Billed as a roots, rock and reggae band, Chalawa was formed by Alex King and John Forbes. Releasing Hop, Skip & Jump in 1979 on Generation Records (an imprint of local country music label Boot Records), Chalawa had a hit in Belgium and the Netherlands with the title track.

This is Chalawa's fourth and last album, according to Roots Archive.

Generally a laid back, roots reggae album with original material and three Bob Marley covers (Jammin', Waiting In Vain, and Three Little Birds), Chalawa likely were influenced by ex-pat Jamaicans playing in Toronto clubs during the '70s. In fact, they recruited reggae legend Leroy Sibbles to play an additional bass on the album.

Multi-instrumentalists, King (guitar, bass, percussion, piano) and Forbes (synthesizer, organ, bass, piano) recruited Anthony Creary on drums and percussion, Mike Balm on trumpet and flugelhorn, Ed Zankowski on saxes and Karl Hammond on trombone, while Sibbles, local country legend Mickey Andrews (dobro), Dick Smith (tenox sax), Pete Weston (congas) and the Lillian Nickoloff Ensemble (violins) provided additional sounds.

The duo produced, engineered and mixed the album at various studios in and around Toronto.

Hop, Skip & Jump
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