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Gregory Boyd
Denmark - Whether performing with Ashish Khan the world’s foremost Sarod Master or opening for Bob Dylan, or performing at New York’s Lincoln Center, Boyd has always had one mission; to do things a little differently; a little off the beaten path. When Boyd decided to join the US Navy and perform in the US Navy Steel Drum Band, this ethic was truly put to the test. Deciding that the normal usage of performing Caribbean Steel Drums was not enough, Boyd set out to recreate the instrument and use it in as many different ways he possibly could, all the while singing and performing as many different musical styles as possible in order to gain a rich understanding of what the instrument can and will do.
Through the years Boyd has been called a Steel Drum Master, an excellent singer and an exciting entertainer. A true visionary with an instrument that has only been created over the middle of the 20th century and mainly used in the Caribbean idiom. Boyd has lived for many years in New Orleans, Louisiana, a music vortex that provided him with the impetus to grow as a performer and to realize, take part in and to be initiated into some of the very foundations of American Music. Boyd has befriended many star Steel Panists and musicians along the way: Othello Molineaux, Rudy Smith, Charles Neville, Cyril Neville, Charmaine Neville, Michael Ray, Dr. John and his own teacher and pan tuner, the “father” of steel drums Ellie Mannette.
Boyd has worked with composer Richard Peaslee, with the critically acclaimed Modern Ballet Feu Follet touring and performing with the Elise Monte Dance Company in the USA and Europe. During this time Gregory Boyd along with choreographer Karen Schulda created Renverser Repertory Ballet in New Orleans where Gregory Boyd’s first classical works “3rd Contemplation”, “Suite for Pan” and “Rajah“ were set to modern ballet.
While living in Denmark EU, Gregory Boyd has performed with many known musicians, namely: Kim Menzer, Klaus Menzer, Butch Lacy, Pierre Dørge and has recorded with Jesper Bodilsen among others. Through these relations, Boyd has created a firm foundation whereby he can learn from the past all the while pushing toward what his steel drum influenced sound will become in the future.
“Of course all of this has nothing to do with reality. The reality is that I love music and have been blessed to be a part of some of the best musical situations that I could have ever dreamed of being a part of. There was one gig in particular, when I was performing with Michael Ray and the Cosmic Krewe. If you check my bio you will see this is one of the gigs where I was called a steel drum master for the first time. This is a title that has always left me haunted and kind of in awe that someone would say such a thing. But, it is also something that has gotten me through a lot of doors before impenetrable. At any rate, at this show - in fact it was the Syracuse Jazz Festival and we performed with the Full Sun Ra Orchestra right after Sun Ra passed on - I was playing my pan in the go and grab the notes kind of fashion, and I look down and Marshall Allen was blowing some of the most outrageous stuff I had heard a saxophone ever do. For the first time I started to understand a bit more about Coltrane and what he was doing. This set my path a bit different from that point.”
“Music is such a funny thing because, there are times when you feel you are controlling it and what ever you come up with in your mind is what every one else wants to hear. Then there are times when you are not sure whether you’re even supposed to be up there doing it. That is when God steps in and straightens things out for you, I think (he he).”
“Currently I am teaching at a Royal Danish Conservatory of Music here in Denmark. The course is called “The Origins of Funk” with emphasis on the Mardi Gras Indians of New Orleans. I am also considering a classical piece for Steel Pan Solo and Orchestra.”
For more Information and CD sample >> gregoryboyd.dk
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