The group features a shifting collective of some of the best musicians in New York City with experience playing with a variety of musical acts from Sting to the Skatalites.

He left Jamaica after playing on several crucial Bob Marley cuts and has since backed up American icons, from Taj Mahal, Gil-Scott Heron, Bad Brains and Dave Hahn, earning him the sometime nickname “Original Beatnik”.

Reminiscent of sounds from the 1940s and 60s, the group fuses Latin American and jazz elements in their music, which is also influenced by Afro-Cuban mambo and Brazilian bossa nova.

The colorful mix of work songs, calls, field and street cries, hollers, rhyme songs, and spirituals taken on by Hillyard and his group changed the format of reggae and jazz, respectively; By bringing the soloist to the forefront, during live shows and in his recording groups, they demonstrated that jazz improvisation could go far beyond ornamenting a simple melody, and his motto "improvise and overcome" showcases the talents of individual players, resulting in tenser rhythms and more complicated textures.

[citation needed] In 2007, the Rocksteady 7 released their 3rd album, Way Out East (Brixton), which was recorded at a club in Jena, Germany during a 2004 tour and captured the powerful energy of the band as a dynamic and inspiring live act noted as a perfect Jazz/Reggae fusion that will leave fans of both in a "state of bliss.