Condolences, as belated as they may be, to the Brown family. We had interacted for the time of the Grenada Panorama 2015. His approach to making comments will certainly be remembered.
I am so sorry that such a legendary tuner has moved on. These are all such wonderful stories of the legendary man whom I never got a chance to meet. I did, through a mutual friend, obtain a Guppy pan in 2005. I knew this was something close to a miracle to obtain a Guppy pan.
I was told 20 years ago when I started teaching pan at West Humber CI that getting a Guppy pan was next to impossible and that the waiting list could be 5-7 years. Then I was told that only people who know Guppy got one. His pans are amazing, that is true. I am sorry that the pan world has lost another legend. Thanks Guppy for your excellence and integrity. Rest in Peace.
I grew up hearing the name Herman Guppy Brown being called by Eddison Carr as he announced the names of the pan tuners for the various bands during Panorama broadcasts on radio. To me it seemed all the pans in all the bands were tuned by Herman Guppy Brown.What a great man! What a great talent! What a great loss! My condolences to his bereaved family and to the pan fraternity.I trust that Pan Trinbago would seek to have his name immortalised and that Herman Guppy Brown be conferred with a posthumous national award. May God grant him peace and eternal rest in that panland up there.
I have never met Mr Brown, I left Trinidad to go on tour with Guinness Cavaliers in 1974 and ended up migrating to Australia where I currently reside, however I've had the pleasure of playing one of Mr Brown's instruments some years ago, a D tenor, sweet, balanced and perfectly tuned, and that's when I fell in love with his work.
For Carnival season 2014 one of my students in Australia wanted to experience playing in a Trinidad panorama, so I organized for her to stay with my family in San Fernando and play with Skiffle where one of my brothers (Bud Webb) was a long serving member.
While in Trinidad she had spoken with Mr Brown about ordering a Tenor pan. In September this year she asked me if I contact him to confirm the order and seal the deal, she said that she could not quite understand his Trini accent on the phone and this was the reason she asked me to make the call.
I was planning to make that call today Sunday 6th Dec, but when going through my emails this morning I found the tragic news. He was a true master of his craft, may he RIP, my condolences to his family and friends.
Sincere condolences to Linda and their children on the passing of Herman from Joe, Lorna and the CAFE family in Maryland. He was a giant in our world; 20 years ago when CAFE started he provided a full set of Pans, sight unseen. He had never met us, but stepped up to help us on faith. Without Herman Guppy Brown, there is no Cultural Academy For Excellence. We maintained a close, relationship over the years, and our hearts are breaking today as we hold our annual Holiday Concert. The performance is dedicated to his memory and his spirit will continue to live on whenever a young person picks up some mallets to touch one of his sweet inventions - RIP Herman, God Bless You!!
Peter Gray > Joseph GreenDecember 6, 2015 at 10:38am
Very true, Joe ... he was an expert and a gentleman. Thanks for dedicating CAFE's Xmas concert to him. We are all pained by the loss to his family and his friends.
We will all miss Guppy. I never had the opportunity to meet Guppy in person, but I was fortunate enough to re-tune many of his pans over the last sixteen years. I was always a sweet experience working on Guppy pans, as they were always so easy to put back in tune, having been properly built and tuned from the start. I wish I had had the opportunity to spend time with Guppy and many other panmen from our first generation of pan builders and tuners. I hope that there are other builders and tuners who have spent time and learned from Guppy, so that all his talents and knowledge do not leave this earth with him. His spirit lives on in his pans. If you are fortunate enough to own one, please treasure and care for it, for it has spirit and soul that no other pans on earth have. Guppy, may you eternally rest in peace.
The Passing of Herman “Guppy” Brown RIP ~2nd December 2015
Herman “Guppy” Brown: Master Steelpan Maker / Tuner.
What a sad year for us all! We live hopefully today, to better understand what we must plan, for our tomorrow.
