This article attempts
to capture some of my personal memories of some of the various elements
and characters of the steelband movement. It makes no claim to be a
definitive history of the steelband movement. It includes my thoughts and
observations of some of the problems facing the steelband movement but
limit its growth and development.
Over the years there has been a few books and
dissertations written about the steelband movement. But, a
definitive history of the steelband movement that extols the essential
characters, traditions and innovations is yet to be written. I
take full responsibility for whatever mistakes this article may contain
as it is based solely on my memories while growing up in the steelband
movement behind the bridge in East Dry River, Trinidad.
Introduction
“Your wealth
and your pride, even your image, they take from you
But, you
survive all Civilizations old and new
Great Man,
Black Man, pride of your father and your son
Africa!
Remember, that you are the same one
From Egypt to
Ethiopia across the Oceans to America
To the
Russian Steppes of Europe, West Indies and India.
But, with every beat of the drum your image
unfolds
Black Woman remember your children of Africa
Displaced and
scattered without a trace of their culture
The color of
their skin is their heritage
So no matter
where you go or where you live
The Black Man
with the drum remains your true heritage.” Ras Shorty I
On August 13,
1992, then Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Mr. Patrick Manning
declared the steelpan to be the national musical instrument of
Trinidad and Tobago, (Trinbago). To date, that declaration is yet to be an
Act of Parliament in the country of its creation. There is no legal
protection for the national instrument. Yet, the steelpan, the only
instrument created in the 20th century, continues to improve and it is in
demand throughout the Caribbean and the continents of Africa, America,
Europe and Asia. Today, there are steelband orchestras in America, Sweden,
Japan, China, Israel, England, Canada, Cuba, South Africa and Switzerland.
The steelpan is
a percussion instrument that comprises the body of the steelband orchestra
similarly to the European conventional orchestra. The creation of this
musical gift owes its presence to the ingenuity of the African working
class. The turbulent and sometimes violent treatment of the Africans by
the European enslavers did not prohibit the Africans from seeking cultural
expressions and entertainment. After emancipation, the Africans working
class struggled against the oppression and denials they received from
European colonialism. And, in their struggles against an oppressive
political and social system they were determined to develop their own
cultural forms of music and art. The African working class appropriated
the musical traditions of the European colonialists by empowering
themselves with the instrumentation, melody and harmony derived from
Western musical tradition. As a result, they dug deep into their past and
extended the drum into the steelpan and their religious festivities into
Carnival.
From its
creation in the 1930s, the steelpan embodied the heritage of an African
people enslaved and brought far away from their homeland to islands to
serve their European enslavers. The Africans, though far away from their
home, improvised and created an instrument to replace the distant drum
that was banned and taken away from them. The steelpan was their
answer to the many questions they silently asked themselves as their
estrangement placed them in a strange land and circumstances under
tremendous suffering with no one to hear their pleas. They transformed the
drum into a steel instrument so that they could give cultural articulation
to calm their fears with its music. With the steelpan instrument the
bridge to their culture remained open. Although they were taken from their
homes in Africa, remnants of their culture remained with them leading to
the invention of the steelpan.
Africans were
enslaved and brought to the new world by the Europeans. But, Africans were
not always slaves. Their history did not begin with slavery. Slavery was
the result of conquest by a foreign invader who was the last on the human
evolutionary ladder towards civilization. While Europe lay in the dark
ages, there were African civilizations in Egypt, Mali, Ghana, Songhay,
Benin and Timbuktu. But, by the time Europeans began to enslave Africans
numerous wars among Africans and Africans and Africans and Arabs had
engulfed the African continent leading to their military demise. And, even
though they resisted slavery with their every breath, nevertheless, they
were finally conquered, enslaved and brought to the new world. One
of the places they to which were brought was the twin-islands of Trinidad
and Tobago. Trinbago was one of the various islands in the Caribbean that was
used to drop off the slaves to work on the plantations. Spain was the
first European power to bring African slaves to Trinidad. Then came the
French and finally the British. Throughout European slavery, the
slaveholders tried to strip the Africans of their culture in order to
control and rule them. But, the Africans resisted until the Christian
religion was used to pacify them making it easy for the Europeans to
complete the enslavement.
During slavery in
Trinidad, the British forbade the Africans from playing the drum. The
African population, who are the descendants of Africans, were made slaves
and taken away from their homeland, deprived of their freedom and brought
to the island first by the Spaniards, then the French and finally the
British during the European Slave Trade. In spite of the horrors of
slavery and its aftermath, the Africans held on to some aspects of their
culture and recreated the drum that they used in their social and cultural
ceremonies to ease their oppressive conditions in the New World. The
drum was the instrument that their ancestors used in their social,
cultural and religious festivities throughout Africa.
