Mr+Lee

=Mr. Lee= Mr. Lee was born and raised in Vancouver, BC. He lived in Vancouver until he was in Grade 5 and moved to Surrey where he went to school at Harold Bishop Elementary. As he entered Junior High School at Johnson Heights, he had the option of taking Band, Art, or Drama. Well, he chose to try something new and decided to go with band. Mr. Lee attended grade 11 & 12 at North Surrey Secondary Senior Secondary where he played fantastic music with an amazing band teacher, Mr. Don Murray. Mr. Murray was a pioneer band teacher in Surrey and inspired many students to achieve personal success in their lives. While at North Surrey, Mr. Lee also played in community bands such as the Whalley Legion Junior Band. Both North Surrey Secondary and the Whalley Legion Bands went on tour to perform in many areas of Canada, USA, & Europe.

After High School, Mr. Lee went to Douglas College to pursue studies in the Music Education transfer program in preparation to becoming a school teacher. After Douglas College, Mr. Lee attended Western Washington University where we graduated with a Bachelor of Music Degree in Jazz Studies.

After University, Mr Lee moved home to Canada and begin a career as a professional musician freelancing with many types of groups ranging from jazz combos, big bands, cruise ships, studio sessions to orchestras. Mr. Lee was also working as a composer/arranger. Mr. Lee moved back to the USA as an opportunity came to study trumpet as well as arranging & composing in Los Angeles, California where he met many of the world's top studio musicians.

Moving home to Canada saw a return to work as a musician and eventually joining a Ska Band which rose to become one of the most popular bands in the Vancouver area. The band eventually became well known in other areas of Canada and the USA. The band performed, recorded and toured for many years with songs climbing the airwaves. SkaBoom was receiving airplay in many areas of Canada and the USA. SkaBoom produced a music video of their song Love & Affection and presented it to Much Music while on tour. While still playing and touring with SkaBoom, Mr. Lee became a Teacher-On-Call at the request of the Surrey School District and became a substitute music teacher. Mr. Lee worked as a Teacher-On-Call when he wasn't touring. Mr. Lee fell in love with teaching music and decided to become a full time music teacher and enrolled at the University or British Columbia where he received his bachelor of Education Degree in Secondary Music.

As graduation approached, Mr. Lee was offered several teaching positions including an offer from an old friend, Mr. David Proznick at Semiahmoo Secondary School in Surrey. Having known Mr. Proznick for about 15 years, Mr. Lee as eager to accept a position to teach with a very good friend.

After a long tenure at Semiahmoo, Mr. Lee decided a change was required in his life and accepted a position as the Surrey School District's Secondary Fine Arts Helping Teacher and looked after Music, Drama, and Arts events and program needs in Surrey's High Schools. Becoming an administrator was an interesting challenge but Mr. Lee was missing the classroom. Mr. Lee soon returned to the classroom as a Grade 7 band teacher in 10 different classrooms at 8 different schools. This year, Mr. Lee is teaching at AHP Matthew, Berkshire Park, Cindrich, Creekside, David Brankin, Lena Shaw, Mountainview Montessori, & Woodland Park Elementary Schools. =Love & Affection by SkaBoom! This is Mr. Lee's Much Music Video from his Ska band SkaBoom! Enjoy! = media type="youtube" key="HzJ3P_H6SPw" height="344" width="425" align="center"

Other songs from SkaBoom can be heard at: www.MySpace.com/SkaBoom www.ReverbNation.com/SkaBoom www.SkaBoom.ca

Videos can be scene at: @http://www.youtube.com/skaboomm = = =What is Ska Music?=

Ska music is the precursor to reggae and rocksteady music. Ska took the accented upbeat from mento and calypso music and embedded it within the musical rhythm that typifies dub, reggae, and dancehall music today. The up-beat, syncopated melody that typifies ska music and the reggae that followed is variably described as skank, skat, and ska, and is widely believed to be the source of ska music’s name, though other theories also exist.

History of ska music
Ska originated in Jamaica in the very late 1950s, blending traditional Caribbean music forms such as mento and calypso with the jazz, big band, and R&B music that was broadcast across the water from American radio stations. Ska music tends towards instrumentals, like American jazz, and frequently features brass instruments such as the trombone, saxophone, and trumpet driving the song’s melody alongside bass and drum beats. In the late 50s and early 60s as American broadcasts of blues and R&B music began to wane, Jamaican performers developed their own sound to fill the gap. Ska took off from this sound, most famously with **The Skatalites**. Ska’s modern, exuberant sound took hold of the Jamaican music scene in the early 1960s at the same time that Jamaica declared independence from the United Kingdom. In later years ska music followed West Indian immigrants to the United Kingdom to capture the ears of the British mod scene in the 1970s. In the 1970s ska evolved into 2 tone music with a faster tempo and the harder-edged addition of punk rock guitars and lyrics in the Coventry, England area. In the late 1970s Jerry Dammers of The Specials began releasing new 2 tone albums in the UK with his 2 Tone Records label, which also led to a revived interest in original ska recordings throughout the UK. 2 tone music was politically notable for it’s racial unity, a trend that continues through modern ska and reggae today. 2 tone bands including The Beat, The Specials, and The Selecter all featured multiracial lineups at a time when the UK was suffering from deep racial tensions. Ska continued to remain close to punk music and spread to become a worldwide phenomenon in the 1980s as American ska bands such as The Uptones, Fishbone, The Untouchables, Hepcat, The Toasters, and Mighty Mighty Bosstones became popular. These ska and ska punk bands often focused more heavily on brass instrumentation and faster tempos. The premier American ska record label, Moon Ska Records was founded in 1981 by Toasters’ frontman Robert “Bucket” Hingley. Ska remains popular in the west coast US with the 1990s commercial success of The Hippos and Save Ferris and later appearance of ska-inspired punk and pop bands including Sublime, No Doubt, and Reel Big Fish, all of whom released Billboard hits during this time.

Ska bands and musicians
The Wailing Wailers (of Bob Marley fame) were originally a ska band as well, and some people describe the reggae anthem One Love as a ska song. Desmond Dekker, Byron Lee & the Dragonaires, and The Melodians were other popular ska bands. Today, The Heptones are a popular ska band based in Los Angeles.

About Ska Music History of Ska Music by Ian Vanhoof