The annual J'Ouvert and West Indian American Day Parade are a kaleidoscope of colorful costumes, calypso and Caribbean cuisine.
The Adlib Steel Orchestra practices Friday in Freeport ahead of the West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn. Photo Credit: Michael Owens
By Janelle Griffith
Franklin Mayers is a man of steel — especially in the lead-up to the annual West Indian American Day Parade in Brooklyn.
While a teen in his native Trinidad, Mayers would play with major steel bands. When he came to New York as an adult in the 1980s, he decided to start a band in Hempstead with a handful of childhood friends from the Caribbean nation. The band plays the steelpan, a percussion instrument made out of an oil drum.
“We were all tenors, arrangers, captains or vice captains," he said, explaining that captains and vice captains lead the band. “Meaning we were all very proficient in what we did.”...
In the runup to the annual New York celebration, including the Steelband Panorama competition, the group has been practicing every day in August.
The group’s ability to play a tune off-the-cuff inspired the band’s name: Adlib Steel Orchestra, which comprises close to 100 adults and children. On Monday, members from the Freeport collective plan on attending either as performers or participants in the Labor Day parade that travels along Brooklyn thoroughfares and attracts up to 2 million revelers.
New York’s Caribbean carnival is considered the largest in the United States.
“If you look at the other bands, there’s so many different creeds and races that are participating,” said Lisa Mayers, who inherited her father Franklin’s passion for steel pan playing. In 1996 her mother, Jean Mayers, and her father opened Adlib Youth and Cultural Organization in Freeport, which offers instruction on steelpan playing to children and adults. It is also where the group's steel orchestra rehearses.
Replies