Alston Jack
Alston Jack (photo: AJ)

Alston Jack

Steelband Music Writer, Composer, Arranger & Recording Artist


Alston Jack - aka  “Lil Jack” - a native from the isle of Tobago, has been passionate about the steeldrum since he was 9 years old, when he became a member of the Tobago All Stars Steel Orchestra. The steeldrum was an almost immediate attraction for him. It was not long before he, like so many before him, began experimenting with the instrument.

Seeking a greater challenge, the double second panist became a member of Renegades Steel Orchestra in 1967, but remained with the band for only one season and then found himself being drawn to the famous Laventille hills’ cross-town rivals, Desperadoes.

There he met pan patriot Rudolph Charles, who became a mentor to Alston because he understood the instrument, the culture. “He brought passion to the movement,” Jack says.

As a member of Desperadoes Steel Orchestra, Alston Jack was able to tour many places with them including New York city where he stayed and made his second home. In New York he studied piano and voice theory at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music and Theory and the Third Street Music School Settlement.

Jack’s pan compositions have been featured on the soundtracks of Fatal Attraction, Working Girl and NBC’s daytime soap opera Another World. He has also appeared on the Cosby Show and Another World. He has arranged for bands in New York such as Harlem All Stars, Moods Pan Groove, Metro, Women in Steel, Tropicans and Pantonic.


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Alston Jack (photo courtesy of AJ)

Alston Jack

 


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