After the
British banned the drum, the Africans created the tamboo-bamboo
instruments out of bamboo to express their musical heritage. But, the
British also banned the tamboo-bamboo music. The Africans resisted every
British attempt to suppress the steelband and the steelpan survived. After
the tamboo-bamboo was banned, the Africans turned to steel drums to
provide musical instruments. The British also banned the steeldrums
because they saw its use as subversive. The British banned the first two
instruments for security reasons because they suspected that the Africans
were using those instruments to transmit messages to one another to plot
revolts to escape from their oppressive conditions.
The beginning of
the Second World War made the Africans important to the British Army as
the British sought soldiers to fight their war abroad in Europe and Asia. Thus, the British were forced to enlist Africans in a unit called the West
Indian Regiment. But, there was still no tolerance for African culture, in
spite of their contributions to the war effort. In the 1950s, the Africans
middle-class began to demand self-government. The importance of the
Africans' presence in the war gave the panists the opportunity to enlist
some middle-class Africans, local religious leaders and a few white local
liberals in their fight against the banning of the steelpan. Leaders like
Albert Gomes, Beryl McBurnie, Lennox Pierre and Canon Farquar were at the
forefront fighting for the rights of panists. They believed that the
steelband was a positive force to shape the 'moral' character of the panists (player of the steelpan) by giving them something to do with their
creativity.
But, the British
saw the panists as savages and the steelpan as crude and noisy and
continued their ban on the steelband. The British enlisted the Police in
their attempt to stamp out African culture and its off spring, the steelpan. The Police harassed and arrested the panists with charges of
‘disturbing the peace’ in their attempt to destroy the steelband movement. Some times the Police would raid the panyards and destroy the steelpans. The harassment by the Police placed a stigma on the steelband movement as
a group of low-class hooligans creating noise during the night with their steelpans. As a result, most parents were reluctant to permit their sons
to join any steelband orchestra. And, most parents forbade their daughters
to date panists. The panists became persona non grate in their own
land. As a matter of fact, most people called the steelpan a ‘noisy'
instrument and several attempts were made to suppress it.
During the
1930s, Trinidad was still a colony of Britain. Africans were denied all
the benefits of civil society. They had no rights and were unequal before
the law. The British made every attempt to strip them of their culture. In
their quest to find instruments to use in their festivities, a few
Africans, who resided in the surrounding urban districts of Port of Spain,
invented the steelpan. The steelpan evolved out of the climate of white
supremacy, racism and colonialism that existed in Trinidad in the 1930s. In the early 1930s, the Africans attempted to create a musical instrument
by using discarded biscuit drums, caustic soda drums, dustbins and any
other steel drum they could get their hands on to accomplish that goal.
The early
creations were simple. Due to the panists' lack of musical training, the
early steel drums carried only a handful of notes. At first, the panists
created a crude instrument with limited notes. The instrument was tuned to
whatever upper pitch they could get. It became known as 'Ping Pong'. Later
on, more notes were added and it was called a tenor pan. The early
association with the steel drum's development has enshrined in the local
language the term 'pan'. But, the steelpan instrument that we know today
was created from discarded oil drums. And, its correct pitch is in the
soprano range.
In the early
1940s, the United States had an Army base on the island of Trinidad. The
Army would discard their oil drums after use. Since the Africans were
prepared for this opportunity, they took those discarded oil drums and
used them to fashion and develop the steelpan. They soon got another
opportunity to display their new instruments. After the end of the Second
World War, Trinidad celebrated the victory over Japan (VJ Day) with a
large carnival festival. On VJ day the nation awoke to the sounds of
steelbands like Invaders, Rising Sun, Hell Yard, Desperadoes and Free
French. That celebration provided the impetus to the Africans to merge
their creation with the national carnival celebrations. They came on the
road with their crude instruments created from the oil drums and played
them to large onlookers. Later, in the early 1950s the steelpan was
refined and tuned properly by Ellie Mannette. Ellie Mannette, then leader
of the Invaders Steel Orchestra, based his styling on musical 4th
circles and added more notes to the steelpan making it the instrument that
we know today. Today, the steelpan plays all types of music, including
classical, reggae, jazz, latin and calypso. It has been a part of jazz
ensembles and has accompanied popular singers.
The origin of
the steelpan was an urban activity that grew out of the working class
industrial districts of Port of Spain and San Fernando. There are not too
many working class communities that can claim to be the creators of a
musical instrument. Yet, it is believed that the working class industrial
district of Laventille, a low-income African community on the hilly urban
area of East Port of Spain, can proudly claim to be the birthplace of the
only musical instrument of the 20th century. It is probable
that this phenomenon occurred simultaneously in other districts like St.
James, Woodbrook and even as far as the Southern districts of the country. But, what is certain is that the creators of this 20th century
phenomenon were young African men, regardless of the district from which
they came.
