In a 2001
article, Guyanese
Godfrey Chin
writes, “On February 6, 1945, there were
born two boys, different parents, different countries – one in Nine
Miles, St. Ann, Jamaica – the other, David St. Kitty, Guyana. And JA,
the great African God of Music, looked from the heavens, blessed the two
boys, and ordained – I assign you, Bob, to take Reggae to all parts of
the world – Rudy, you are to do the same for Guyana [sic] steelband.”
The `Bob’ that Chin was referring to in this little bit of harmless
mythopoeia is, of course, none other than the legendary Robert Nestor
Marley. Bob Marley has been reggae’s foremost ambassador, taking the
Caribbean genre worldwide, touring places like Gabon, Germany, Sweden,
Canada, Spain, France and the US.
Less is known, or has been documented, about the other man Chin refers
to, especially at this time when steelpan music does not enjoy the
unbridled popularity that it did during the exhilarating
post-independence period when steelpan bands commanded a frenzied
following and drew the sort of crowds that the big stereo sets do today.
Rudy Bishop, is one of the few people who can live up the cliché, “a man
of many talents”. Chin described him as “an indefatigable hustler,
entrepreneur, missionary, diplomat, conductor, a veritable Steelband
Moses.”
Though, as he related to Sunday Chronicle, his endeavors in the area of
community development - especially his work in developing the Camptown
community group - are notable in themselves, the thing that Bishop is
most renowned for is his organization of the Chronicle Atlantic Symphony
Orchestra. Bishop recounted how this seminal steelband came about; the
trials it went through to establish itself; the heady days of success;
and the subsequent decline of the band.
When the Kitty-based band called the Skylarks, managed by Rudy Bishop,
split up after playing in the May 26, 1966 Independence celebrations,
some of the members decided to form another band. Without a building to
play in, and no suitable venue to practice at, they began to go to the
seawall at the Kitty foreshore to hone their pan skills.
Pan-tuner Calvin Whyte tuning a steelpan
It was while they were tossing ideas for a name around that band
manager, Rudy Bishop struck upon an excellent idea for a name. Since the
band was concentrating on playing symphonies and since they practiced
with the chorus of the mighty ocean in the background, he suggested that
the band be named `The Atlantic Symphony Orchestra’. The other members
of the band agreed.
The next year, 1967, the Chase-Manhattan Atlantic Symphony Orchestra
brought third in the National Steelband competition. In 1968, the band
brought second in both the National Music Festival and the National
Steelband Competition – the winning band for both events was the
formidable Demtoco Silvertones.
The 1969 Steelband finals saw a repeat of the previous year’s result,
but Rudy Bishop insists that this time, something strange went on.
The bands were asked to play a warm-up piece, and a classical piece. The
practice was that the winner band was selected on the basis of its
classical piece. Bishop says that after the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra
had scored the most points with its Anvil Chorus, the organizers of the
Competition, in an unprecedented move, gave the competition to the Roy
Geddes-led Demtoco Silvertones on the basis of their warm-up piece.
A sort of justice came in the fact that the Silvertones never went up
for the national competition again after that. This, however, did not
mean that the annual runner up was due yet for the spotlight. It seems
that the Silvertones’ success was due to the band’s arranger who, after
1969, defected to the Demba Invaders. The Invaders began to dominate the
annual steelband competition in much the same way that the Silvertones
used to.
Small glories
The Atlantic Symphony Orchestra had to make do with other smaller
glories. Like after the 1971 competition when Carl Blackman, then
editor-in-chief of The Chronicle, called Bishop to his office and
informed him that in his (Blackman’s) opinion, Chronicle Atlantic had
won the event. Blackman offered his sponsorship through the newspaper’s
Crossword section and the band became known by the name that is most
remembered by, The Chronicle Atlantic Symphony Steel Orchestra, or CASSO.
In 1972, the band won a competition for best arrangement for that year’s
Carifesta theme, and was chosen to perform it for the documentary film
that was done on that first of the Caribbean Festival of the Arts. They
were also chosen to play at the event, along with other Caribbean
steelbands including the famous Trinidadian band, the Catelli All Stars.
It was in 1975 that the band, now sponsored by Chronicle, finally got
their due, by winning that year’s National Steelband Competition: they
went on to win every single competition until 1979 when they retired
from participation.
That initial victory in 1975 heralded 20 years of unrivalled steelpan
successes that made the Chronicle Atlantic Steel Orchestra almost
synonymous with steelpan music both in Guyana and in several countries
abroad.
Their first overseas gig was to perform in Cuba in 1976 as part of a
cultural diplomacy event. There, Bishop says that they met the winning
1974 German World Cup champions led by football legend, Franz
Beckenbauer.
That same year, they were invited to perform in Suriname and were
invited back the next year to perform again. However, the really big
break for the band came when the then Brazilian ambassador saw CASSO
perform and invited Bishop to carry the band over. The Brazilian Embassy
funded Bishop’s undertaking of an initial reconnaissance trip.
Bishop’s findings were promising. When he returned to Guyana, he
organized a contingent of 45 persons – CASSO musicians and members of
the National School of Dance, which was led at the time by local dancing
icon, Daphne Rogers – and set off on a whirlwind three-month tour of
Guyana’s gigantic South American neighbor, playing major cities like
Rio, Sao Paulo and Brasilia.
