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The best you can say about anything is that it is the greatest in
the world. Greatness is an absolute distinction that shouldn’t be
measured or taken lightly. And it is in such regard that this writer
must take issue with a New York daily which, several months ago,
touted Desperadoes as the greatest steel band in the world. Now,
hype is hype, but “pan talk” is a serious preoccupation in
down-to-earth Trinidad and Tobago, the land of, well, the greatest
steel bands in the world. And, there’s the rub.
The names of several bands rush to memory when superior quality and
character are considerations in the best-steel band debate. In
alphabetical order, the list includes Casablanca, City Symphony,
City Syncopators, Crossfire, Desperadoes, Ebonites, Guinness
(actually, Cavaliers), Highlanders, Invaders, Pan Am North Stars,
Phase II, Renegades, Silver Stars, Solo (or Harmonites), Southern
All Stars, Starlift, Tokyo, and Trinidad All Stars. Here is a
rundown, as well as the lowdown, on how these bands stack up against
each other:
CASABLANCA
The cross of Lorraine may be the emblem of Casablanca, the Gonzales—East Dry River—Belmont (depending on era) steel orchestra, but a
star-crossed history symbolizes the band’s attempt at greatness.
Oscar Pyle and other die-hard ’Blanca folks poured sweat and blood
(literally) into the band’s machinery during its Carnival heyday in
the 1940s and 1950s. But like Rodney Dangerfield, Casablanca got no
wide respect—until classical music dominated the band’s repertoire
in the ’70s and ’80s. Indeed, the old “double cross” was transformed
into a magic wand when (former police) Supt. Anthony Prospect
conducted the band’s victorious 1812 Overture (Tchaikovsky)
in the 1982 steel band festival, and many more times after that in
concert halls in Britain and North America. Still, with an anemic
record at the annual Panorama championships (held over the long
Carnival season) juxtaposed with achievements of other concert–oriented steel bands, Casablanca has yet to attain quintessential
glory.
CITY SYMPHONY
One great and truly memorable performance is enough to qualify East
Dry River’s City Symphony for Hall-of-Fame enshrinement. Cue the
very early ’60s; listen to the syrupy sounds of the Bertie Marshall
pans; focus on the new showcase instrument called the double tenor:
lend an ear to arranger Cordell Barbour’s compelling refrain: why
it’s an old weapon with a new fuse in the war of the “bomb”
(classical or pop music performed in calypso tempo during Carnival
street celebrations). It is Cole Porter’s standard, Night and Day.
CITY SYNCOPATORS
City Syncopators and ultimate greatness had as much to do with each
other as dinner mints and kite flying. But dare we exclude the East
Dry River group from consideration when its trip to fame as a “heavy
road (Carnival) band” entertaining some 3,000 “sailors” on the “USS
Detroit” during the late ’50s was forked by the band’s scintillating
performance of von Suppe’s Poet and Peasant at a music
festival not too long thereafter?
CROSSFIRE
Ah, Crossfire! It is easier for the St. James band under legendary
Eamon Thorpe to get into the kingdom of Pan Heaven with a singular
offering—a Carnival J’Ouvert presentation of the utterly captivating
standard, On Another Night Like This—than it is for
supporters and spectators to ever forget the indescribable 1956
achievement.
DESPERADOES
Presenting the Greatest Steel Band in the World: Desperadoes!! That
is if one is judging from the percussion standards at the New York
Daily News. Hailing from Laventille, Desperadoes may have been
served by the greatest leader in pan history, Rudolph Charles, with
apologies to Neville Jules and Ellie Mannette of Trinidad All Stars
and Invaders, respectively (strong debate here—in defenses of Jules
and Mannette, with apologies to Charles). But we won’t get into an
argument on personalities. Or, Desperadoes may boast the most
professional panist in the world in Robert Greenidge; the best pan
tuner in the world in Bertie Marshall; the sweetest pans in the
universe, and on and on. Reality, though, prevails. Truth is,
Despers has the best Panorama record of any steel band: six
victories, including championships in 1970, 1976, 1977 and 1983 with
arranger Clive Bradley at the helm, and in 1966 and 1985 under the
musical leadership of Beverly Griffith (current manager Robert
Greenidge co-arranged in 1985). What an enviable achievement!
Despers also won the 1986 Steel Band Festival with a rendition of
Borodin’s Polovetsian Dances, following a 16-year-hiatus from
the competition. Moreover, Desperadoes perform in concerts around
the world like a computerized entertainment machine, what with an
array of calypsoes and pop songs programmed into their deep
repertoire. But... close, this close.
Publisher’s note: since the original 1988
publication of this article, Desperadoes has also garnered Panorama
championships in the years
1991,1994,1999, 2000.
