Melbourne Ska Orchestra

Melbourne Ska Orchestra performing at Northern Lights Festival Boréal in 2014

Background information
Origin| Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Genres| Ska, big band, reggae
Years active| 2003-present
Labels| FOUR FOUR
Members| 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
Website| melbourneskaorchestra.com

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.[1]

## Contents

* 1 Background
* 2 Discography
* 2.1 Studio albums
* 2.2 Live albums
* 2.3 Compilation albums
* 3 Awards
* 3.1 ARIA Awards
* 3.2 Music Victoria Awards
* 4 References
* 5 External links

## Background[edit]

Drawing inspiration from the vast musical legends that have shaped the Ska genre, from the Jamaican movement through to UK Two Tone and the present day Latino Ska, Melbourne Ska Orchestra demonstrate a unique Australian vision with the exuberance and freewheeling colour of contemporary Ska. The outfit have crafted their sound with unexpected arrangements and seductive harmonies, powerful horns and foot-stomping drums.

The eponymous Melbourne Ska Orchestra album was released to rave reviews in 2013 and picked up 2 ARIA nominations that year.[2]

The band have toured consistently for over a decade, including festival appearances at Bluesfest, Golden Plains, Vivid, Caloundra, Queenscliff and AWME. In addition to their highly visible presence on the Australian touring circuit, the band have built an impressive, ever-growing and dedicated overseas fan base.[3] The band sold out their debut London show, appeared on the bill for the iconic Glastonbury Festival and played a headline set to a crowd 50,000 at the Montreal Jazz Festival during their 2014 tour.[4] The band has performed in Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, USA, Canada, Turkey as well as appearing in television commercials in Australia and Japan.

The band released their second album Sierra Kilo Alpha in April 2016, embarking on a national tour to support it.[5]

Sierra Kilo Alpha won the 2016 ARIA Award for Best World Music Album.[6]

The band released a follow up to their acclaimed 2016 release 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.

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.

## Discography[edit]

### Studio albums[edit]

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 Friday's |

* Released: March 2019
* Label: ABC Music
* Format: digital download

### Live albums[edit]

Title  | Details

|

Live at The Triffid |

* Released: May 2020
* Label: Melbourne Ska Orchestra, ABC Music
* Format: digital download

### Compilation albums[edit]

Title  | Details

|

One Year of Ska |

* Released: 2019
* Label: Four Four Music (7762177)
* Format: 4xCD, digital download

## Awards[edit]

### ARIA Awards[edit]

Melbourne Ska Orchestra has been nominated for five Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Music Awards, winning Best World Music Album in 2016 and 2019.[7][8]

Year  | Nominee / work  | Award  | Result

|
|
|

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

### Music Victoria Awards[edit]

The Music Victoria Awards are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2006.[9]

Year  | Nominee / work  | Award  | Result  | Ref.

|
|
|
|

2013 | Melbourne Ska Orchestra  | Best Global or Reggae Act  | Won  | [10][11]
2016 | Melbourne Ska Orchestra | Best Global or Reggae Act | Won
2018 | Melbourne Ska Orchestra | Best Global or Reggae Act | Nominated

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Melbourne Ska Orchestra sign to FOUR|FOUR record label - single released! - Melbourne Ska Orchestra". Melbourne Ska Orchestra. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
2. ^ "Two ARIA Nominations for MSO!! - Melbourne Ska Orchestra". Melbourne Ska Orchestra. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
3. ^ "Melbourne Ska Orchestra " Vivid LIVE 2015". vividlive.sydneyoperahouse.com. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
4. ^ DTan@sydneyoperahouse.com. "MELBOURNE SKA ORCHESTRA WITH MOJO JUJU @ SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE". Vivid 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
5. ^ "Sierra-Kilo-Alpha Australian Tour! - Melbourne Ska Orchestra". Melbourne Ska Orchestra. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
6. ^ The Music. "The Music - news website". The Music. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
7. ^ "Two ARIA Nominations for MSO!! - Melbourne Ska Orchestra". Melbourne Ska Orchestra. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
8. ^ "And the 2020 ARIA Awards Go To…". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
9. ^ "Music Victoria | 2016 Genre Awards". www.musicvictoria.com.au. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
10. ^ "Previous Nominess". Music Victoria. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
11. ^ "Previous Winners". Music Victoria. Retrieved 13 August 2020.

## External links[edit]

* Official website

Authority control |

* MusicBrainz artist

|

*[Ref.]: Reference