The Skatalites

The album that almost never was, Rolling Steady's story is nearly as compelling as its never-before-released tracks. In 1983, the band (minus Don Drummond) holed up in Jackie Mittoo's studio and cut 11 sides before falling out with each other. Mittoo absconded with the tapes; decades later, the disintegrating recordings surfaced and were painstakingly restored. Nine songs survived, and they're remarkable. Something jazzy has crept into the band's sound: The horn solos swing and lament, and that trademark cool is tempered with something approaching tenderness.