There are some
people who give credit to Winston ‘Spree’ Simon as the individual
responsible for giving the instrument it s first voice. This claim has
been disputed by some saying that no one person created the steelpan. Anyway, Mr. Simon was even given a national award as the creator and
innovator of the steelpan. I believe that there were many panists
exploring the idea in different parts of the island. Also, I believe that
the steelpan was invented in the working class district behind the bridge. I do not think that any one person was responsible for the creation of the steelpan. Some panologists (steelpan researchers) maintain that other
panists: Sonny Roach, Leonard Morris, Oscar 'Bogart' Pile, Neville Jules,
Ellie Mannette, Dudley Smith, Randolph 'Fisheye' Olliverie and Wilfred
Harrison also contributed to the early development of the national
instrument. The many pioneers of the steelband movement stretched from the
north in Port of Spain to the South in San Fernando. But, those pioneers
in the city of Port of Spain stood out for recognition because Port of
Spain the capital and the major carnival metropolis. Also, the steelpan
has always been intrinsically linked to carnival. The panologists will
have to settle that dispute. What is certain is that Africans created the steelpan in Trinidad.
The 1930s were
the years of African and Indian resistance in Trinidad against the
inhuman, uncivilized and barbaric conditions imposed upon them by British
colonization. As a result, there were riots in the Sugar Cane and Oil
industries that employed Indians and Africans respectively. The British
introduced martial law to suppress the riots. Each step of the resistance
brought incremental changes. But, the Africans and Indians persevered. It
was that hostile environment during the years from 1939 through 1945,
which gave birth to the modern steelband. And, from 1945 to 1960 the
modern steelband was consolidated.
The British
colonized Trinidad and Tobago and ruled the twin-islands through 1956. Previously, two former colonialists, France and Spain, ruled the
twin-islands. In 1956, self-government was introduced to the people of
Trinidad and Tobago and a new political party called the Peoples National
Movement (PNM) was formed. In 1956, the PNM took over the reigns of
self-government under the leadership of the late Dr. Eric Eustace
Williams. Dr. Williams, a former island scholarship winner, Oxford
graduate, scholar and historian, became the first Premier of the
twin-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago.
In 1962, Dr.
Williams became the nation’s first Prime Minister. In 1986, he died after
leading the nation and his party for an unbroken thirty years. The longest
unbroken reign for any democratic leader. His contribution to the
steelband movement was the initiation of a steelband association to
represent the affairs of the steelband movement. Under his leadership the
government contributed financial assistance to the steelband movement. It
was also the first time that a local government placed financial
assistance to the steelband in its annual budget. Also, he organized the
local businesses to sponsor the various steelbands granting them tax
relief for doing so. Later, he would grant many steelbands space on lands
that the government controlled to open their panyards.
“Trinidad and
Tobago
Will always
live on
Colonialism
gone
Our nation
is born
We go follow
our leader
They always
do their best . . . .”
Sparrow
On August 31,
1962, Trinidad and Tobago was granted political independence from Britain. But, the ruling classes continued to view the steelband movement as a
necessary nuisance only to be tolerated during the carnival celebrations. After carnival, the local radio stations banned steelband and local music
on the radio. During the Lenten season, for forty days and nights, the two
local radio stations Radio Trinidad and Radio Guardian refused to play
steelband and calypso music. Even in some homes children were forbidden to
sing a calypso tune during the Lenten season.
As a result,
calypso and particularly the steelband, were relegated in the peoples'
consciousness primarily to the carnival celebrations. That perception
would continue to haunt their acceptance as normal art forms way into the
future when attempts were made to play calypso and steelband music
throughout the year rather than only during the carnival season. The high
record sales that occurred during the carnival celebrations seemed to drop
drastically after the carnival season ended. After carnival, the fervor
that gripped the people evaporated until the next year. The large crowds
that attended the panyards, supported the Panorama competitions and
assisted the Steelbands on the road for carnival disappeared.
In 1976, Trinidad
and Tobago adopted a republican form of government thus ending the
monarchial system that it inherited from Britain. It replaced the Governor
General, as representative of the Queen of England, with a President. But,
in spite of the new republicanism, most of the upper and middle classes
and especially the local elite still did not consider the steelpan to be a
serious instrument. During elections the politicians would make several
promises to aid and assist the steelband movement. But, the majority of
the support for the steelband movement came from the ordinary African and
Indian citizens, the two largest groups in the country. The African and
Indian upper classes, the Chinese and the local white population gave very
little support to the steelband movement. To the contrary, they did
everything in their power to stiffle the growth of the steelband movement. One of the ways they attempted to do this was to ban the playing of
steelband music during the Lenten season for 40 days and forty nights.
The leadership
structure of the steelband was unconsciously based on the old African
hierarchy system. The steelband was governed by a group of elders in the
community and a Captain was elected as leader/chief of the steelband. The
captain was the Chief of the steelband and the steelband was the tribe. But, he was also accountant, pan-tuner, musical arranger and lead 'badjohn.' He led the steelband with an iron fist. But, he was unselfish with the
steelband. He gave the steelband all his time, money, creativity and
sometimes his life. He lived for his steelband, most times neglecting his
family. His passion for his steelband knew no bounds.
