The musical program of the School matured and gained a unique stature during the jazz-era of the 1940s and ’50s. This period saw the training of the majority of Jamaica’s top hornsmen, many of whom would go on to be instrumental in the development of the island’s first indigenous pop music: ska. Ska’s most famous supergroup was the Skatalites, and four of its founding members — Tommy McCook, Johnny “Dizzy” Moore, Lester Sterling and the internationally-recognized Don Drummond — were all graduates of the Alpha Boys’ School. The Drummond-composed ska instrumental “Eastern Standard Time” (1964) was a perennial favorite for the Jamaican-born Sister Ignatius, who also ran Soundsystem dances for the students at Alpha. Alpha graduates went on to feature prominently in the emerging musical styles of rock steady and then reggae.

From Kingston, Jamaica’s legendary Alpha Boys’ School‘s excellent web site, which details the institution’s unique history and pays special tribute to Sister Mary Ignatius Davies (1921-2003), the music-loving nun who transformed the school from a “home for wayward boys” into a crucible of Jamaican musical talent.

The web site also offers for sale a Sister Ignatius Coaster Set featuring “replications of twelve different record labels found in the amazing collection of Sister Ignatius” and a CD by the current Alpha Boys’ Band.

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