Desperadoes’ Anthony McQuilkin shares
his Memories of Late Pan Tuner Lincoln Noel
Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - On the eve of the celebration of the life of, and farewell tribute to - pan tuner great Lincoln Noel, one of the men who knew him for many years spoke with When Steel Talks (WST) about Noel - the man who was great in deeds, but as a rule shunned the limelight. It was an apt epitaph - and explains why it seems difficult, to near impossible, to source a photograph of Noel. Assistant manager for Desperadoes Steel Orchestra, Anthony McQuilkin, shared his remembrances and described Noel as “a man who you could find in a corner, shunning the spotlight, just taking care of things, because he believed there was always a lot of work to be done.” And it is this aspect - taking care of things - that immediately came to the forefront as McQuilkin began chronicling the character and deeds of one of Desperadoes’ greatest, and world-renowned, pan tuners.
“Lincoln Noel was one of the best pan tuners that we had in Trinidad and Tobago. What people don’t know is Lincoln spoke many different languages. When we [Desperadoes] went to Martinique or Guadeloupe, for instance, he would communicate with the people in patois or broken French. And when we went to Cuba he spoke Spanish, and acted as our interpreter. Desperadoes took him on many of their trips abroad as tuner and interpreter. He also spoke his mind. Lincoln called a spade a spade.”
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