As the flying man on sax with Madness, Lee “Kix” Thompson has become a true legend in his own right since the days of 2Tone. Now he and his orchestra pay tribute to the Jamaican originators of Ska.

The debut album “The Benevolence Of Sister Mary Ignatius” will be released on June 11th 2013. You can already pre-order it on Amazon. Madness founder-member Mark Bedford is on board as well. The album was recorded at The Ironworks Studio in Brighton and co-produced by Mike Pelanconi aka Prince Fatty (A Tribe Called Quest, Kula Shaker, Graham Coxon). It sets out to re-create the Caribbean vibe on tracks by Desmond Dekker, John Holt and others. Dave Robinson, co-founder of Stiff Records (Madness, Elvis Costello, Ian Dury) has been involved in the project, too. The first single “Fu Manchu” is out on youtube. It features vocals of the great Bitty McLean.

Lee Thompson offers a free download to you if you like and share this post or one of the two following interviews (with Lee Thompson himself and his brother in-law and band member Darren Fordham) via your social media channels. Just drop us a line at leethompson@reggae-steady-ska.com with “Liked And Shared” in the subject and we’ll send you the download link.

“The Benevolence of Sister Mary Ignatius” is on the shortlist for our “Album Of The Year 2013” competition. If you like to stay informed, you might want to sign up for our newsletter.

In 2012, we celebrated the release of Madness’s tenth album “Oui Oui, Si Si, Ja Ja, Da Da” with the – dare we say – very recommendable Madness Album Countdown Series at REGGAE STEADY SKA.

You can follow Lee Thompson on Twitter @leethompsonska, Darren Fordham at @officialfordie.