ‘bak2bay6 –with a Musical Twist’, which teaches young student (as well as adults) the elements of English, Math Music and Critical Thinking, using “rap” and original songs to deliver subject matter.
In August 2000, Carlos was invited by the Government of Jamaica, along with his orchestra, to the 37th Independence Celebrations and presented the Prime Minister’s Lifetime Award for both his excellence in music and for his contributions to the development and enhancement of Jamaican music, internationally.
In 2006 Carlos Malcolm was invited to Melbourne Australia to deliver a lecture at Victoria University of Melbourne to a group of academicians from various other cities, on his Early Education Children’s Program, “Bak2bay6 – With a Musical Twist”. While in Australia, at the invitation of Australian National Radio Carlos also delivered a lecture/demonstration on the “History of Reggae Music” at the Prince Albert Ballroom in Melbourne. In his lecture, Carlos would periodically interrupt the lecture and conduct the 27-piece Melbourne Ska Orchestra to demonstrate how Jamaican Mento music seamlessly blended with New Orleans “Shuffle” Music with a back-beat to deliver into a throbbing, indigenously Jamaican by-product named Ska music, and how Ska music evolved into the international phenomenon of Reggae Music.
Carlos Malcolm relocated in Florida where he continues to write and animate learning modules for alternate education programs using “rap music” and original songs to deliver the subject matter. He has over 100 mp3s compositions and arrangements on amazon.com , itunes and other outlets. In addition to completing his book, “Carlos Malcolm – A Lifetime in Jamaican Music”, Carlos Malcolm spends time composing Caribbean piano etudes and developing symphonic works of Jamaican Folk (Mento) and other Caribbean folk music and creating original compositions which combine and the elements of Caribbean polyrhythm, Jazz and Classical music formats and harmonies within each work.
Compilations:
Collaborations:
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n trombonist
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
, percussion
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
ist and bandleader who was most popular in the late 1950s and 1960s.
Biography
Carlos Malcolm was born in PanamaPanama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
c.1935 to Jamaican parents and grew up in Kingston
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
. His father, Wilfred Malcolm , went to Panama and worked as a bookkeeper in the Panama Canal Zone. He became a prominent business man in the city of Colon, established homes in both countries and sent his 5 children back to Jamaica to be educated. Having studied the liturgy and music of the Anglican (Episcopalian) Church, Wilfred Malcolm was an Anglican Church choir director for many years. He also played trombone in the “Jazz Aristocrats”, a Panamanian Dixieland band for which he was manager, and he took the band to Jamaica in 1936.
Wilfred Malcolm had quite a collection of eclectic music that extended from Bach and Handel to Duke Ellington and Count Basie. Reflecting upon this period of his life, Carlos often mused that he probably “subliminally osmosed” the musical styles and arranging formats of various composers as he whistled back at the music wafting through the house every evening his father came home. This probably accounts for Carlos’ notoriety among peers as a ‘musical chameleon’ because he arranges music and functions comfortably in a variety of musical cultures and genres. Carlos’ father and a few prominent West Indian businessmen in Panama formed a committee that brought to Panama world-class Black American artists in the performing arts. As a child, Carlos recalls listening from the bedroom to conversations and laughter from guests, including celebrated artists Paul Robeson-baritone, Marian Anderson-Contralto, Hazel Scott –Powell (wife of Adam Clayton Powell Jr., of Abyssinia Baptist Church of Harlem) as they came to late dinners after recitals at a local theatre.
Carlos’ father taught him to play the trombone. He also recognized Carlos’ natural gift for creating and arranging music and supported his son’s desire to pursue an education in the arts. Carlos holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Union Institute and University of Cincinnati, Ohio.
From the late 1950s Carlos worked professionally as a musician in conjunction with his ‘other job’ as a photo journalist with the West Indian Review magazine in Kingston. His first music ‘gigs’ were with the Vivian Hall All Stars which featured Don Drummond on trombone. Carlos and Drummond became good friends and quite often would practice the trombone together.
