By Stephen Spark
Known as “the gentle man with a big smile”, Cyril Khamai has been a quiet but ubiquitous presence at Notting Hill Carnival for as long as most of us can remember and he’s still going strong. At the launch of the Calypso Heritage Project on 27 October, there was Cyril once again. As ever, he kept out of the limelight, providing that essential rhythm and lighting up the Tabernacle with his smile.
Finally, though, the spotlight is being turned on the Nostalgia panman and scratcher maestro. At the 2017 London Calypso Tent, Cyril was namechecked in Alexander D Great’s timely calypso ‘Unsung Heroes’, and on Saturday 13 January 2018 we can all join in the celebrations for Cyril’s 86th birthday at the Tabernacle, naturally.
Andrew Martin and Ray Funk profiled Cyril for the Trinidad Guardian in 2013, in which they revealed that he started playing pan for Free French Steelband in San Fernando, led by former Taspo pannist Theo Stephens. He went on to play for other steelbands in the south before heading from Trinidad to the UK in 60 years ago. As you might expect, steelpans were in short supply in Britain in those days, so he built and tuned them himself.
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