The Captain
ruled with the help of a Committee that consisted of a secretary,
treasurer and two or three trustees. Although the committee had some
powers of persuasion yet, the Captain was the man in charge and everyone
knew that. He was a benevolent dictator who was in total control of his
steelband. He exercised his authority in the following ways: he chose the
tune for the steelband festivals, the 'mas' to be played on Carnival days
and the fetes in which to play. There was to be no dispute and his word
was final. There was no appeal to his decisions. In most cases he was a
benevolent dictator. Those who questioned his authority faced suspension
from the steelband. Sometimes, dissenters were banished or temporarily
banned from a steelbands because they challenged the Captain’s orders and
had to leave the community and reside elsewhere. Two cases in particular
come to mind. The first case was when a few members of the Desperadoes
Steelband Orchestra had a disagreement with Rudolph Charles, the band's
leader. As a result, they decided to leave the band and open their own
steelband a few blocks away from the Desperadoes Steelband Orchestra. When
Rudolph heard about it he went immediately to their panyard and smashed
their pans shouting, "The hill has room for only one steelband and that is
Despers." That ended the dissent.
The second
notable case that I know of was when panists from Trinidad All Stars Steel
Orchestra ‘stage side’ obtained a contract to play at the Trinidad Hilton
Hotel. After a few months, a few members complained that all the panists
from the orchestra should be given an opportunity to play at the hotel
since it was an opportunity to make some money. That led to an argument
between the 'stage side' and the other panists. The Captain, Neville
Jules, called a special meeting to discuss the matter. At the meeting he
decided that there would be a rotation of the panists to give everyone an
opportunity to share in the financial rewards of the job. The 'stage side'
members disagreed with his decision and left the orchestra. Of course,
they lost the contract at the Hilton Hotel. The dissenters formed a new
steelband called Boston Symphony Steel Orchestra. Their Captain was
Winston Gordon. They opened their panyard on Piccadilly Street at the
corner of Laventille Road.
As a result, the
Captain banned some of the dissenters from returning to the Trinidad All
Stars Steelband. Boston Symphony lasted for two years. After the steelband
disbanded, some of the panists joined other steelbands, a few returned to
Trinidad All Stars while some migrated to the United States and Canada and
some stopped playing pan altogether.
Steelband Captains
were chosen for life and their word was the law. Some steelbands had a
group of community elders who advised the Captain. As long as they
supported the Captain he was untouchable. At times they would replace him
but that was seldom. Most Captains led their steel orchestras until they
died, migrated or retired. The Captaincy was always male. He was trusted
and the members depended on his wisdom and bravery. He settled all
disputes among members of the orchestra. Some of the famous steelband
Captains were: Rudolph Charles aka Charlo (Desperadoes), Neville Jules
(Trinidad All Stars), Ellie Mannette (Invaders), Philmore 'Boots' Davidson
and Kenny Hart (City Syncopators), Michigan (City Symphony) Oscar Pile aka
Bogart (Casablanca), Winthrop Thomas (Joyland Synco), Kim Loy (Hilanders),
Earl Rodney (Harmonites), Stephen Nicholas aka Goldteeth (Renegades),
Arthur Byer (Sunland) and Anthony Williams (North Stars).
It has been a
long hard struggle for the panist. He began as a pingpong man, then he
became a steelbandman, then he was called a panman and finally he became a
panist. That title gave him a new status as a musician. But, the panist is
yet to achieve the social and economic status for creating the national
instrument of Trinidad and Tobago. In the 1960s and up to the late 1970s,
the steelband was considered a community band. The panists were mostly
young unemployed men who came together to form a steelband. In the early
days women did not play the steelpan. Most of the panists were men who
struggled without recognition and respect to give a voice to their
creation. They were never paid for their skills. Even today, the only
people who make any money from the steelband are the pan-tuners, arrangers
and businesses that sponsor the steelbands. Today, few panists like Robert
Greenidge, Len 'Boogsie' Sharpe, Rudy 'Two Left' Smith, Othello Molineaux
and Andy Narell are lucky to carve out a financial existence. In the
beginning of the steelband movement, most pan tuners and arrangers belonged
to the individual steelband. They tuned the instruments and arranged
pieces for the steelband. But, an exception was made for the bi-annual
Music Festivals. During that time the steelbands would hire a trained
musician (most times from the Police Band) to arrange and conduct the
classical piece to be performed at the festival.
During the
1950s, 1960s and throughout the early 1970s the relationship with in-house
pan tuners and arrangers gave the steelbands their individual tones. On a
carnival day you could tell which steelband you were listening to without
seeing that steelband. You knew its sound. It seems that each steelband
had a sound unique to its arranger. In the West, steelbands like Invaders
and Starlift were distinguishable from the rest. In the South, steelbands
like Cavaliers and Hatters had their individual sound. In the East,
steelbands like Flamingoes and Cordettes each had their own sound. In Port
of Spain All Stars, Despers, Casablanca and Syncopators were
distinguishable from the rest. In those days no two steelbands sounded
alike.