EBONITES
Ebonites of Morvant, a Solo clone, appeared in the late ’50s as
fresh as a snow cone. However, the band melted like the proverbial
snowball in hell in just a few short years. Ebonites was long on
good road music, though: Strauss’ Roses of the South and Liszt’s
Liebesfreud jog the memory.
GUINNESS CAVALIERS
Strains of Guinness’ percussive style in the ’60s are evident in
most Panorama performances to this day. The San Fernando band faded
into oblivion several years ago, but should be remembered as those
stout-hearted souls who, with the milk of a 1965 Panorama win still
fresh in their throats, literally ran the competition off the stage
in 1967 with an uptempo version of Mas, then converted the
townsfolk into believers with a precocious
hurry-hurry-come-for-curry pace on Carnival Monday. Couldn’t
curry favor with time, though, and expired with a whimper.
| HIGHLANDERS |
 |
|
Dalton Narine was a double tenor player with
Highlanders for Carnival 1971 in Trinidad, when the
now-defunct band offered a Mozart piece, Divertimento in
D major as its “bomb” tune. |
Now, here's a band that could have been the greatest ever had it not
been blinded by its own brilliance (read pan tuner Bertie Marshall’s
brilliance. Marshall eventually joined that other Laventille band,
Despers, thereby imbuing it with a sense of perpetual greatness).
Highlanders were innovators of the double tenor, truly amplified
pans, jazz-based classical arrangements (probably influenced by
Invaders’ jazz phrasings and “Professor” Les Slater’s tinkering of
the band’s early works) and the ultramellow tone. Hey, during the
’60s, the colorful Highlanders forged ahead of its time by some 25
years. (History and prevailing steel band trends could widen the
disparity.) And the orchestra was as comfortable playing exotic
arrangements of calypso fare as it was blazing a hard trail with
music from the masters, calypso-style—Gounod’s Faust,
Rossini’s Italian Girl in Algiers, Handel’s Let
Every Valley be Exalted, and Haydn’s Gypsy Rondo, among
other scores.
INVADERS
Invaders was Ellie Mannette and Ellie Mannette was the Boss long
before Bruce Springsteen picked up the moniker. Invaders spawned
Starlift, which, in turn, begat Phase II. One of the oldest steel
bands, Invaders, too, existed in the
’60s but played then at an
exciting ’80s level, considering tonal quality and the band’s
stylish locution on its very own family of instruments.
Liebestraum and With a Song in My Heart were provocative
Carnival themes 29 years ago, but Invaders meant much, much more.
Invaders was Woodbrook (a bedroom community west of Port of Spain),
a cultural happening, middle-class values, Shell Oil. And yes,
Invaders were the “harps of gold."
PAN AM NORTH STARS
Defunct Pan Am North Stars of (St. James) shot to fame when it won a
festival in 1962 with Strauss’ Voices of Spring. Thereafter,
the band won successive titles in
’63 and
’64. But Pan Am’s greatest
achievement came in the late
’60s–early
’70s while touring around
the world with pianist Winifred Atwell. Leader Anthony Williams is
revered as a pioneer and former cultural ambassador and the band is
fondly remembered as one that carved an unparalleled niche in pan
history.
PHASE II
Phase II of Woodbrook joins the elite steel band group by virtue of
its back-to-back Panorama titles in 1987 and 1988 while playing its
own compositions as an unsponsored band. Its music is arranged by
Boogsie Sharpe, arguably the best complete panist in the world.
Publisher’s note: since the original 1988
publication of this article, Phase II has romped home with the championship
no less than three more times in the years 2005, 2006, 2008.
RENEGADES
Many years ago, a man left his mountaintop retreat in Surrie (Lopinot)
and became an urban renegade in Port of Spain. His name was Jit
Samaroo and the guys he hung out with were called “Renegades.” He
had a swagger all right, but it was in his music, his mellifluous
arranging style. In 1982, when Renegades won their first-ever
Panorama title, a young band member boasted of playing more than 200
notes in less than a minute while capturing a stylish interpretation
of the melody. Renegades retook the title in 1984 and won again in
1985, as they adhered to a trend of playing Lord Kitchener’s treacly
compositions. It became trendy, too, for Renegades to place among
the “big five” in major pan contests since that fateful day when
Surrie lost a son.
Publisher’s note:
1989,
1990, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997
were additional years of triumph for this legendary band since the original 1988
publication of this article.
SILVER STARS
Formerly known as “the ‘B’ class college band,” Silver Stars under
Junior Pouchet can make a legitimate claim to “Best Steel Band”
title by virtue of its vastly underrated performance “on the road.”
