Kaisokah Moko Jumbies World Jumboree 2017

05/09/2023

04/09/2023

Bob Marley's life stages, from child hood to adult hood

30/08/2023

Former calypsonian and gospel singer Denyse Plummer has died. Plummer had been suffering with cancer. Her death this evening has been confirmed to Guardian Media by a close family member. She had been rumoured to have died a month ago when the Trinidad Express wrongfully published her death in an online post. The Express later apologised for the error after family members confirmed then that she was still alive.

25/08/2023

Renowned writer and historian, Michael Anthony, has passed away at the age of 91. He was once named one of the 50 most influential people in Trinidad and Tobago.

Read more:
https://www.cnc3.co.tt/renowned-author-michael-anthony-passes/

24/08/2023

20/08/2023

Beautiful Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 🇪🇹

20/08/2023

Good Morning Africa from Luanda, The capital city of Angola 🇦🇴

15/08/2023

11/08/2023

Today, we celebrate the legendary steelpan pioneer Elliot “Ellie” Mannette, who is known as the co-inventor of the steelpan!

Mannette was the first person to sink the top of an oil drum into a concave surface, thereby changing the structure of the steelpan and how notes were placed upon it.

He was born on November 5th 1927 in Sans Souci, and spent his childhood in Woodbrook. During the 1930s, the use of bamboo for musical instruments gave way to metal instead during the Carnival season, leading to the rise of “steel-bands”. In 1939, Mannette formed his band, The Oval Boys Steelband, which later became Invaders Steel Orchestra.

After Winston “Spree” Simon discovered that creating dome-like sections in the surface of his “kettledrum” led to differing notes, Ellie Mannette later reversed this process during the 1940s, sinking the surface of an oil drum and creating the steelpan as we know it today. He also invented the rubber-tipped sticks that are used to play pan, which softens the notes.

Exceptionally skilled in tuning, by 1951 Mannette had created the tenor pan, and even taught rival steel bands how to play the instrument. That year, he travelled to the UK with TASPO (Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra) to present the steelpan at the Festival of Britain, accompanied by other pan leaders like, “Spree” Simon and Anthony Williams.

In 1963, Mannette was invited by the US Navy to create the US Navy Steelband. He toured the US for years, educating and creating steel bands throughout the country, and by 1994 headed the steelpan programme at West Virginia University. US President Clinton bestowed upon him the 1999 National Heritage Fellowship, the highest honour in traditional arts.

Mannette has been highly awarded, receiving the 1969 Hummingbird Silver Medal, an Honorary Doctorate from UWI in 2000, and was admitted to the United States Hall of Fame of the Percussive Arts Society in 2003. The Ellie Mannette Park was named in his honour in Port of Spain in 2001. Sadly, on August 29th, 2018 he passed away in West Virginia.

This photo showing Ellie Mannette tuning a tenor pan is courtesy of the Trinidad Express Newspaper, 29 August 2018. This newspaper is part of the National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago Newspaper Collection.

References: Bastien, Elliot, and Sandra Bernard-Bastien. World Class Trinidad & Tobago: An Area of Abundance: Profiles of Performance. Sekani Publications, 2006.

R., Blake Felix I. The Trinidad and Tobago Steel Pan: History and Evolution. Grafiques 85, 1995.

Smith, Angela. Steel Drums and Steelbands: A History. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014.

“Ellie Mannette Has Died.” Trinidad Express Newspaper, 29 Aug. 2018.

11/08/2023

🎉Join Musical Instruments of Trinidad and Tobago to Celebrate World Steelpan Day for the first time!

🗓️Save the Date: Friday, August 11th, 2023
📍Venue:
12:00 PM - Piccadilly, Duke and Frederick Street
Featuring 11 top Single Pan Bands
5:00 PM - Woodford Square, Port of Spain
Featuring 8 top Conventional Steelbands

Witness the brilliance of steelpan music and embrace our cultural legacy. 🇹🇹

Free entry! Bring your family & friends for an unforgettable celebration! 🎈

08/08/2023

King of Soca Machel Montano has received the Keys to the City of Kingston, Jamaica, in recognition of his music career, which has positively influenced fans in the Caribbean and the world.

For more...
https://guardian.co.tt/news/machel-gets-the-keys-to-kingston-6.2.1770994.ea39e5ca97

05/08/2023

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