Debonaires
When the Debonaires formed in 1995, ska-punk was dominating Southern California. They weren’t interested. Instead, six high school students from Riverside’s North High and Poly High—Dave Sakover on tenor sax, Tony Greene on vocals, Mike Presser on guitar, Ryan Tomazin on organ, Tom Cook on trombone, and Mano Mirande on rhythm guitar—reached back to traditional Jamaican rocksteady and early reggae, the 1960s dancehall sound that started it all. Woody Diaz joined on drums in 1997, followed by Jason Napayon on bass, solidifying the lineup. Around 2000, Kip Wirtzfeld took over as lead vocalist and added tenor sax, replacing Greene. Marques Crews joined on trumpet in 2003, and Roberto Ronquillo replaced founding member Sakover on sax around 2012. They created something smooth, soulful, and sophisticated—The Skatalites meeting James Brown, or as they described it, “James Brown popcorn funk meeting Roy Ayers groove with Afro-Caribbean rhythms.”
Four albums between 1998 and 2013 on labels including Rivercidal Syndicate Records and Jump Up Records. Constant touring in a van with nine people, sharing stages with ska and reggae legends like Desmond Dekker, The Skatalites, Laurel Aitken, Phyllis Dillon, and Fishbone. They got banned from Canada, had their van catch fire on tour, worked day jobs to keep the band alive, and built a devoted national following by doing it their way. Bassist Jason Napayon passed away in December 2021 after battling cancer. Four founding members—Mirande, Cook, Presser, and Tomazin—stuck with it for the full 30 years, proving that The Debonaires could do traditional ska, rocksteady, and skinhead reggae as well as anyone coming out of the United States.
