"In 1959 there was the revolution in Cuba", announced the singer in the shiny white jacket and cap, "and a little later there was a new rhythm in Jamaica - ska. It came to England and went around the world before rock-stead and then reggae took over. Now it's time for them to mix."

Natty Bo, who describes his own roots as "Hackney and the Elephant and Castle" has taken it upon himself to re-write musical history and combine Jamaican and Cuban styles in the way they surely would have come together if the Castro era hadn't pulled these two cultures further apart.

Bo, who leads the London ska band Top Cats, has made several trips to Santiago de Cuba, where he enthusiastically preached ska to Cuban musicians. The result was the formation of a new fusion band, Ska Cubano, whose debut album was one of the more original releases this summer, with its varied treatment of new songs and old favourites by everyone from Beny More to Machito.

This material proved less successful live. The show started well enough with Natty Bo bounding on stage to perform his own sturdy songs like Malanga Ska, backed by a strong international band that included players from Cuba and an inspired female Japanese saxophonist joining the four-piece horn section. They may not have been Jazz Jamaica, but it was rousing, infectious party music.

Then on came the Cuban singer Juan Manuel Villy, looking and acting like some bowler-hatted pantomime villain, and it all started to go wrong. He has a better voice than Natty Bo, but no subtlety, and his heavy-handed, theatrical performance, combined with the sometimes over-heavy ska beat, meant that the more intricate Cuban material was less successful than Bo's new ska dance songs. This was a great idea, but it needs more work.