In Remembrance of Panman Andre Boldan
Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - Blessed with exceptional music talent, the late panman Andre Boldan was held in great regard by many; he was essentially the consummate self-taught community musician. He was born on July 12, 1960, in Central Trinidad but lived in Arima his whole life.
....Andre Boldan has a long list of bands for which he performed or captained. He has played with XY Cellotones, Heavens Super Panfere, Trinidad Nostalgic, Nuclear Symphonettes, Invaders (from age 15), Panvibes, Exodus, Tokyo, Arima Angel Harps, Simple Song, Melodians, and Opera Symphonic Sounds.
....As an arranger, he worked with Pan on the Move, Five Rivers Junior Secondary, and Edinburgh 500 Steel Ensemble. Andre credits Nervin “Teach” Saunders for making him a pan player....As a competitor, he took 5th place as a soloist in the Pan Is Beautiful III Musical Festival in 1984 where he represented Arima Angel Harps.
Replies
From: Andre Moses
“First met Andre during his stint at Five Rivers Secondary (Five Rivers Junior Secondary at the time). Monty Downs was the music teacher and Andre Boldan was the pan tutor. Five Rivers had a very forward-looking music program with a full class sets of steelpan and string instruments (quatros as I remember) as well as various percussion instruments. Their example was an inspiration for us at St Augustine and by 1986 we got our first set of steelpan instruments. Like his mentor Nervin Saunders, Andre in his humble understated way was a committed pan-in-schools tutor in those early years/days, always willing to share his experiences and compare notes. Monty, Andre and Nervin have passed on, but many of us are grateful to have shared a mutually enriching and collaborative time in pan-in-schools and for that we salute them for their selfless and important contribution and remember them with great fondness.”