The Woodbrook band never won a pan title, yet rival steel bandsmen
gave Silver Stars an ‘A’ for its consistent record in the
’60s:
Military Polonaise (1960), Salut D’amour (1961), Die
Fledermaus (1962), Ghost Riders in the Sky (1965),
Elizabethan Serenade (1964), Wonderful Land (1966),
Dr. Zhivago and Gaudeamus Igitur (1967).
Publisher’s note: 2009,
2010
were years of triumph for this legendary band, adding the Panorama
champion title to their accolades - since the original 1988
publication of this article.
SOLO HARMONITES
The Desperadoes of the East, Solo Harmonites of Morvant won Panorama
titles in 1968, 1971, 1972, and 1974. Solo’s music was renowned for
its kinetic energy—to wit, The Wrecker, St. Thomas Girl,
and Bongo—and its fiery arranger Earl Rodney, who once
attributed his supercharged demeanor to “the struggle of the steel
band man” in him. An adept panist in the genre of Boogsie Sharpe and
Robert Greenidge, Rodney still clings to the fame he acquired almost
two decades ago with “Friends and Countrymen,” a critically acclaimed
jazz-laced LP recording.
SOUTHERN ALL STARS
Southern All Stars’ rush to glory: Consider the San Fernando unit
besting top Port of Spain bands at Roxy Theatre in 1954 in a
striking Music Festival performance of Anna, complete with
extemporization by Theodore Stephens, and believe that fame can be
fleeting.
STARLIFT
Memories of Starlift, circa the 1960s, are dog-eared with “ole talk.”
Small wonder. The “Lift” with Ray Holman as avant-garde
composer-arranger supported by pan groupies, redefined entertainment
in the panyard as well as in the dance hall. With I Feel Pretty
as prologue, Starlift was the story on the West Side in 1961. There
followed a succession of Beatles’ hits and Holman ditties, and, by
dint of musical wizardry, the Woodbrook band became the toast of the
entire country. Starlift didn’t have style, but panache. And when
Holman left to explore the universe, after copping pan honors in
1969 and 1971, Herschel Puckerin took control of the good ship and
gave Panorama judges “pan ache,” with an explosive version of
Sparrow’s Du Du Yemi in 78.
TOKYO
Tokyo, the John John band with a hoary past of conquering foes,
struggled in Panorama contests but never could win the biggie:
always the bridesmaid and never the bride. However, theirs was a
marriage of sweet pan and hot asphalt, for the “road” was their
altar: Finlandia was their theme song. And, lately, Ray
Holman has been their savior.
| TRINIDAD ALL
STARS |
 |
|
The venerable Trinidad All
Stars hate amassed impeccable credentials for their run in
the “best ever” derby. |
Finally, Trinidad All Stars — notorious for its odd slant on history
as a 53-year organization, perhaps the oldest steel band on earth;
for its lockstep with discipline; for its long embrace of former
leader Neville Jules, who gave the band character and success and
still had enough leftover humility for himself; El Merengue,
arguably the first-ever pan “bomb” (mid–’50s); cluster bombs, as in
Intermezzo, Bacarolle, Liebestraum, and
Humoresque (1959); a 3,500-strong “sailor” band mimicking Gene
Kelly to the strains of Anniversary Waltz and Musetta’s
Waltz (1960); notorious for 4,000 supporters costumed as sailors
and cavorting to Cara Nome on the city’s streets (1961);
successive years of “Bomb” victories (Marriage of Figaro,
Countess Maritza, Ballet Egyptien, Dvorak’s Ninth Symphony);
tonal excellence; classical music (local stage); classical music
(festival); classical music (international stage—Africa, Asia,
Europe, North America); Panorama victory (1973)— Rudy Wells,
arranger; festival victories (two firsts and two seconds in past
four attempts); Panorama success under Leon “Smooth” Edwards
(1980,1981,1986); 50th anniversary concert of classical fare—
including music by Bizet, Massenet, Mozart, Glinka, Telemann and
Tchaikovsky—under direction of Gerry Jemmott (1985); notorious for
its 1987 presentation of “Classical Jewels VI,” a varied repertoire
that featured pan and choir, pan and clarinet, pan and opera
singers, Rhapsody in Blue, In a Monastery Garden, and
Kalinkoft’s Symphony No. 1 in G minor, 4th movement (Jemott
again); notorious for its “Hell Yard” birth (East Dry Driver), its
earthy virtues and heavenly sounds; and ta-da, its deserved
sobriquet as “The Greatest Steel Band in the World - it’s the
best one can say about this band, with no apologies to the
aforementioned.
Publisher’s note:
since the original publication of this article in 1988, Trinidad All
Stars has captured the Panorama championship in
2002, 2007, 2011,
2012.
