David Hillyard is a veteran ska and reggae saxophonist who helped spread the gospel of roots ska, reggae and Jamaican jazz in America in the late 1980s and early ’90s. He’s played with Hepcat, Rancid and NYC’s classic ska group the Slackers across a career spanning thousands of concerts and hundreds of recordings.

Hillyard leads Rocksteady 7, formed through his meeting with veteran percussionist Larry McDonald at a Skatalites concert. McDonald, now 88, is a living legend from the first generation of Jamaican musicians to create ska and reggae music in the ’50s through ’70s. He played with Carlos Malcolm’s Afro-Jamaicans and on classic reggae recordings including the conga breaks on Toots and the Maytals’ Funky Kingston, plus tracks by Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer and Lee Perry. In the ’70s, McDonald moved to the United States and played with Taj Mahal and Gil Scott Heron.

Since their 1999 debut Playtime on Epitaph, Rocksteady 7 has built an international following. Jazziz Magazine noted “Hillyard can play,” while African Beat called them “Real Musical Revolutionaries Who Cut The Competition.” Their 2020 pandemic-recorded album Plague Doctor mixed ska, reggae, samba and Afrobeat. Their newest album Home for Dinner, mixed by Aggrolites organist Roger Rivas, explores reggae roots rhythms, straight-ahead jazz and deep ska, due for release February 26.