Again, since we're talking about ska...

Christopher Porter's got a great piece on Dizzy Reece, one of the jazz greats who grew up in Jamaica and went to the Alpha Boys School along with a who's who of Jamaican musicians (that's a book or movie waiting to happen).

It's a two parter with some great music and it's well worth a read.
Part 1
Part 2

And the article over at Dizzy Reece's site that Christopher Porter wrote is definately worth checking out, it's referenced in the above links as well, and I put it hear in case you want to go right to the meat of it.