An Exclusive When Steel Talks Interview with Emmanuel “Jack”
Riley 
tap/click for bio of Emmanuel “Jack” RileyAs an integral member of the steelband culture and movement, Jack Riley wears at least three hats. He creates the pan instrument - hammering and shaping by hand discarded 55-gallon steel drums then turns to the next phase - tuning the pans and finally turning out a fully handcrafted musical instrument. Jack is a great improvisational steelpan player and renowned soloist. Having received accolades as a creator of and performer on the steelpan, he has the unique distinction of one who can truly be hailed as the “Master” of the Steelpan instrument.
Emmanuel ‘Jack’ Riley told how in the 1940s as a child of only three years he went into a store and was fascinated by a musical instrument. He grew up surrounded by music and delighted in listening to his father’s comprehensive record collection, which was to have tremendous impact in his musical style and finesse. He found himself drawn hypnotically to the steelpan so much so that this family moved him around to keep him away from the bands, only to find there was one practically around the corner wherever they sent him!
Emmanuel ‘Jack’ Riley told how in the 1940s as a child of only three years he went into a store and was fascinated by a musical instrument. He grew up surrounded by music and delighted in listening to his father’s comprehensive record collection, which was to have tremendous impact in his musical style and finesse. He found himself drawn hypnotically to the steelpan so much so that this family moved him around to keep him away from the bands, only to find there was one practically around the corner wherever they sent him!
In those days the instrument had just four or five notes when Jack and friends joined their first steelband - Hell’s-A-Poppin’ Port Royale. Mere teenagers, they soon tried to join Invaders, but were thought too young and so formed their own band - Green Eyes, which eventually became Sombrero. Beginning as a repairer of the pans when the police found them and punched holes through the drums in an effort to destroy the instruments, Jack Riley eventually became more rounded and extended his tasks to ‘tuning’ pans, bringing them back into musical shape. He and friend Mike Schneider started tuning for other bands, the first being Renegades. They eventually did join Invaders as teenagers, where he met Ellie Mannette who showed him how to refine his tuning skills.
Jack remembers how an Invaders’ pan player by the name of Sterling first came up with the concept of playing two pans together (forerunner of today’s “Second Pans” or “Double Seconds”), and brought his two pans which he wanted to play to Ellie, who went away and came back with a more refined concept of his idea -and the rest is history. He himself started out as a Tenor player and recounted one of his most memorable moments, though young and very shy, as playing a solo, back in the day when the orchestra played seated with the pans secured about the neck. Jack had to stand to render his solo. Later his pan instruments of choice became the Double Seconds.
He tuned for Invaders Steelband and eventually did the same for Desperadoes (he credits their leader the legendary Rudolph Charles aka the “Hammer” - for teaching him even more about the art of pan tuning). He also traveled with Desperadoes to Africa in the early 1960s. He was also part of the National Steelband of Trinidad and Tobago and toured with them to such places as North America, Europe and the 1967 World Expo in Canada, as both player and resident pan tuner.
Eventually his love for tuning pans won out, especially when he surmised he had reached his peak as a great pan soloist renowned for his dedication and dexterity. Pan tuning is a laborious process because of the initial sinking of the steel drums, and while he himself is accustomed to the work, he acknowledges that it would be encouraging and less daunting for would-be pan tuning apprentices, if there was a mechanical process for sinking pans. It would also have to be economical and basically accomplish that first phase with outcomes similar to those from the methods employed by Ellie Mannette with his own line of pans.
These days, occasionally Jack can be caught playing a Six-Bass at different events, while enjoying his work as a pan tuner, primarily for New York’s steel orchestras.
Additional info below posted with special permission from the BestOfTrinidad.com by Ronald C. Emrit - check link for potential updates
| DATE OF BIRTH: | December 25, 1934 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH: | Trinidad |
| EDUCATION: | Richmond Boys' EC School |
| STEELBANDS: |
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| SPECIALTIES: | • Tuner • Player |
| CAREER: Riley began his steelband career in 1952 with the Green Eyes Steelband in Woodbrook. He then joined Renegades where he learned to tune pans and gained his first job in 1954 when he tuned the pans for a Speyside, Tobago, steelband. He then joined the Invaders Steelband where he learned some of the finer techniques of pan-tuning under Ellie Mannette while gaining island-wide recognition for his capabilities as a soloist on the tenor and double-second pans. His unique phrasing and extemporaneous style set a standard that has never been surpassed. By the late-1950s, Riley's name and playing style had become synonymous with the Invaders Steelband, and his virtuoso playing drew crowds of listeners on the road during Carnival. Some of his solo works were captured for history in Invaders' recordings between 1958 and 1963, the most memorable of which were "Liebestraume" (Franz Lizst), "Melody in F" (Anton Rubinstein), and "Outcast" (Mighty Sparrow). Riley moved to the Desperadoes Steelband in 1964 and established a name for himself among the elite pan-tuners. He migrated to New York, USA, by the late-1960s where he continued to tune pans for numerous steelbands. | |
| Compiled by Ronald C. Emrit | |