In the late
1970s, that distinction began to change as the Panorama competition became
the main outlet for the steelbands. In order to be competitive, some
steelbands started hiring outside tuners and arrangers. Popular arrangers
like Len 'Boogsie' Sharpe, Ken ‘Professor’ Philmore, Clive Bradley and Ray
Holman were in demand. Tuners like Bertie Marshall, Coker, Lincoln, Butch Kellman became absentee tuners for some steelbands. The fact that tuners
and arrangers were now hired created a new relationship between tuners and
arrangers and the steelband. Before, the integration of the tuner and
arranger with the steelband was an important relationship as it gave the
steelband control of the tuner and arranger. Also, they were loyal and
available to the steelband twenty-four hours and most times for free. That
relationship was lost when the tuners and arrangers started to migrate to
other steelbands. Now, steelbands seek the popular tuners as Butch Kellman,
Bertie Marshall, Wallace Austin and Linclon Noel and hire them to tune
their instruments.
The resident
tuner is a thing of the past. Still, few steelbands are able to keep an
in-house tuner and arranger. Steelbands like Desperadoes (Bertie
Marshall), Phase II (Roland Harrigin) and Renegades (Butch Kellman) are
the only steelbands that can lay claim to that luxury. The arrangers have
become an integral part of the steelband movement because their
arrangements give the steelbands the opportunity to enter the various
steelband competitions. The arranger is hired for the Panorama festival. He is not concerned with any particular sound for the steelband. The
businesses that sponsor the steelbands receive free advertisements and tax
breaks from the government. As a result, they are willing to assist their
sponsored steelband to pay the pan tuner and arranger since entering and
winning the Panorama competition gives that steelband media coverage and
public exposure which becomes a windfall for businesses. Hence, every
steelband with their sponsor seek the tuning services of the popular pan
tuners.
As stated
earlier, in the beginning the steelbands did not pay the panists. In later
years, some steelbands were able to pay the panists from the monies they
received from playing in the parties and carnival band fees. In the 1960s
and 1970s, during the carnival season, most of the steelbands played in
the carnival parties. But, every panist had to play the first year without
any payment before he received any money. And, most of the time, whatever
money the steelbands made from parties or carnival band fees were used to
maintain the orchestra by buying or tuning new instruments. It was not
until the 1980s, with the arrival of pan soloists like Robert Greenidge,
Ken Philmore, Liam Teague, Len 'Boogsie' Sharpe, Rudy 'Two Left' Smith,
Andy Narell and Othello Molineaux, that panists started to receive any
real financial reward for their talent. Throughout the years, those
soloists were able to produce records and CDs to display their skills.
Today, whatever
money the band collects is used to hire a musical arranger for the
Panorama competition and/or a pan tuner to tune the instruments. The
arranger and the pan tuner sign a contract with the sponsor of the
steelband and are paid by that sponsor. Their services are mainly used for
the Panorama competition or the musical festival that is held bi-annually. After the Panorama and music festival competitions they leave the
steelband until the next year when their services are needed again. The
cost to arrange a tune for the Panorama competition and prepare the
steelband far exceeds the prize money the winning steelband receives
because pan tuning and arranging are expensive. The steelbands that are
fortunate to have a sponsor are able to meet both financial demands. But,
for most steelbands the competition is not cost effective. Steelbands are
always in the red in their finances.
In the early
days, there were a few favorite panists in each steelband who attracted a
popular following. Those panists were known for their extraordinary pan
skills and playing abilities. During rehearsals people would gather close
to their favorite panist and watch and cheered as he played his
instrument. The panist was treated as a rock star is today. On carnival
days, the steelbands would put their pans together on steel racks with
wheels and traveled throughout the city. The pans would be clustered
together according to the similarity of the instruments. So, they would
put the tenor pans together, the bass pans together and so on. The
steelband members would pull those racks. And, people would pull those
racks through the streets sometimes all day and night until the carnival
festival was over. Many would assist their favorite panist. Some of the
favorite and popular panists were Rupert Alexander, Guns and Shoreland,
bass (Trinidad All Stars); Knolly Shine and Kelvin Hart, tenor pan,
Russell Carter, bass and Roy ‘Black Roy’ Phillip, guitar pan (City
Syncopators); Spongy, bass (City Symphony); Emmanuel 'Corbeaux Jack'
Riley, tenor pan (Invaders) and Ancil 'Dumpling' Graves, double seconds
(Boston Symphony).
