Ska jazz is a music genre derived by fusing the melodic content of jazz with the rhythmic and harmonic content of early Jamaican Music introduced by the "Fathers of Ska" in the late 1950s.
They were combining traditions with modern tendencies, using the reggae beat along with high improvisation and jazz harmonies, primarily by horns and percussion.
Occasionally there may be one or more vocalists, but the genre is primarily focused on instrumental tunes.
The rhythm section places accents on the off beats, thus giving the music a different feel than straight jazz.
Ever since its birth in the late 1950s, ska has been a genre marked by physical and cultural diasporas and an openness to borrowing from outside its origins.