What could have so possessed Jules, Mannette, Spree Simon and all them fellas beating biscuit tin, garbage bin, anything they could find, in the 1930s/ 1940s, that this steelband thing they were after had value?
And you have to place that question in the context of the established society of the day that was forever shouting at them that they themselves were of little worth, far more for some crude, rustic thing they were attempting to fashion into something having value. What made these emerging steelband men and women trust in themselves, have confidence in their own capacity to make judgments about what had value and what did not? What? You will have to consider, too, the judgments exercised by these men and women of the 1930/40s, their will, their refusal to be persuaded by the standards and values of others, in the context of the colonial society of the period and how that governed relations and determined the path of the society, to fully appreciate the real achievements of the steelband pioneers.
How come these people, considered at best half-literates, ne'er-do-well, ignorant and violent, deemed so by many a magistrate before tossing them in jail, could have perceived of the possibilities of this steelband thing; could have ventured a thought that they could fashion something out of this invention of theirs; worse could have felt that they as products of a social underclass had sufficient of the human genius in them to make something of this noisy tin drum thing they were prepared to take police abuse and jail for? Consider Sparrow to get something of an appreciation of how the steelband man was viewed: "If yuh sister talk to ah steelband man, yuh family want to break she hand, put she out, lick out every teeth in she mouth, pass yuh outcast..." That meant them men who holding on to this pan thing could not even get anyone approaching a respectable woman; no sweetness, no comfort, no woman to walk with on Sunday afternoon with their best dan dan on. Is jest Jean and Dorothy for them.
In Dan is the Man, Sparrow testified that his own genius was salvaged because he did not buy-into the logic and values dispensed in the education system of the time. It is known that the vast majority of the early steelband pioneers had but a smattering of an early formal education. So the explanation for this belief in self could be found in the fact that the early pioneers of the pan did not absorb the values dispensed in the education system and so were able to turn to themselves, their natural and native instincts and knowledge of their forefathers and so were able to perceive the value of pursuing the evolution of the steelband. Maybe? The incredulity of the self-belief of these early panmen, arrangers, the badjohns who protected the development of the invention, the flag women, and the pan "pickuppers"–that is how the great Prince Batson once described himself to me, saying his job was to pick up pan, all kinds in the foreday morning and run through the Dry River with them for Jules to tune, avoiding as he ran the occasional police bootoo registering on his back.
These thoughts flooded my mind on the weekend as I looked, listened and admired the grandchildren of Jules, Mannette, Fisheye, Tampico, Mayfield and all the others playing themselves and their instruments on the Queen's Hall stage with a kind of confidence and panache that they could only have got from their forefathers. Tears ran freely as I looked at and listened to the young men and women and thoughts of those who sacrificed everything so that Trinidad All Stars, Desperadoes, Exodus, Cavaliers, North Stars, Tripoli, Tokyo, Invaders, Starlift, Renegades and all others could perform in this manner in concert halls of Europe, North America, Africa and Asia.
The tears increased when I thought of the children of Jules, and Mannette (I am referring to the likes of Boogsie, Holman, "Smooth" Edwards, Greenidge, Samaroo–no outside child that) who have taken the art of playing, arranging and composing to levels that probably could not have been conceived of. When All Stars culminated the evening's show with one of the most melodious and intricately woven of winning Panorama arrangements, Woman on the Bass–"This Indian chic tie she shut on she belly playing a sweet, sweet melody..."–all pretensions at enjoying the music quietly broke down. More so as one of the tenor women displayed Scrunter's motions with such easy facility; that was time to bawl and scream and get on bad, but I did not want to embarrass my family. The announcement came on the public address system that next year Trinidad All Stars would be celebrating 75 years of existence. What a hell of an achievement!
What an opportunity for Pan Trinbago and the rest of T&T to say a very public thank you to these pioneers, make those who are still with us feel fully appreciated for this steelband thing they have bequeath to us and the rest of the world.
And yes, we should not attempt to make as if this is the real anniversary of pan; those arguments will never end, and perhaps they should not. Let us simply give thanks for the creation of the instrument, the persistence of the pioneers and do so with a solid year of events, story-telling, assembling of those who remain and letting them know how we love them. As part of the year of celebrations, what of recapturing the great steelband arrangements, a heritage going to waste unknown by generations of young people. Can you imagine if the present bad boys from up the Hill and down on the flat knew of this musical inheritance left them, how this could have shaped their lives differently? Let the bad boys from Second Caledonia hear Roses from the South left for them by their band, Ebonites; let us jam at street parties all over the country with Melody Mass by Cavaliers; imagine hearing on J'Ouvert morning Puerto Rican Mambo by North Stars. Let us break into spontaneous appreciation and love for we creation.