Casablanca in a positive cycle
Casablanca’s captain, Raymond Mark. Photos: Sheldon Osborne
Casablanca steelband of Belmont has had more than its fair share of glory during its 75-year history. The names Orman “Patsy” Haynes, Oscar “Bogart” Pile, Anthony Prospect, and Arthur “Art” De Coteau, Casablanca men who worked hard to make the band’s name known, are written indelibly in the country’s musical history. The Belmont-based band has since become a sleeping giant of an organisation, one that is actively but quietly playing a role in keeping the peace in a community where crime and urban decay is taking a toll. Casablanca is now positioning itself to play a more active role in the development of Belmont, and by extension, the national community.
Many Belmont pan pioneers have fond memories of the Merry Boys, a 1935 band in the Gonzales area, and later, a “biscuit-drum” band known as Bar 20. The band we know today as Casablanca, one of the oldest surviving steelbands, was established by pan pioneers from Merry Boys and Bar 20 in the year 1945, and immediately made an impact when they placed third in an Island-Wide steelband competition. A few years later, they wrote the name Casablanca firmly in the annals of steelband history by winning the Jaycees Island-wide competition, and another island wide competition sponsored by the T&T Guardian and Jaycees, in 1949 and 1950 respectively.
A multi-faceted community organisation
Like many steelbands, Casablanca’s contribution was more than just music. In a recent interview, veteran band members David Trotman, Wellington Baptiste, Albert Chandler, and Louis Baptiste told of Casablanca’s wide range of activities as a multi-faceted community organisation. The steelband once brought out several Monday mas bands, including a popular sailor band called The Free French. The band was also indirectly involved in sport, and according to Trotman, played a role in the formation of the once popular Sheffield and Celtics football clubs. Veteran band member Selwyn Henry recalls, “In the 50s the band functioned as the major socialising force in the neighbourhoods of Belmont South (Gonzales, and Belle-Eau Road) and East Port-of-Spain (Oxford, Quarry, and Observatory Streets), and hence the contribution to the development of sport teams.”
Henry also shed some light on the band’s involvement in Monday mas.
“In terms of mas, I would say that the band’s greatest presentation was The United Nations in the late 50s.” But that was just the beginning. After winning an impressive array of competitions and awards locally and internationally in the 1950s and 1960s, the band enjoyed a second burst of glory in 1980, when it placed second in the Steelband Festival with Zampa Overture: Entry of the Queen of Sheba, and calypsonian Edwin “Crazy” Ayoung’s calypso, Don’t Try Dat. Michelle Huggins-Watts, who played with the band from 1983 to 1988, remembers that the band enjoyed “a different level of notoriety” during the 1980s. “Casablanca made major inroads, and was involved in every major pan event during that period. “The band also had a relationship with the nearby Hilton Hotel, as they performed regularly at the hotel’s poolside, and then there were those masterful performances under the baton of Anthony Prospect.”
Huggins-Watts explained that there was a special connection between Casablanca and the police band. Prospect, who is remembered by many for his entertaining performances in the police band, arranged for Casablanca from as early as 1961. The veteran female pan player describes Casablanca during the 1980s as “a force to be reckoned with. You were proud to be playing with Casablanca,” she said. In 1982, the band copped first place in the steelband festival, Pan is Beautiful II, with Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, de Falla’s Ritual Fire Dance, and calypsonian Crazy’s Uncle Crazy. In 1983, the band placed second in the national Panorama finals. The 1980s also brought the band a high level of international recognition with several concerts in New York, Toronto, London, and other cities in the UK.
Starting over from scratch
Sadly, that period of glory came to an end in 1987, when several players stayed in the US after the band toured New York. During what seemed like a 20-year period of hibernation, the band quietly played a role in keeping the movement alive, hosting pan events and using the panyard as a sort of unofficial community centre. Casablanca’s Keith Evans said the band’s administrators are now in the process of “re-building the band from the ground up.” According to Evans, there is currently a core of Panorama players that disappear until the following year, resurfacing in time for the next Panorama. Huggins-Watts added, “It has become a Panorama band.
“We are currently aiming to develop a year-round stage side.” The band plans to achieve this by seeking out young players from the community—children interested in music—through conducting music classes with the cooperation of the area’s schools. “We want to focus on building the band from the ground up with these kids,” Evans said. It is not an entirely new endeavor for the band. There was a music training programme under the direction of musician Earl Caruth in 2007. The band has also been previously involved in skills training, most notably in welding classes and pan-making classes in a joint effort with Pan Trinbago.
Meeting the needs of the community’s youth
Also, the event that led to the decline of the band two decades ago has now turned around to create another positive move toward growth and development. Evans explained that the band has been in contact with many who left the band when they opted to stay in the US and Canada or migrate to the UK. Many of these foreign-based pan players have started to work with the band again, giving Casablanca a vibrant new international presence. The focus, however, remains on Belmont and environs. The panyard’s location, in what is considered a “safe and neutral spot” on Belmont Circular Road, is a plus, and many parents have expressed willingness to allow their children to participate in activities there. According to Evans, the community development strategy would be to use tried and tested models that have been successful in other communities.
“In addition to holding music classes in all forms of music (not only pan), we will be in a position to meet the needs of children and youth in areas such as mentoring, tutoring, and skills training, all at the panyard. “We will seek to use all available resources—state, private and internally generated—and make the panyard a home away from home for the community’s youth; a place where they can develop their potential in an atmosphere of security and serenity,” Evans said. There is also much praise for the current captain Raymond Mark, whose quiet determination has kept the band alive, and allowed it to develop the impressive panyard infrastructure that is now facilitating the band’s revival. Casablanca’s membership is satisfied that the band is now in a positive cycle.
Replies
Steelbends are such an integral part of a community, and a successful steelband organization can be a great asset to any community.
Congratulations to Casablanca on their efforts at rejuvenation, and we wish them every success.
Check out the following video to see how powerful this band was in the 1980's.