Tommy McCook

Tommy McCook was a founding member of The Skatalites and The Supersonics, and is considered a very important Jamaican saxophone player. Born in Havana, Cuba on 3 March 1927, his family moved to Jamaica in 1933. He received a good musical education at Alpha School. McCook's career began in 1943 when he performed with the Eric Dean Orchestra, one of the best bands on the island at that time. He later joined Don Hitchman's sextet, which became one of the first Jamaican bands to be recorded.

In the early fifties, Tommy played as a soloist in Roy Coburn's Blu-Flames band alongside renowned musicians such as Don Drummond, Cluett Johnson, and Ken Williams. In 1954, he moved to Nassau, Bahamas where he played gigs alongside Ernest Ranglin. It was during his time in Miami, Florida that McCook first encountered jazz music and was heavily influenced by artists like John Coltrane.

McCook went on to play with various musicians and made significant contributions to early ska recordings by adding elements of jazz. He eventually formed The Skatalites in June 1964 with other talented musicians including Jackie Mittoo, Lloyd Knibbs, and Johnny Moore. After their breakup following Don Drummond's tragic incident in 1965, McCook produced records for Arthur "Duke" Reid's Treasure Isle label