ENTITY · STUDIO

Federal Recording Studio

Well supported

Ken Khouri's studio on Marcus Garvey Drive, the first purpose-built recording facility in Jamaica and the room where the local record industry effectively began in the 1950s. Federal pressed and recorded across mento, ska and reggae, trained a generation of engineers, and was later bought by Bob Marley and became Tuff Gong.

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At a glance

Type: studio →
Era: Ska and independence-era culture →
Confidence: Well supported

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In stories

Story · Well supportedThe professional ska bandstand

Ska was made by trained musicians working in a real industry: a Catholic school band room, hotel dance floors, a purpose-built pressing plant and a government keen to export a national sound.