Trinidad & Tobago Steelband
to perform at Orleans Marine Park

The Trinidad and Tobago Steelband will grace the shores of Oak Orchard Creek on Saturday, August 10 at the Orleans County Marine Park. The concert is part of a two-day event at the park that includes "A Taste of Orleans" and a wooden boat festival. The music will begin at 7 p.m. under the new pavilion at the south end, and admission is free.

This concert marks the fifth year of an annual concert sponsored by the Orleans County Department of Tourism and the Genesee Orleans Regional Arts Council. It is funded in part by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts Folk Arts program.

Trinidad & Tobago is led by Alfred St. John, a native of Trinidad who moved to Rochester in the 1960s. St. John describes how he learned to play the steel drums in Trinidad: "As a child, I was taught by the people who play steel drums and had steel drum bands in the different villages. The children would go to where they practiced. You would take sticks with you. On a break, they would show you how to play on a steel drum."

When he first moved to Rochester, there were few other Caribbean musicians with whom to play -- so Al began teaching them himself. His band has grown over the years, and continues to exchange musical ideas and repertory with Trinidadian and Caribbean musicians.

The roots of the steel drum extend back into colonial times, coming from the Carnival tradition in Trinidad. In the earliest "steel" bands, revelers played metal "instruments" such as cans, brake drums, biscuit tins, and other discarded metal containers. The island's rising oil industry in the 1930s unwittingly provided a key raw material leading to the steel drum's creation: the oil barrel.

Popular legend credits Winston "Spree" Simon as the person who first isolated pitches on his dented oil barrel instrument around 1941, discovered as he was hammering out a barrel whose end had been smashed by a rival. This was the first step in the movement of the "pan" from being a rhythmic instrument only, to one with actual musical pitches.

Today, steel pans have developed into finely crafted instruments, and steel bands have spread throughout the world. While steel drums play such native musical styles as calypso, soca and reggae, steel bands also adapt other popular, traditional and even classical music for the instruments. A large network of steel bands has developed in Trinidad and Tobago, supported by oil and other industries, accompanied by pan manufacturing companies. They host large competitions several times a year, boasting bands of over 100 members. In North America, steel bands are found in elementary through high schools, and several universities offer instruction in steel drum construction, playing techniques, musical arrangements, tuning and history.

For information about the other activities at the Marine Park, contact the Orleans County Department of Tourism at 589-3199.