Carlos Malcolm

Carlos Antonio Malcolm OD (10 November 1934 – 6 May 2026) was a Jamaican trombonist, percussionist and bandleader who helped cultivate the Jamaican genres of ska and reggae.

Life and career

Carlos Malcolm was born in Colón, Panama on 10 November 1934, to Jamaican parents and grew up in Kingston. His father, Wilfred Malcolm, went to Panama and worked as a bookkeeper in the Panama Canal Zone. He became a prominent business man in the city of Colon, established homes in both countries and sent his five children back to Jamaica to be educated. Having studied the liturgy and music of the Anglican (Episcopalian) Church, Wilfred Malcolm was an Anglican church choir director for many years. He also played trombone in the "Jazz Aristocrats", a Panamanian Dixieland band for which he was manager, and he took the band to Jamaica in 1936.

Wilfred Malcolm had quite a collection of eclectic music that extended from Bach and Handel to Duke Ellington and Count Basie. Reflecting upon this period of his life, Malcolm often mused that he probably "subliminally osmosed" the musical styles and arranging formats of various composers as he whistled back at the music wafting through the house every evening...

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