It was on this first actual tour that Bishop says he really learned the
ropes in organizing performances abroad. He says that he realized that a
song and dance act made more sense than playing strictly steelpan and
since the band had already started to include brass instruments and
vocals in their performances outside of steelband competitions, he
decided to give Chronicle Atlantic a new face…and name. The band known
as the Chronicle Atlantic Symphony Steel Orchestra formally became the
Chronicle Atlantic Symphony Steel and Brass Orchestra and Dance Troupe.
The decision not to take part in the 1980 National Steelband Competition
was met with ridicule and claims that the band was fearful of
participating, by the rival bands like the Bidco Invaders who, in the
absence of CASSO, easily stole that year’s show.
The next year, Bishop decided to prove a point. He carried CASSO’s youth
arm, The Young Entertainers, to the 1981 competition and, much to the
chagrin of the older more experienced bands, the newcomers walked away
with first prize.
But that was all after he took the new group to Moscow, political centre
of what was then the Cold War behemoth, the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics, on a four-week goodwill tour. Russian audiences were
delighted to hear not only Guyanese steelpan compositions, but also the
band’s rendering of classical pieces such as Khachaturyan’s Sabre Dance
and Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. Guyanese singer, Dawn Shultz was also
there, performing the James Bond film theme song, From Russia With Love.
Then there was the tour on the other side of the Iron Curtain. A little
after they returned from Moscow, the band was solicited by the owner of
the GuyAmerica Airline, to take a trip to North America to play.
Another whirlwind tour took saw them playing venues in New York,
Baltimore, Washington, Chicago, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles and in Palm
Springs where they spent a day at the home of the greatest boxer of all
time, Muhammad Ali. While at Ali’s home, they were filmed for a
documentary chronicling a day in the life of the boxer.
Legendary status
It was while they were playing at the Caribbean Basin Festival in
Manhattan, that they were sighted by the then Minister of Culture for
the British Honduras (know today as Belize), Mr. Said Musa. Unknown to
the troupe, Musa called his Prime Minister, George Price and suggested
that Price arrange with President Burnham to have this Guyanese band
present at the Central American country’s independence celebration.
After hopping over to Canada and touring Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto,
the band returned to Washington to play at a United Nations function
before heading back home to Guyana. After a brief rest, it was back
again to play at Carifesta IV in Barbados and then on to Belize to play
at that country’s independence ceremonies.
With so many achievements under its belt, Chronicle Atlantic achieved a
sort of legendary status at home. Their success inspired Bishop to try
to put together a Festival of the Guianas. Originally conceived by
himself and Rudy Buttse of Suriname, the idea was soon adopted by the
French Guiana Department of Culture.
The first Festival of the Guianas was held in Suriname in 1985 and was
so successful that by the time the second one was held in French Guiana,
persons from Brazil and Venezuela had signed up to participate. The
third Festival was to have been held in Guyana but Bishop says that when
he asked a Department of Culture official for funds to help host the
event, he received the complaint that there was not enough money in the
coffers to assist in such a project. The Festival of the Guianas idea
was subsequently abandoned.
In 1989, Rudy Bishop entered CASSO into the National Steelband
Championship for what was to be the final time. The band proved that all
that traveling hadn’t made them forget their roots. Chronicle Atlantic
Symphony Steel Orchestra swept the prizes away, carting away the Best
Performance, Road March, and Best Dressed Band Awards.
In 1992, Rudy Bishop moved to the United States. Having had some small
experience in electrical work, he successfully qualified himself to work
first in cable television installation and then satellite television
installation and repair.
While he worked (first for Cellular Vision and then Prime Star), he
still kept in contact with members of the band and in 1995 they were
sent an invitation by the UN to perform at the organization's 50th
Anniversary celebrations.
This invitation was to set the stage for the band’s denouement. Since
the band received part-sponsorship by Demerara Distiller’s Limited, they
were not allowed to access funds from the UN since sponsorship by an
alcoholic beverage manufacturer is against UN policy. With costs
incurred to pay for traveling, accommodation, and meals, Bishop says
that he suffered huge losses.
In addition to that, the band’s other part-sponsor, Guyana Airways,
folded leaving the band holding return tickets in the name of an airline
that no longer existed. There was, understandably, much trouble in the
golden paradise that was once Chronicle Atlantic.
Some of the members married American girlfriends and settled down over
there, while the others got help from family to return home.
With the band gone, Bishop focused on working to upgrade his skills and
providing for his family in Guyana. That was not to say that he left the
organization of steelbands all together.
He once put together a steelband in Brooklyn called, like his former
youth band in Guyana, the Young Entertainers. However it is not this
namesake that seems to have pleased him the most. When a Jamaican
pastor, having found something on the Young Entertainers online,
contacted Bishop to do something similar for his increasingly restless
young church members, Bishop put together the Young Acolytes.
The Acolytes made a name for themselves all across New York City and
Bishop received two citations from the area assemblyman for his work in
the community.
Rudy Bishop was recently in Guyana, not to work on steelbands, but to
look after his former football team, Camptown. Camptown was formed after
Bishop saw some neighborhood boys, accustomed to playing “scrubbies”
among themselves, defeat the mighty Lodge Rovers…but that is another
story.
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