ROLANDO ALPHONSO
Genres: Dub, Ska, Reggae • Cuba

Roland Alphonso O.D. or Rolando Alphonso aka The Chief Musician (January 12, 1931, Havana, Cuba - November 20, 1998, Los Angeles, California, United States) was a Jamaican tenor saxophonist, and one of the founding members of The Skatalites. Alphonso came to Jamaica at the age of two with his Jamaican mother, and started to learn saxophone at the Stony Hill Industrial School.  In 1948 he left school to join Eric Deans' orchestra and soon passed through other bands in the hotel circuit and first recorded as a member of Stanley Motta's group in 1952, going on to record frequently as a session musician. In 1956 he first recorded for Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, although these early recordings were lost before they were mastered. In 1959 he joined the band of Cluett Johnson named Clue J & His Blues Blasters and backed many of Dodd's recording sessions in a typical Jamaican R&B style. read more...