Jackie Mittoo

Keyboard virtuoso Jackie Mittoo ranked among reggae’s foundational figures as a Skatalites co-founder whose songwriting output proved extraordinarily vast and whose guidance of younger artists proved even more lasting, chiefly via his long tenure as musical director at Studio One. Born Donat Roy Mittoo in Browns Town, Jamaica, on March 3, 1948, he took up keyboards at age four and remained seldom distant from a piano throughout adolescence, turning professional with ensembles such as the Vagabonds and the Vikings. He routinely bypassed classes to rehearse with the resident group at nearby Federal Studios, where producer Coxsone Dodd first encountered him after a scheduled pianist arrived late and Mittoo filled the chair. While enrolled at Kingston College he began improvising with classmate Augustus Pablo, and the pair eventually assembled the trio Jackie Mitree to present Mittoo’s original material.

By 1962 his performances with the Sheiks had drawn island-wide notice, establishing the group among Jamaica’s premier club draws; the subsequent name change to Cavaliers Orchestra sustained their ascent without interruption. When Dodd launched Studio One in Kingston in 1963 he installed Mittoo as musical director, after which Mittoo contributed to nearly every release the facility issued, shaping arrangements and refining fresh material until it satisfied Dodd’s criteria. Early in 1964 he assembled a new unit from Studio One regulars Tommy McCook, Lloyd Brevette, and Lester Sterling plus Cavaliers alumni Lloyd Knibb and Johnny Moore; they adopted the name Skatalites and became the definitive ska ensemble of their era. Completed by trombonist Don Drummond, the lineup endured only fourteen months—from June 1964 through August 1965—yet its worldwide musical imprint remains incalculable.

Following the Skatalites’ dissolution Mittoo launched a solo trajectory, achieving a major success with his version of the Heptones’ “Fatty Fatty.” The instrumental triumph “Ram Jam” arrived in 1967 and prompted a run of instrumental albums that included In London, Evening Time, Keep on Dancing, Now, and Macka Fat. Concurrently he maintained his exacting schedule at Studio One; under his standing agreement with Dodd he supplied five fresh rhythms weekly, a quota that ultimately generated thousands of compositions he both produced and arranged. Among his most consequential mid- to late-sixties works were “Darker Shade of Black” (later adapted by Frankie Paul as “Pass the Tu Sheng Peng”), Freddie McGregor’s “Bobby Babylon,” Alton Ellis’ “I’m Still in Love with You,” the Cables’ “Feel Like Jumping,” the rocksteady standard “Baby Why,” and Marcia Griffiths’ debut hit. In 1970 his “Peanie Wallie” supplied the Wailers with the foundation for their single “Duppy Conqueror.”

Mittoo moved from Jamaica to Toronto, Ontario, in 1968, joining numerous reggae musicians who settled among the venues along Yonge Street. He continued periodic returns to Kingston and sustained close ties with Dodd and Studio One across subsequent decades. In Toronto he also took daytime employment with the Canadian Talent Library, an agency charged with securing adequate airplay for Canadian recordings on domestic radio. By 1972, having resided there four years, his output qualified as “Canadian content,” prompting the CTL to record the album Reggae Magic, which yielded the hit “Wish Bone.” Throughout the mid-seventies he additionally journeyed to England for a series of albums with Bunny Lee; during the following decade he collaborated regularly with Sugar Minott. In 1989 Mittoo rejoined the reconstituted Skatalites, yet illness soon compelled his departure; he succumbed to cancer on December 16, 1990.