With independence looming in the future the Government of Jamaica resolved to develop its native talent in the visual and performing arts. Carlos, (invited by Sonny Bradshaw) was among the first cadre of writers, producers and musicians to develop and showcase local talent in the performing arts on live shows broadcast from local theatres, produced by the newly constructed Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation. As head arranger in the Variety Department Carlos Malcolm was the first arranger to write formal arrangements of Jamaica Ska music. Many of the early Ska musical arrangements for singers were “head arrangements” improvised by the accompanying musicians “at the mike”. Carlos would transcribe music from 7-inch 45RPM records and formally re-arrange the music for the JBC Studio Band to accompany singers on live shows. The popular Jamaican Hit Parade program partially developed by Carlos, spawned and influenced the careers of many Jamaican artists such as Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley, who became international Jamaican music icons.
Along with musicians such as Bertie King
Bertie King
Albert "Bertie" King was a Jamaican jazz and mento musician.King, a saxophonist, was born in Panama, and raised in Kingston, where he attended Alpha Boys' School; where he was taught by Sister Mary Ignatius Davis, a remarkable woman who nurtured the talents of many of the leading Jamaican...
and Lennie Hibbert
Lennie Hibbert
Lennie Hibbert OD was a Jamaican musician who was bandmaster at the Alpha Cottage School, and also a vibraphone virtuoso, recording two albums for Studio One.-Biography:...
, Malcolm formed a short-lived school of jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
with the aim of producing home-grown jazz musicians who could make music that would sell overseas; recorded music at that time was mostly imported.
In addition to his contract at the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation Malcolm also worked as a composer and arranger for other clients such as the Jamaica Little Theatre Movement for whom he created original musical for the libretti of two pantomimes: “Banana Boy” in December 1958 – libretto by Ortford St John and “Banana Boy” in 1960 – libretto by Samuel Hillary. In 1962 Carlos became the first musical director of the Jamaica National Dance Theatre Company created by the late Dr. Rex Nettleford of the University of the West Indies, for which Carlos and Oswald Russell created original works for the debut performance of the Company at the Inaugural Celebrations of Jamaica’s Independence.
In 1963 Eon Production went to Jamaica to film Dr. No the first James Bond movie and employed Carlos Malcolm to write incidental tropical music for the film Dr. No
Dr. No (film)
Dr. No is a 1962 spy film, starring Sean Connery; it is the first James Bond film. Based on the 1958 Ian Fleming novel of the same name, it was adapted by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, and Berkely Mather and was directed by Terence Young. The film was produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R...
.He was appointed director of "island content" of the musical score.
Prior to forming his own band, Carlos Malcolm’s music company, Carmal created musical commercial jingles for several American and English brand products publicized by advertising agencies in Kingston: Vick’s Vapourub, Shell Oil, Texaco, Oil Tek Toothbrushes, Milo Cup of Health, Berger Paints, Maxwell House Coffee and many more. Combining the experiences of his journey in music, Carlos formed his own band in 1963 called the Afro-Jamaican Rhythms , with members including Karl Bryan (saxophone), Larry McDonald (conga drums), Boris Gardiner
Boris Gardiner
Boris Gardiner is a Jamaican singer, songwriter and bass guitarist.-Career:Gardiner performed on the tourist circuit for much of the 1960s and was a member of Carlos Malcolm & the Afro Caribs and Byron Lee's Dragonaires...
(vocals, bass), Lascelles Perkins (vocals), and Winston "Sparrow" Martin (drums). Other members during the 1960s included Joe Higgs
Joe Higgs
Joe Higgs was a reggae musician from Jamaica. In the late 1950s and 1960s he was part of the duo Higgs and Wilson together with Roy Wilson...
, and Eddie Parkins. The band played a blend of ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
, mento
Mento
Mento is a style of Jamaican folk music that predates and has greatly influenced ska and reggae music. It has its roots in calypso and other Jamaican folk music. Mento typically features acoustic instruments, such as acoustic guitar, banjo, hand drums, and the rhumba box — a large mbira in the...
, African and jazz music and recorded several albums in the 1960s. They enjoyed a big hit in Jamaica in 1964 with their version of the theme from Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
, retitled "Bonanza Ska". Other hits included "Rukumbine" (1963). Malcolm also spent time in New York in the mid-1960s where he recorded the albums Don't Walk, Dance! (1964) and Sounds of the Caribbean (1966), mixing Caribbean and American styles. His 1970 album Bustin' Outta the Ghetto concentrated on funk with only a slight Jamaican influence. The “Bustin’ Outta the Ghetto” CD is still much-sought by Deep Funk collectors of the full-fledged funk arrangements.