A young man is
standing behind his tenor pan playing a few notes. A second young man
accompanies him playing the bass pan. A third young man is playing the
cello pan. A fourth young man is beating an iron keeping time for the
band. Another young man is playing the guitar pan. Some young men are
assisting with the cleaning of the yard. A few women are cooking. And, a
few young men are hanging out talking. The pan tuner is preparing some
discarded oil drums to be made into steelpans. He begins by cutting the
drum to the required length. Next, he prepares a fire in the open panyard
to burn the oil out of the drum. Then, he sinks the drum. Again, he
grooves out the notes on the drum. Next, he burns the drum once more for a
longer period. Lastly, he tunes each note to the required pitch. The scene
could be an African making a drum in a village in Africa. But, it is 20th
century Trinidad in the panyard of the City Syncopators Steelband
Orchestra, one of the top steelbands 'behind the bridge,' in the East Dry
River community.
The nucleus of
the steelband movement was the panyard. The panyard was the place where
the steelbands practiced and housed their instruments. It was there that
an insignificant steeldrum would rise like the phoenix through the fires
and hammered and tempered by the tuners to be transformed into the
steelpan. It was the hub of all steelband activity. The panyard
was usually a space carved out in a yard that was either owned by the
captain of the band, a band member or band supporter, who permitted its
use.
Most of the
panyards were constructed from wood and covered with rusty galvanize. Others were constructed from concrete with iron gates. Sometimes it would
be a part of government lands that the government permitted the steelbands
to use. Other times, it would be a private unused lot. The panyard was the
home of the steelband. The panyard was the center of all activities for
the steelband. There was activity six days a week. On Sunday the panyard
was empty. During the week, panists would gather every day and night to
rehearse their tunes, discuss various things and meet women. The panyard
was also a place of recreational activity. It was the center of musical
activity in the community. Also, the panyard was a place of safety.
During the
Carnival celebrations, the panyard was filled with excitement and gaiety
as the orchestra prepared for the Panorama competition. As the steelbands
rehearsed their tunes of choice for the Panorama competition hundreds of
people would gather outside the panyards overlaying into the streets to
listen and encourage the steelbands to do their best. During practice
sessions a few of the women members of the steelband would cook and the
captain would provide beverages and alcoholic drinks. People would eat and
drink all night until the practice sessions were over. The panyard was
also a place for people to meet and socialize during the day. As the day
of the Panorama competitions approached the whole community would be
excited. From that moment on, the community concentrated on one thing, the
Panorama competition. During the carnival season people would travel
to different communities to listen to the various steelbands.
Steelband music is the greatest talent today." Terror
During the
1960s, most of the steelbands in the country was situated in the East Dry
River district known as “Behind the Bridge”. The area boasted of
steelbands like Desperadoes, City Syncopators, Joyland Synco, Hilanders,
Stereophonics, Boston Symphony, City Symphony, Melo Stars, Tokyo and
Renegades. Those ten steelbands occupied the area beginning from Mango
Rose at Piccadilly Street and ending all the way to the top of Laventille
Hill at the Laventille Community Centre that the Desperadoes Steel
Orchestra used as their panyard. In those days most of the young people
behind the bridge played pan or 'mas' on carnival day with one of those
steelbands. The era of the carnival 'mas' bands like Savage, Peter
Minshall and Poison had not yet arrived.
The steelband
orchestra consists of many steelpan instruments. Its repertoire is made up
of calypsos, classical, latin and religious music. In the late 1940s,
Ellie Mannette created his styling of the soprano (tenor) pan and changed
the design to concave with convex note-dents and increased the number of
notes in the pan. The years 1938-1939 is considered the "birth" years of
the steelband movement. Between 1939 and 1945, the first melody pans with
three to eight tones were introduced. In 1945, the first real steelbands
came on the road during the carnival celebrations. In 1946, the Invaders
Steel Orchestra was reported to be the first steelband to organize 'mas'
on the road.
In 1951, a
National Steel Orchestra was formed. Its mission was to take steelband
music abroad. This new steelband orchestra was called the Trinidad All
Steel Percussion Orchestra (TASPO). It consisted of panists from the
various steelbands. Some of the panists that were a part of TASPO were:
Anthony Williams, Philmore Davidson, Patsy Haynes and Sterling Betancourt. Trinidad All Stars Steelband did not join TASPO
because they did not belong to the Steelband Association. TASPO made
two trips to Britain, the first in 1951 and the second in 1954.
Both trips were memorable. The orchestra played at all the leading
concert halls and received rave reviews. In the 1960s, another
National Steelband Orchestra was formed. That orchestra traveled
as far as Africa spreading pan-music to the world. By the late
1970s the National Steel Orchestra was no more. The winner of the
Panorama competition became the new Pan Ambassador. The winning
steelband now receives, as part of their first prize, a trip abroad to
represent pan-music.
