Ska is a runaway from R&B. The rythm of the bass was raised up to make the music more attractive for the soundsystems. The instruments used for this style of music are: trumpets, saxophone and trombone, drums, congo's and cymbals. Ska is fast music, good for dancing and always faster than reggae.
The words are always about love, seldom about anything else. Prince Buster is a famous ska-artist. Lord Tanamo was also a ska-artist, his "I'm in the mood for ska" is a good example of ska.
Also Bob Marley recorded some ska-songs. The first he recorded for Leslie Kong was "Judge Not" (you may not judge without knowing the person), a typical ska-song. It was one of the first songs Bob
wrote by himself . The Wailers as band recorded a lot of ska-songs for Leslie Kong and Dodd. None of these songs were great hits, but it was an important part in the forming of the Wailers.