Alvin
Daniell is a qualified Mechanical Engineer by
profession and Director/Owner of the Air
Conditioning contracting firm, Comfort Engineering
Limited, which was founded in 1979. Despite this he
has been involved in music almost all of his life.
He is a composer, television presenter on cultural
events, and has served as an adjudicator for Calypso
Competitions, Pan Competitions, National and
Caribbean Song Festivals and various other cultural
competitions in Trinidad and throughout the
Caribbean. He has conducted workshops on Calypso and
Pan in Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, St. Lucia,
Antigua and Miami.
In the
seventies he began composing calypsos and is best
known for his joint compositions with Ray Holman of
"Pan on the Move" and "Pan on the Run". In the
eighties he also teamed up with Len "Boogsie" Sharpe
to produce a number of hits including "Rags to
Riches", "Carnival is Bacchanal" and "I like to beat
pan". In the nineties he co-wrote with "Boogsie" the
well known "Mind yuh Business" and "Misbehave" which
were sung by Denyse Plummer. He also worked with
Pelham Goddard to compose the Panorama prize winning
"Happy Song" and "Good News" sung by Roger George.
He was
the Chairman of the Copyright Organization of
Trinidad and Tobago from 1995 to 1999 and currently
he is the President of his own publishing company,
MAJOR & minor PRODUCTIONS LTD. Earlier this year he
was appointed Chairmen of a new State enterprise
company, Trinidad and Tobago Entertainment Company
(T&T Ent).
Between
1992 and 2000 he produced and presented weekly the
popular local program "Calypso Showcase" on national
television station, TTT, which featured interviews,
video clips and a live call in segment of
entertainment personnel. He maintains a
comprehensive database on calypso and steelband and
he also pioneered the local effort of computer
notation and publishing of calypsos and steelband
Panorama arrangements in Trinidad and Tobago. On May
15, 2003 he launched "Pan Potpourri" a new radio
program on Pan on Power 102 FM, a local radio
station. It ran for 28 weeks. He was recognized for
his contribution to Culture by the Government of
Trinidad and Tobago when he received the Humming
Bird Medal, a National Award, in 1995.
Each
year since 1995 he has produced a CD compilation of
songs composed with the pan in mind.”
