Laurel Aitken 1927-2005

Laurel Aitken was one of the earliest and most important stars in the history of ska music and was a central figure, perhaps the central figure, in exporting Jamaican popular music to the British Isles. When i met him in 1998, (he did an in-store at Moon after an energetic performance at Wetlands,) he was warm, outgoing and excited to meet the hundreds of people who came by over the course of the day to shake hands with a legend. I just learned he died last week, and he's already missed.