It is again my sad and humble duty, on behalf of the executive and playing members of Hatters Steel Orchestra, to pass on our condolences.
To Ms Brown, her close family and to all other friends and family of the late Herman “Guppy” Brown, Master Steelpan Maker / Tuner, please accept our sincere condolences for the passing of one of our exceptional brothers in Pan.
We need also to cast or arms around our other sorrowful sisters and brothers in pan, in respectful but strong support to them, for the gap they now feel, at the loss of the services of a great Master Maker / Tuner.
To Tropical Angel Harps, the steelband perhaps closest to the Master of all; the steelband that this year 2015, rendered at the National Panorama and at the ICP Panorama one of the most outstanding and memorable pieces of steelpan music, should anyone out there be properly listening and hearing, that has been produced in the last decade, from the steelbands of Trinidad and Tobago. And that music, of course, rendered beautifully from the pans of a Master.
The next closest, is perhaps, our wonderful Trinidad All Stars.
We now recall a number of steelbands, past and present, who have been touched by the special craft of our lost Master. This list is sadly incomplete and our apologies therewith extended for omissions.
With one short note in particular; we extend our hearts and strength to Madam Martin and her associated steelband in Dominica; and to the young Nathaniel Alexander, pan player, somewhere in the middle of Trinidad.
The Steelbands:
Arima All Stars
Casablanca
Dem Boys
Exodus
Gonzales Sheikers
Laventille Serenaders
Pan Jammers
Pan Knights
San Juan East Side Symphony
Sangre Grande Cordettes
Shades In Steel
Silver Stars
Starlift
Tamana Pioneers
Trinidad All Stars
Trinidad Nostalgic
Tropical Angel Harps
West Side Symphony
Woodbrook Playboyz
To the steelbands concerned and to the family of the late Herman “Guppy” Brown, Master Steelpan Maker / Tuner, our hearts are with you; may our past brother, Rest in Eternal Peace.
Replies
Condolences, as belated as they may be, to the Brown family. We had interacted for the time of the Grenada Panorama 2015. His approach to making comments will certainly be remembered.
I am so sorry that such a legendary tuner has moved on. These are all such wonderful stories of the legendary man whom I never got a chance to meet. I did, through a mutual friend, obtain a Guppy pan in 2005. I knew this was something close to a miracle to obtain a Guppy pan.
I was told 20 years ago when I started teaching pan at West Humber CI that getting a Guppy pan was next to impossible and that the waiting list could be 5-7 years. Then I was told that only people who know Guppy got one. His pans are amazing, that is true. I am sorry that the pan world has lost another legend. Thanks Guppy for your excellence and integrity. Rest in Peace.
I will miss hearing his name mentioned at Panorama. May he rest in peace.
I grew up hearing the name Herman Guppy Brown being called by Eddison Carr as he announced the names of the pan tuners for the various bands during Panorama broadcasts on radio. To me it seemed all the pans in all the bands were tuned by Herman Guppy Brown.What a great man! What a great talent! What a great loss! My condolences to his bereaved family and to the pan fraternity.I trust that Pan Trinbago would seek to have his name immortalised and that Herman Guppy Brown be conferred with a posthumous national award. May God grant him peace and eternal rest in that panland up there.
My condolences to the Guppy Brown family and kindest regards.
I have never met Mr Brown, I left Trinidad to go on tour with Guinness Cavaliers in 1974 and ended up migrating to Australia where I currently reside, however I've had the pleasure of playing one of Mr Brown's instruments some years ago, a D tenor, sweet, balanced and perfectly tuned, and that's when I fell in love with his work.
For Carnival season 2014 one of my students in Australia wanted to experience playing in a Trinidad panorama, so I organized for her to stay with my family in San Fernando and play with Skiffle where one of my brothers (Bud Webb) was a long serving member.
While in Trinidad she had spoken with Mr Brown about ordering a Tenor pan. In September this year she asked me if I contact him to confirm the order and seal the deal, she said that she could not quite understand his Trini accent on the phone and this was the reason she asked me to make the call.
