An active steelplan player in his native Trinidad & Tobago, Dr. Lennox Borel assumed that life was behind him when he arrived in Canada in 1960 to pursue post-secondary studies at the University of Toronto.
He was so wrong.
Just as the semester started, Borel and Nicholas Inniss – a bandleader and schoolmate at St. Mary’s College who went on to become a marketing manager at Angostura before passing away last August in the twin-island republic – launched Canada’s first steel orchestra.
Panniks, comprising T & T nationals studying at the U of T, lasted for just over a decade.
“There were no steelbands here at the time,” recalled Borel who was recognized with a Pan Pioneer Award last Saturday night at the Pan Arts Network Snowflakes on Steel winter concert. “I made the proposal to start the outfit and Nicholas was only too happy to be an ally.”
Using T & T’s Invaders Steel Orchestra guitars and bass, tenor bass and double second pans tuned by Emmanuel “Cobo Jack” Riley enabled the Caribbean students and their band to be a huge hit with Canadians.
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