NEWS
NEW RECORD RELEASE ON JUMP UP RECORDS!
12, August 2025
A We are very pleased to announce that we have teamed up with our good friend Chuck Wren of JUMP UP RECORDS in Chicago to release a new collection of NYSJE songs entitled "SKALLABORATIONS" on high quality viny!
The new release features historic collaborations of NYSJE with many well known musical artists over the band's 30 year history. Featuring luminaries of the ska, reggae, soul and jazz realms, this new release features newly remastered tracks from the original recordings.
Stay tuned for official release date!
BREAK THRU
New Album Out Now!
2nd June 2019
We’re thrilled to announce the release of our latest album, BREAK THRU! Featuring some of the finest musicians in the ska-jazz style playing original compositions by Rocksteady Freddie, Kevin Batchelor and Mark Damon and select covers done as only NYSJE can! Available NOW on all legitimate digital download and streaming services worldwide as well as physical copies (CD or vinyl) available through Brixton Records.
PRESS
“New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble, founded in 1994 by saxophonist ‘Rock Steady Freddie’ Reiter, still hews close to ska’s foundational connection to jazz and its 14th album BREAK THRU (Brixton Records) is made for dancing. It’s pure energy.”
-Downbeat (earned four star review)
“An impressive grouping of seminal ska musicians who come together for the singular purpose of marrying blue beat and be-bop. A swinging, skanking soiree of
sound that pleases on all levels.”
-Long Island Voice
“The New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble is a horn happy bunch of rhythm maniacs.”
-New York Times
“(NYSJE) trundles across the fertile turf shared by Jamaican music, jazz and R+B, swinging from Ellington to E-ticket originals…”
-L.A. Weekly
“The six members of (NYSJE)….prove themselves strong jazz soloists (and) audaciously transform jazz classics like Mingus’ “Haitian Fight Song” and Eddie Harris’ “Freedom Dance” into slyly arranged ska showcases.”
-Boston Phoenix
“ A Dream band for Ska Lovers…”
-Weekly Planet(St. Petersburg,Fl.)
“It’s a unanimous decision: (NYSJE is) the new Heavyweight Champion of the ska
ring.”
-The Beat
“These are faithful ska disciples, true believers with creative vision and musical
ability to move the music forward.”
-The Anchorage Press