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Melbourne Ska Orchestra

From Wikipedia

Template:Short description Template:Refimprove Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English Template:Infobox musical artist

Melbourne Ska Orchestra are an ARIA Award-winning Australian ska band formed in 2003 in Melbourne. The group has up to 34 members, and is led by bandleader Nicky Bomba, formerly of the John Butler Trio. The band are signed to FOUR FOUR, an imprint of ABC Music.

Background

The Melbourne Ska Orchestra was created by musician Nicky Bomba and radio presenter Mohair Slim. The band's inaugural performance was on 31 May 2003 to a sold out crowd at The Esplanade Hotel's Gershwin Room, in St Kilda.Template:Cn

The eponymous Melbourne Ska Orchestra album was released to rave reviews in 2013 and picked up two ARIA nominations that year.[1]

The band have toured extensively,, including festival appearances at Bluesfest, Golden Plains, Vivid, Caloundra, Queenscliff, and AWME. In addition to touring in Australia, the band has built an overseas fan base.[2] The band sold out their debut London show, appeared on the bill for the Glastonbury Festival and played a headline set to a crowd 50,000 at the Montreal Jazz Festival during their 2014 tour.[3] The band has performed in Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, USA, Canada, and Turkey, and has appeared in television commercials in Australia and Japan.Template:Cn

The band released their second album Sierra Kilo Alpha in April 2016, embarking on a national tour to support it.[4] Sierra Kilo Alpha won the 2016 ARIA Award for Best World Music Album.[5] The band released a follow-up called Saturn Return in late 2016. Saturn Return comprises a selection of songs from the same recording session as Sierra Kilo Alpha and was released on a rocket-shaped USB drive.Template:Cn

In 2018, the band announced that they would release one song every week (each Friday, hence "52 Fridays") for an entire year. At the end of 2019, the entire 52-week series of single releases was successfully concluded with the song "Magnolia Springtime". The resulting collection, One Year of Ska, won the ARIA Award for Best World Music Album in 2019.Template:Cn

The band draws inspiration from many elements of the ska genre, from the Jamaican movement through to UK Two Tone, as well as present day Latino Ska.Template:Cn

They are signed to FOUR FOUR, an imprint of ABC Music.[6]

Members

Members of the band include:Template:WhenTemplate:Cn

Template:Div col

  • Nicky Bomba
  • Barry Deenick
  • Rodrigo Pino
  • Dorian West
  • Antonio Milillo
  • Michael Caruana
  • Michael Havir
  • Stephen Phillips
  • George Servanis
  • Dave Joseph
  • Elvis Aljus
  • Lennox Jordan
  • Steven Montgomery
  • Pat Powell
  • Paul Coyle
  • Patrick Cronin
  • David Henry
  • Sarah Heffernan
  • Theodore Kazan
  • Dean Hilson
  • Justin Forster
  • Robert Calvert
  • Peter Mitchell
  • Laurance Bongailas
  • Anthony Hicks
  • Sally Ford
  • Peter Slipper
  • Kynan Robinson
  • Wally Maloney
  • Michael Boase
  • Jake Savona
  • Cam Hassard
  • Piers Gooding
  • Russell Roberts
  • Stuart Ferguson
  • Ed Farrar
  • Dan Kerr
  • Jessica Jacobs
  • Anna Gordon

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Mohair Slim was previously a member of the band.Template:Cn

Discography

Studio albums

Title Details
Melbourne Ska Orchestra
  • Released: 2013
  • Label: Four Four (3729304)
  • Format: CD, 2xLP, digital download
Sierra Kilo Alpha
  • Released: April 2016
  • Label: Four Four (4736063)
  • Format: CD, LP, digital download
Saturn Return
  • Released: 2016
  • Label: Melbourne Ska Orchestra
  • Format: USB digital download
  • Unreleased recordings from the Sierra Kilo Alpha sessions
Ska Classics
  • Released: May 2018
  • Label: ABC Music
  • Format: digital download
TV & Movie Themes
  • Released: July 2018
  • Label: ABC Music
  • Format: digital download
Read All About It!
  • Released: October 2018
  • Label: ABC Music
  • Format: digital download
Transmission Fridays
  • Released: March 2019
  • Label: ABC Music
  • Format: digital download
The Ballad of Monte Loco
  • Released: June 2025
  • Label: ABC Music
  • Format: CD, LP, digital download

Live albums

Title Details
Live at The Triffid
  • Released: May 2020
  • Label: Melbourne Ska Orchestra, ABC Music
  • Format: digital download

Compilation albums

Title Details
One Year of Ska
  • Released: 2019
  • Label: Four Four Music (7762177)
  • Format: 4xCD, digital download
20 Years Young
  • Released: 10 March 2023
  • Label: Four Four Music (FOUR0005)
  • Format: CD, digital download

Awards and nominations

ARIA Awards

Template:Refimprove Melbourne Ska Orchestra won Best World Music Album in 2016 and 2019.[7][8]

Template:Awards table |- | 2013 || Nicky Bomba and Robin Mai - Melbourne Ska Orchestra || Engineer of the Year || Template:Nom |- | 2013 || Melbourne Ska Orchestra || Best Blues & Roots Album || Template:Nom |- | 2014 || The Diplomat Tour || Best Australian Live Act|| Template:Nom |- | 2016 || Sierra Kilo Alpha || Best World Music Album|| Template:Won |- | 2017 || Saturn Return || Best World Music Album || Template:Nom |- | 2018 || Ska Classics || Best World Music Album || Template:Nom |- | 2019 || One Year of Ska || Best World Music Album || Template:Won |- | 2020 || Live at the Triffid || Best World Music Album || Template:Nom Template:End

Music Victoria Awards

The Music Victoria Awards are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2006.[9] Template:Awards table ! Template:Abbr |- | 2013 | Melbourne Ska Orchestra | Best Global or Reggae Act | Template:Won |rowspan="3"| [10][11] |- | 2016|| Melbourne Ska Orchestra || Best Global or Reggae Act || Template:Won |- | 2018|| Melbourne Ska Orchestra || Best Global or Reggae Act || Template:Nom |- | 2023 | Melbourne Ska Orchestra | Best Reggae and Dancehall Work | Template:Nom |[12] |- | 2024 | Melbourne Ska Orchestra | Best Reggae and Dancehall Work | Template:Nom |rowspan="1"| [13] |- Template:End

References

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