Trinidad & Tobago’s Phase II Pan Groove, founded by Len “Boogsie” Sharpe, celebrates its 50th anniversary in August. Nigel A Campbell looks back at the pioneering journey in the July/August issue of Caribbean Beat magazine.
Caribbean creative and cultural institutions that have achieved the half-century mark are not rare — the National Dance Theatre of Jamaica and the Trinidad Theatre Workshop, for example. But the ongoing adulation and newsworthiness sometimes peter out — not so much as a sign of decrepitude, but possibly as a signal of lagging public awareness and commercial support.
In 2022, HADCO Phase II Pan Groove turns 50. With that landmark, it joins the pantheon of legendary bands that paved the way for sustaining an original sound born in the Caribbean, and elevates the idea that “the audacity of creole imagination”, as coined by steelpan researcher Kim Johnson, has gone global. The band could be a case study for a modern consideration of steel orchestras.
The names of pioneer steelbands formed in the 1930s and 1940s — Renegades, All Stars, Desperadoes, Casablanca, Invaders — suggest both a combative spirit that was a hallmark of early pan life, and the fantasy of cinematic imagination. Phase II Pan Groove, by contrast, was born in the turbulent 1970s. It was a time that saw Trinidad impacted by American Black Power animus, heralding an awakening of cultural pride among a new generation of musicians. They sought new sounds, and to distance themselves from a colonial past.
Phase II would be the bellwether of steelbands born in this era, as it trod an uneven path towards self-identification, self-sufficiency, innovative creativity, and commercial independence. It survived the flux of Caribbean entrepreneurship. But before one gets to 50, a little historical context is needed...
READ MORE at: In the Groove: Phase II at 50 | Backstory | Caribbean Beat Magazine https://www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-171/in-the-groove-backstory#ixzz7aDALBMXA
Comments
Congratulations to Phase II on their 50 years of hard work. Happy to read of their sponsorship by Hadco. May their collaboration be successful for many more years.
Brenda ECH.