I was planning to make that call today Sunday 6th Dec, but when going through my emails this morning I found the tragic news. He was a true master of his craft, may he RIP, my condolences to his family and friends.
Alvin Rostant
Sincere condolences to Linda and their children on the passing of Herman from Joe, Lorna and the CAFE family in Maryland. He was a giant in our world; 20 years ago when CAFE started he provided a full set of Pans, sight unseen. He had never met us, but stepped up to help us on faith. Without Herman Guppy Brown, there is no Cultural Academy For Excellence. We maintained a close, relationship over the years, and our hearts are breaking today as we hold our annual Holiday Concert. The performance is dedicated to his memory and his spirit will continue to live on whenever a young person picks up some mallets to touch one of his sweet inventions - RIP Herman, God Bless You!!
Very true, Joe ... he was an expert and a gentleman. Thanks for dedicating CAFE's Xmas concert to him. We are all pained by the loss to his family and his friends.
Peter
We will all miss Guppy. I never had the opportunity to meet Guppy in person, but I was fortunate enough to re-tune many of his pans over the last sixteen years. I was always a sweet experience working on Guppy pans, as they were always so easy to put back in tune, having been properly built and tuned from the start. I wish I had had the opportunity to spend time with Guppy and many other panmen from our first generation of pan builders and tuners. I hope that there are other builders and tuners who have spent time and learned from Guppy, so that all his talents and knowledge do not leave this earth with him. His spirit lives on in his pans. If you are fortunate enough to own one, please treasure and care for it, for it has spirit and soul that no other pans on earth have. Guppy, may you eternally rest in peace.
The Passing of Herman “Guppy” Brown RIP ~2nd December 2015
Herman “Guppy” Brown: Master Steelpan Maker / Tuner.
What a sad year for us all! We live hopefully today, to better understand what we must plan, for our tomorrow.
It is again my sad and humble duty, on behalf of the executive and playing members of Hatters Steel Orchestra, to pass on our condolences.
To Ms Brown, her close family and to all other friends and family of the late Herman “Guppy” Brown, Master Steelpan Maker / Tuner, please accept our sincere condolences for the passing of one of our exceptional brothers in Pan.
We need also to cast or arms around our other sorrowful sisters and brothers in pan, in respectful but strong support to them, for the gap they now feel, at the loss of the services of a great Master Maker / Tuner.
To Tropical Angel Harps, the steelband perhaps closest to the Master of all; the steelband that this year 2015, rendered at the National Panorama and at the ICP Panorama one of the most outstanding and memorable pieces of steelpan music, should anyone out there be properly listening and hearing, that has been produced in the last decade, from the steelbands of Trinidad and Tobago. And that music, of course, rendered beautifully from the pans of a Master.
The next closest, is perhaps, our wonderful Trinidad All Stars.
We now recall a number of steelbands, past and present, who have been touched by the special craft of our lost Master. This list is sadly incomplete and our apologies therewith extended for omissions.
With one short note in particular; we extend our hearts and strength to Madam Martin and her associated steelband in Dominica; and to the young Nathaniel Alexander, pan player, somewhere in the middle of Trinidad.
The Steelbands:
Arima All Stars
Casablanca
Dem Boys
Exodus
Gonzales Sheikers
Laventille Serenaders
Pan Jammers
Pan Knights
San Juan East Side Symphony
Sangre Grande Cordettes
Shades In Steel
Silver Stars
Starlift
Tamana Pioneers
Trinidad All Stars
Trinidad Nostalgic
Tropical Angel Harps
West Side Symphony
Woodbrook Playboyz
To the steelbands concerned and to the family of the late Herman “Guppy” Brown, Master Steelpan Maker / Tuner, our hearts are with you; may our past brother, Rest in Eternal Peace.
tobagojo - PRO Hatters - 20151205
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