From the late the 1970s through the 80s Carlos took a hiatus from to bring up a family. He went back to publishing and worked for a large newspaper in Orange County, California selling display advertising.
In 1995, Carlos Malcolm was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the Ocho Rios Jazz Festival, along with James Moody, the celebrated Jazz alto saxophonist/flautist.
In 1998 Carlos collaborated with US violinist and producer Robert Michael Way, aka, "Zimbobway" on a projected pair of albums, The Return of Skalypso and No Forget The Bamboo Man. During this collaborative work, Carlos arranged twenty four songs including four new compositions of ska and mento as well as four original works by Zimbobway. Musicians in the King Kingston Orchestra included Jamaican music legends Lloyd Wilkes (lead vocals) from The Sheiks, Pluto Shervington (bass/vocals), Trevor Lopez (guitar/vocals), Larry MacDonald (percussion), Fred Campbell (drums), and Cedric Im' Brooks (tenor saxophone)(all original members and players with Carlos Malcolm and the Afro-Jamaican Rhythms).
In 1999, Carlos Malcolm was appointed an Artist in Residence by the California Arts Council for the City of San Diego, California. He created alternate educational learning programs, taught in middle schools and mentored “at-risk” teenagers in community centers with his program ‘bak2bay6 –with a Musical Twist’, which teaches young student (as well as adults) the elements of English, Math Music and Critical Thinking, using “rap” and original songs to deliver subject matter.
In August 2000, Carlos was invited by the Government of Jamaica, along with his orchestra, to the 37th Independence Celebrations and presented the Prime Minister’s Lifetime Award for both his excellence in music and for his contributions to the development and enhancement of Jamaican music, internationally.
In 2006 Carlos Malcolm was invited to Melbourne Australia to deliver a lecture at Victoria University of Melbourne to a group of academicians from various other cities, on his Early Education Children’s Program, “Bak2bay6 – With a Musical Twist”. While in Australia, at the invitation of Australian National Radio Carlos also delivered a lecture/demonstration on the “History of Reggae Music” at the Prince Albert Ballroom in Melbourne. In his lecture, Carlos would periodically interrupt the lecture and conduct the 27-piece Melbourne Ska Orchestra to demonstrate how Jamaican Mento music seamlessly blended with New Orleans “Shuffle” Music with a back-beat to deliver into a throbbing, indigenously Jamaican by-product named Ska music, and how Ska music evolved into the international phenomenon of Reggae Music.
Carlos Malcolm relocated in Florida where he continues to write and animate learning modules for alternate education programs using “rap music” and original songs to deliver the subject matter. He has over 100 mp3s compositions and arrangements on amazon.com , itunes and other outlets. In addition to completing his book, “Carlos Malcolm – A Lifetime in Jamaican Music”, Carlos Malcolm spends time composing Caribbean piano etudes and developing symphonic works of Jamaican Folk (Mento) and other Caribbean folk music and creating original compositions which combine and the elements of Caribbean polyrhythm, Jazz and Classical music formats and harmonies within each work.
Discography
- Ska-Mania: The Sound of the Soil (1962), Up-Beat - Carlos Malcolm & His Afro-Jamaican Rhythms
- Space Flight (196?), Up-Beat - Carlos Malcolm & His Afro-Jamaican Rhythms
- Don't Walk, Dance! (1964), Roulette
- Sounds of the Caribbean (1966), Scepter - Carlos Malcolm & Jamaica Brass
- Bustin' Outta The Ghetto (1970), AJP
- Rap Reggae Christmas in the Caribbean (2007), Up-Beat
Compilations:
- Presenting the Royal Ska (1998), Jamaican Gold - Carlos Malcolm & His Afro-Jamaican Rhythms
Collaborations:
- Skalypso (1998) (Single Release featuring "Knock me a Kiss" and "Bedbug", Athanasius Recording Company - Zimbobway's King Kingston Orchestra