In the 1960s,
Anthony Williams created his 'spider pan' design with 4ths and 5ths
musical notations for the steelpan. Since the 1970s, most calypsonians
sing a calypso about the steelpan or the steelband. Today, there are over
one hundred and thirty-five conventional steelband orchestras in Trinidad
and Tobago. The conventional steelband consists of up to 100 panists
covering a tonal range almost equal to a grand piano. Today, the steelband
orchestra is comprised of the following instruments:
TENOR (SOPRANO)
DOUBLE SECONDS
CELLO PAN
(BARITONE)
DOUBLE TENORS
(ALTO)
GUITAR PAN
FOUR PAN
DOUBLE SECOND
(TENOR)
TRIPLE CELLO
(BARITONE)
TENOR BASS
SIX BASS
NINE BASS
QUADROPHONIC PAN
IRON
“Ah band mey
jaw
And I make
up mey mind for them
They ask for
war, so to solve it is no problem
Their crude
behavior I don't approve
They stepping
out of their grove
Renegades, Sparrow coming for you."
Sparrow
Some of the
steelbands had derivative gangs that were comprised of teenagers who lived
in the area and were either members or supporters of the steelband. There
were gangs like Spike Jones and later Thunderbirds from Desperadoes Steel
Orchestra; Lawbreakers from Renegades Steel Orchestra; Cliftones from
Casablanca Steel Orchestra; Applejackers from Blue Diamonds Steel
Orchestra and Silk Hats from City Symphony Steel Orchestra. Those
steelbands supported their teenage gangs in their gang fights. The other
steelbands had adult gangs and seldom supported their teenage gangs in
their gang fights. An exception was when the teenager was a relative or
paramour of one of the members of the steelband. Most of the time the
adults in the steelband were too busy with their own gang fights and had
no time for other fights.
There were
fights between steelbands like Desperadoes and Tokyo, Casablanca and
Invaders and Renegades and Invaders. Most of those gang fights would start
before Carnival and culminate on Carnival day creating panic throughout
the city of Port of Spain. The two most infamous of those steelband fights
were one in 1954 and another in 1959 between the Desperadoes Steelband
Orchestra and San Juan All Stars Steelband Orchestra. The fight in 1959
took place on Carnival Tuesday in front of the Port of Spain General
Hospital. The 1954 steelband fight was memorialized in calypso by the calypsonian Blakie in his 1954 calypso "Steelband Clash." Four years
later, Kitchener did the same about another fight in 1962 in his 1963
calypso "The Road".
The years 1960
through 1970 were the golden years of the steelband movement. Steelbands
like North Stars, Invaders, Desperadoes, Trinidad All Stars, Hilanders,
Cavaliers, Silver Stars, City Syncopators and Ebonites took the stage. Panists like Bertie Marshall and Anthony Williams experimented and
innovated in their attempt to improve the instrument. The 'Bomb'
competition was introduced. At the 'Bomb' competition, all the Steelbands
would gather at Independence Square and play classical pieces or popular
tunes, sometimes jazz, in calypso timing. The 'Bomb' competition took
place early Jouvert morning on Carnival Monday. Some of the more memorable
'bomb' tunes were: "In a Persian Market" and "Bacarolle" by Trinidad All
Stars; "Roses from the South" by Ebonites; "Theme from King and I" and
"Carmen" by Invaders; “Czardus" and "Theme from the Sound of Music" by
Desperadoes; "I Feel Pretty" and "Adagio in C" by Starlift; "Moonlight
Serenade" “Night and Day” and “Cindy” by City Symphony; "Gypsy Rondo" and
"Let Ever'y Valley be Exalted" by Hilanders; "Theme from Doctor Zhivago"
and "Ghosts Riders in the Sky" by Silver Stars and "Theme from Ten
Commandments" and “Malaguena” by City Syncopators. City Syncopators was
the first steelband in which I played mas. Most Trinbagonians may not
remember the City Syncopators Steel Orchestra. But, ‘Synco’ holds two
distinctions in the history of the steelband movement.
First, Synco
holds the distinction for playing one of the largest sailor bands (I say
the largest) in Carnival history: “USS Detroit-Sailors on Leave.” Others
say that the Tokyo Steelband played the largest sailor band: “USS Skip
Jack”. Some still claim that Trinidad All Stars played the largest sailor
band: “USS Fleets In”. Regarding Tokyo, I say that they were large because
two steelbands joined with them to bring the sailor band. As to Trinidad
All Stars I leave that up to the panologists.
At the time
Synco played “USS Detroit” the band was situated at the home of its
captain Kenny Hart in the Crescent at the top of Quarry Street, near
Lastique Street. I remember it as if it was yesterday. It was a carnival
Tuesday morning. As I stood on Quarry Street I never saw so many sailors
in a band before. I walked from the top of Lastique Street down Quarry
Street into Observatory Street and stopped at Royal cinema at the corner
of Charlotte Street. There were sailors stretching for over two miles from
side to side on the road. There were sailors of every description. What a
spectacle! At that time, the late Philmore ‘Boots’ Davidson was the band’s
top bassman. Boots was one of the pioneers who traveled to England with
the Trinidad Steel Percussion Orchestra (TASPO) in the 1950s. Boots also
created the six bass. Previously, the steelbands played the four bass. I
was privileged to see him create it. City Syncopators entered the First
Musical Festival held at Roxy cinema. Their soloist was Kelvin Hart. He
played the tune Stardust and won.
