Photo of Jeff Narell

EARLY DAYS

Steel pan was little known outside Trinidad, the island-nation of its invention, in the early 60’s when Rupert Sterling, an exchange student from the Caribbean island of Antigua, arrived in NYC to study engineering. Rupert soon found himself teaching pan to street gangs on the notorious Lower East Side of Manhattan, under the direction of social worker Murray Narell. The music was raw and dynamic and soon the teens were channeling their energy into a cooperative musical experience instead of street violence. The enthusiasm was contagious and soon Murray’s adolescent sons, Jeff and Andy, were playing along.

The Narell brothers absorbed steel band arrangements of 60’s calypsos and then expanded their repertoire to include classics, rock and roll, Broadway show and pop tunes. They began to perform with some neighborhood friends as The Steel Bandits, and created a stir as a novelty act. Over the next seven years, they appeared on national TV shows, major concert venues, recorded an LP, and were invited as guest artists to Port of Spain Trinidad’s National Music Festival. In 1967, Murray arranged for Ellie Mannette, the father of the modern steel pan, to come to NY to spread the artform in America. The band benefited from the master’s presence and his state of the art instruments.

SAN FRANCISCO

In the early 70s Jeff relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area, being the first, along with his brother Andy, to bring steel pan to West Coast audiences. Jeff began working with youth groups to pass on the legacy, and co-founded the early crossover band, Salsa de Berkeley, bringing pan to the streets and into the clubs of the Bay Area. He has been a presence on the world music scene ever since, leading a succession of Caribbean flavored bands working the West Coast and Hawaii, and establishing himself as a player and bandleader, “in the forefront of the cross breed movement blending jazz, calypso, latin, pop and reggae” (Robert Weider, San Francisco Chronicle). Jeff’s ensembles have performed at thousands of venues: clubs, music festivals, corporate events, multi-cultural programs, celebrity weddings and Lake Tahoe casinos. Along the way, he has released three CDs of original compositions.

With great respect for Trinidad culture and the musical pioneers, Jeff has had the pleasure of performing with Calypsonians Crazy, Chalkdust and Shadow, and with pan greats Boogsie Sharpe, Robbie Greenidge, Ray Holman and Professor Philmore in concerts both in the States and in Trinidad. In the 80’s Jeff and Ellie Mannette rekindled their connection and have conducted workshops across the country including Ellie’s annual summer “Festival of Steel” in Morgantown, WV. In 2004 Narell was invited by Dr. Mannette to premiere the latest addition to the steel pan family of instruments, the extended lead Circle of Fifths pan.

Jeff Narell is an internationally known steel panist, Afro-Caribbean percussionist, educator-clinician, and recording artist who has dedicated his life to promoting the artform and expanding the musical range of the steel pan.

Jeff was initiated into the world of steel pan at the age of eleven by the very first West Indians to arrive in New York City with authentic knowledge. Pan became his passion and a gift that he has passed down to new generations. In schools from elementary through university, and through music programs under the auspices of the San Francisco Symphony Education Department, Jeff has introduced tens of thousands of students to steel pans.

Equally at home with the traditional steel band or as a soloist in contemporary musical settings, he has played on four big box office Hollywood movies, worked with Olatungi, Bobby McFerrin, George Benson, The Grateful Dead and appeared as guest artist-composer on the Grammy nominated Patato, Changuito, Vilato: Rhythm at the Crossroads CD in the Latin Jazz category. Narell received the Hollywood Dramalogue award for best theatrical score for The Tempest commissioned by the California Shakespeare Co.

Jeff’s original composition “Ellie Man” was a top tune played by steel orchestras island wide for Trinidad Carnival 2003. A tribute to his mentor, Ellie Mannette, the father of the modern steel pan, it was sung and recorded in collaboration with Trini calypso star Crazy and performed by Ellie’s original steel orchestra, Invaders, at Panorama. The tune of choice by steel orchestras in five countries, Ellie Man captured the crown in Toronto’s Caribana Festival.

Performing live and producing his original CDs, Jeff continues to forge a unique musical vision with pan.

TEACHING

Teaching has always been an integral part of Jeff’s musical odyssey, and he brings to it an impressive set of tools. He is fluent with all the voices of the steel orchestra and all the percussion instruments of the engine room (rhythm section), and he combines this with well honed skills in composition and arranging.

But beyond this, his patience, enthusiasm, and boundless energy for his subject have made him a well-loved and much sought-after music teacher. A credentialed music instructor, his resume includes a ten-year stint as Steel Band Director in the Jazz Studies Department at the University of California, Berkeley.

He has also traveled to major universities and school programs across the country to present clinics and performances. Bringing the steel band into public elementary and high schools as an on-going alternative music program, Jeff has opened the door for the artform to gain mainstream acceptance and continues to work with music educators to further this cause. He has innovated a teaching method for students lacking reading notation skills to fast track groups into performance mode.

Narell has also developed steel band charts across a broad range of musical genres to satisfy the widest variety of musical tastes and skill levels, with Caribbean roots music as home base.

In addition Jeff has extensive experience bringing steel pans and percussion into the workplace environment to create group teambuilding via this extremely fun and gratifying activity.

MUSIC

Lost Tribe Records has released 3 self-produced CDs for Jeff Narell, featuring his distinctive pan playing, compositions, and arrangements, along with an all star cast of musicians from the Caribbean jazz idiom.


Callaloo

  Callaloo (2006)
A Caribbean stew of grooves ready to get you dancing with an array of top vocalists: Crazy, Rahsul, Carlos Soto, Claudia Villela, Lemo and Jerry Kennedy; highlighted by Jeff’s spicy pan stylings. The instrumentalists are equally impressive with Karl Perrazo (Santana percussionist), Gary Brown (Airto bassist), and guitarists Ray Obiedo, Carlos Oliveira, and Avi Bortnick,  all artists with solo CDs. The CD also features Marty Wehner on trombone, Norbert Stachel on alto sax and John Calloway on flute. Included is “Ellie Man” a tribute song for Dr. Ellie Mannette, father of the modern steel pan.

Rasta Say
La Plaza
Magic Carpet Ride
Alegria
Patricia
 
Voyage to Paradise

  Voyage to Paradise (2000)
All instrumental – “emphasizes the jazzier end of his (Narell’s) musical spectrum, but don’t be surprised if you find yourself feelin’ to party along the way.” (Michael Goodwin, liner notes). Special guests include Manny Oquendo, Jesus Diaz, Michael Spiro and Rebeca Mauleon-Santana, Norbert Stachel , Ray Obiedo, Carlos Oliveira and Avi Bortnick.

Joy Ride
Costa Rica
 

 
Wave of Love

  Wave of Love (1995)
Featuring a mix of vocals and instrumentals described by Latin Beat Magazine as “a hot World Pop debut…pure Caribbean sugar…” with vocalists Edgardo Cambon, Larry Batiste, Ron Stallings and special guests Raymond Myers and Phillip Montalvan from Nicaragua’s Soul Vibes reggae band. Tracks include a long list of Bay Area seasoned instrumental veterans of the World Music scene.

Jungle Rain
Freedom Road

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