Nicky Bomba. An avid musicologist with an interest running deep through many musical genres and the cultures that created them. In part one of the Sound Distractions podcast with Nicky he looked back over the early part of his career – embracing a broad palette of music that included funk, jazz, reggae and mento. In the process he shared his passion for music and his desire to connect with fans for an entertaining and more meaningful experience.
In the final instalment of the Nicky Bomba podcast he takes us inside his life travelling the world as the percussionist for the John Butler Trio and why he left it behind to pursue his other musical interests, most notably the Melbourne Ska Orchestra.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpnjqYWBcas
The Melbourne Ska Orchestra was designed to be more than just a homage to a genre. From the outset the band wanted to incorporate many other musical elements into their sound – jazz, funk and African rhythms among them. With often more than 30 musicians on stage it seemed both the most impractical and unlikely of projects to succeed and yet it has done so in spectacular fashion. A global festival hit at events like Glastonbury, the Montreal Jazz Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe this juggernaut of brass and mayhem sounds like the party that it is. The latest touring incarnation of the band sees the MSO staging SKA BQ’s across the Australian summer – just think rude boys in pork pie hats riding Vespas with a few bangers on the side and it’s just one big brassy party with skankin galore!
Outside of the Melbourne Ska Orchestra Nicky shares a desire to give back to other artists and his charitable work for organisations like The Thin Green Line. Ultimately he reflects on his good fortune in life allowing him to create on his own terms, or as he once proclaimed with his band Bustamento – living the dream.
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