As a child I
used to visit Boots at his parents’ home on LaResource Street, a block
away from my home. His mother and my grandmother were good friends. As a
child growing up behind the bridge I was always fascinated with the steelpan and the music but could not join any steelband because my
grandparents did not approve. In those days most, if not all, parents
disapproved of the steelband movement. Nevertheless, I would sneak away to
the panyards. Every afternoon after school I visited Boots under his
mother’s house where he tuned the bass pans. I watched him as he cut the
drums, burn them, sink them and drew the notes on each drum to create his
masterpiece. Lastly, he hammered out each note. Philmore ‘Boots’ Davidson
was a pioneer in the steelband movement. Later, Synco had a split. The
younger panists left the band to form Joyland Synco under the captaincy of
Winthrop Thomas. Some of the Joyland panists were: Gunga Din, the Ash
brothers Herbert and Dennis (Tash), Juicy (Boldface brother), George,
Change and Knolly Shine. Joyland lasted for two years when Winthrop left
to form a musical combo called Five Fingers. After that the band
broke up. Gunga Din and Tash joined Desperadoes.
Second, City
Syncopators earned the distinction of having outplayed the best steelband,
North Stars, at the 1966 Music Festival held at Queens Hall. Both
steelbands played the same tune of choice ‘Poet and Peasant’ an overture
piece by Franz Von Suppe. North Stars’ arranger was Anthony
Williams. Synco’s arranger was Anthony Lynch from the police band. Even though Lynch
did not play the steelpan he had a similar personality as Williams. Both
men were soft spoken, gentle but very competitive. And, they never sought
the limelight. But, Lynch‘s arrangement of ‘Poet and Peasant’ won the
Margaret Russell trophy, (named after the wife of the festival’s
Adjudicator John Russell) for tune of choice, outplaying North Stars. But,
North Stars won the overall competition. Some of the panists who played at
the festival were: Selwyn McSween, Curtis McSween, Pecky, Bounsin, Roland
Harrigin, Russell Carter, Andrew Barnett, Pecky, Morris Miller, Chubby
Nichols, (Captain), Earl, Cecil, Fitzroy ‘Colpoke’ Holder, Roy ‘Black Roy’
Phillip, Sealy, South and Ranga.
During the
1960s, the Hilanders Steelband Orchestra played in one of the country's
most prestigious churches, the Catholic Cathedral. Under the leadership of
Reverend John Sewell, an Anglican Minister from the Holy Trinity Church,
the band played pieces from Bach, Handel and other European composers. It
was well received by the parishioners although it was the first time that
a steelband orchestra played music in a church. And, it was historic since
the church was one of the biggest impediments to the steelband movement. It considered the steelpan an instrument of the devil. Its teachings
barred its followers from truly appreciating the national instrument. That
sentiment still holds true for some people today.
By 1963, the
steelband became a permanent part of the annual Carnival celebrations. It
was also the year that the steelbands held their first Panorama
competition. Steelbands from all over the country competed against one
another for the Panorama championship. The winning Steelband received
money and a prize trip abroad. It was a time when steelbands used members
from the orchestra to arrange their tunes for the Panorama competition. Steelbands viewed winning the panorama competition as the hallmark of
their musical prowess. They took it very seriously and saw losing as a
sign that they were lacking true musical excellence.
Also, during the
Christmas holidays, the steelbands rendered concerts in the public square. Those concerts were first held at the Governor General's House, now
President's House and then later at Woodford Square where the steelbands
played the annual favorite Christmas songs and Carols for the general
public. The Square became famous after the first and now deceased Prime
Minister Dr. Eric E. Williams renamed it the University of Woodford Square
due to the nightly political meetings he held there when he ran for
election. Since he considered the meetings an opportunity to educate the
masses he felt the new name University was fitting.
The concerts
were called "Classics and Carols." During the week, people would gather at
those concerts from 7:00 o'clock in the evening until late into the night
listening to one of the top steelbands playing their favorite Christmas
song or Carol. Sometimes there would be three steelbands performing. One
of the memorable steelband concerts was the one performed by Pan Am North
Stars Steelband Orchestra in Woodford Square. The concerts stopped in 1970
as some panists turned to the 1970 Black Power revolution.
Beginning in the
late 1940s through the 1980s the steelband movement saw five major
innovations: (1) Development of the instrument. (2) Steelband
Organization. (3) Festivals. (4) Panorama and Festival Compositions by panists. (5) Chroming of the instrument. Those changes became the
structure for the steelband movement that we know today. Other changes,
like size of the steelband orchestra and number of panists in the Panorama
competition would later define the steelband movement.