Music from behind the Bridge: Steelband Aesthetics and Politics in Trinidad and Tobago

326 Pages·2007·6.63 MB·English

by  Shannon Dudley

MUS C FROM BEH ND THE BR DGE
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MUST
FROM BEHIND
THE BRIDGE
Steelband Spirit and Politics in Trinidad and Tobago
SHANNON DUDLEY
OXPORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
2008
OXJORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dudley, Shannon.
Music from behind the bridge : steelband spirit and politics
in Trinidad and Tobago / Shannon Dudley.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references, discography, and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-517547-9; 978-0-19-532123-4 (pbk.)
1. Steel band music—Trinidad and Tobago—History and criticism.
2. Steel bands (Music)—Trinidad and Tobago—History. 3. Popular
music—Social aspects—Trinidad and Tobago. I. Title.
ML3486.T7D84 2007
785'.680972983—dc22 2007007035
987654321
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
To Cliff Alexis,
To Zigilee,
And to my children,
Agueda and Gabriel
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My deepest gratitude goes to my wife, Marisol Berrios-Miranda, from
whom I have learned so much about music and about what it means to be
from the Caribbean, and who is an excellent judge of what is important in
scholarship and what is not. The criticism and encouragement I received in
the last phase of writing this book from my mother, Anna Carol Dudley, and
my brother, David, also helped complete a beautiful circle through which,
after exploring far beyond my cultural "roots," I found myself firmly an-
chored by them again. David also did the wonderful illustrations in appen-
dix 1.1 am lucky to have such a family.
The other essential contributors to this project are the panmen and pan-
women of Trinidad and Tobago who welcomed me, taught me, and shared
their music, knowledge, and spirit with me. They are far too many to list
here, but I thank them all, collectively, from my heart. Many of them are
quoted in this book, or referred to as people with whom I shared memo-
rable experiences, and I would like the reader to remember that what I know
about pan is what they have taught me. A few of them I must mention by
name, beginning with Cliff Alexis, my teacher for two years (during which I
thought I was going to become a tuner) and my friend ever since. Ray Hoi-
man, another friend, and colleague for two years as visiting artist at the Uni-
versity of Washington, helped me immeasurably. Patrick Arnold welcomed
me to arrange and play with his band, Our Boys, first in San Francisco and
then in Tobago; later, as Pan Trinbago president, he opened doors for my
research. I am deeply grateful to Godwin Bowen, the late Clive Bradley,
Harold and Kenrick Headley, Len "Boogsie" Sharpe, and Jit Samaroo, all of
whom taught me their music, encouraged me, and shared their profound
understanding of the steelband art form with me. I have also been honored
to have the opportunity to speak at length over the years with several of the
steelband movement elders, including Neville Jules, Ellie Mannette, and the
late Carleton "Zigilee" Constantine, a man whose spirit left an impression
on me. Finally I want to thank Michael "Mannish" Robinson and the Mafu
twins, three of my first band mates in Trinidad and valued companions in
many rehearsals and limes over the years since. Here in the United States I
viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
have also played music with some people whose artistry and spirit helped me
understand better what I was writing about. First and foremost among these
is the great C. K. Ladkekpo, who was both a musical and intellectual mentor
during my graduate years at Berkeley. During the past decade in Seattle, I
have also had the good fortune to play my pan regularly with Gary Gibson,
Jeff Busch, Ganga Clamangou, and (once again) my dear wife, Marisol.
Other good friends helped this project in various ways. Rawle Gibbons,
Mike Philips, and my sister Dominique Cyrille read my manuscript and pro-
vided wonderful feedback and encouragement. Dr. Anne Osborne, director
of music programs at the University of the West Indies, was always quick
to help with research questions over e-mail. Kim Johnson and Stephen
Stuempfle shared transcripts of their interviews and writings in an exem-
plary spirit of scholarly collegiality. Alvin Daniell was my "go-to" guy in
Trinidad for many kinds of help and information. And George Arnold,
Laura and Jimmy Kissoon, and Ray Holman and his son Dale provided me
a place to stay in Trinidad.
Trinidadian institutions that aided in my research include the University of
the West Indies (especially the Festival Centre for the Arts), the National Ar-
chives, and the recording library of the National Broadcasting System. At the
University of Washington, I must first thank Eiko Nagahama, whose under-
graduate thesis on women in Trinidad steelbands was an important source of
information for me, and who helped me with my fieldwork in 2000, and shot
some of the Panorama photos in this book. Undergraduate students Brian
Bensky and Hillary Funk, as well as librarians Debbie Pierce and John Gibbs,
provided invaluable help with research on repertoire. And graduate students
in my seminars helped me with the intellectual work of theorizing my re-
search and putting it into a broader scholarly perspective. I am also indebted
to the Simpson Center for the Humanities at the University of Washington
and to the Royalty Research Fund for financial and intellectual support. My
earliest and most extended research in Trinidad was made possible by a Ful-
bright fellowship. And of course neither this book nor my career would have
been possible without my teachers at the University of California at Berkeley,
especially Oily Wilson and Bonnie Wade. The contributions of other scholars
to my thinking and research will, I hope, be obvious to the reader.
For help with publication I want to thank Cliff Alexis, Patrick Arnold,
Dawn Batson, Gerald Charles, Norman Darway, Ron Emritt, Jocelyne Guil-
bault, Aurelie Helmlinger, Kim Johnson, and Liam Teague for helping me
procure photographs. At Oxford University Press, I am especially grateful to
Kim Robinson for taking this project on and pitching it successfully to the
press, and to the other editors, designers, and staff who shepherded it
through to completion, especially Norm Hirschy and Christine Dahlin.
Thank you all, and may you all share in whatever success this book has!
CONTENTS
ILLUSTRATIONS xi
1 Introduction 3
2 The Steelband Movement and Music 29
3 An Unlikely Instrument 57
4 The National Instrument 81
5 Dropping the Bomb 113
6 A Showcase for Pan 137
7 The Rise of the Arranger 151
8 Community Participation 173
9 Contest and Control 201
10 Writing Their Own Tunes 223
11 From Panman to Pannist
243
12 Popular Culture and Nationalism 263
Appendix I Steel Pan Instruments
275
Appendix II Repertoire 287
Appendix III Panorama Winners, 1963-2007 291