TOBAGO MUSIC MASTERS

 

Tony Williams The Pan Jumbie

JUMBIE – local word for a supernatural being.

In this instance, it’s a nickname lovingly bestowed upon Tony by the people of this island to show their appreciation of his musical talents and sheer wizardry on his instrument, the pan, as the locals prefer to call the steel drum.
He started playing the steel pan when he was 15 years old and boy, how he’s made up for his relatively late start!  He has won the prize as top arranger in Tobago for nine consecutive years as well as achieving the same honours for 3 years running in Toronto’s Caribana Carnival.  In 2000, he drove off in his brand new car prize, courtesy of the island’s Scouting for Talent and has since toured Europe, Canada the U.S. and Japan impressing and dazzling his audiences while taking the national instrument to the world.  Naturally, the Tourism Dept. is delighted to take him on tours abroad as well as have him perform for the Cruise Ships’ visitors.
Not content with arranging for some of Tobago’s steel bands, and performing as a solo pannist in the island’s hotels and major events like the Plymouth Jazz Fest, he’s started to show some entrepreneurial skills with his Pan Jumbie Enterprises Pan Factory on Scarborough’s Esplanade where you can purchase C.D’s, mini-pans and other steel drum memorabilia and hopefully come face-to-face with one of Tobago’s best-loved musical icons – The Pan Jumbie.ESPLANADE BOOTH # 9
Tel: # 868 – 791 7065
E-mail panjumbietw@yahoo.ca

Ansel, jovial and amiable, has been playing in Tobago’s hotels for over 15 years. He started at the Turtle Beach Hotel when he first arrived and was one of the opening acts at the Grafton Hotel when it was first built.
An adopted Tobagonian, he was a teenage music star in T&T in the 60’s and early 70’s. For years he reigned supreme throughout the Caribbean islands changing the style and format of music making when he followed the guitar/combo trend of The Shadows and the early rock & roll bands. This was the era of the big dance bands in T&T, for which he was recruited to play guitar at age 14 by one of Trinidad’s foremost dance bands, the Norman ‘Tex’ Williams Orch. You can still hear traces of that era when he plays his Latin selections in his one-man-orchestra.
A guitar virtuoso, he has taught himself to play the sax and keyboard and produces his own CDs which showcase his various styles and moods. A first class act for weddings and other celebratory occasions, he enjoys the status of being the musicians’ musician and can be found nightly performing his melodic and soothing music at the larger hotels usually during the dinner hours. By the highest standards, he is what you’d call – A CLASS ACT!! Enjoy!
Ansel & Jenny – Tel: 639 2540

WINSTON GORDON
A Man for all Seasons

This is a story of rare ambition and achievement. An adopted Trini, Winston Gordon began playing pan in his teens and has grown into a respected arranger for Tobago’s top-rated steelband as well as a chorale master and arranger for the dynamic New Dimension Folk Choir. They perform at the Coco Reef Hotel every other Sunday. The steelband, RBTT Redemption Sound Setters have won Tobago’s Champs Competition for the past 9 years. At the massive Panorama Competitions they were the only band to receive a standing ovation when Winston incorporated Tobago’s Tambrin Drum rhythms into his arrangement.

Winston holds down a full-time job as Business Development Manager at one of T&T’s major banks which by itself is some achievement, but to have risen thru’ the ranks to the position of Manager at the bank he first started at as a messenger is really a remarkable feat by any standards! Incredibly he still finds time to serve on various professional and charitable organisations.

The steelband plays at the Hilton and Coco Reef Hotels.

Michael Baker-Spot the Talent

Single handedly, over the years, (well almost, as behind every man etc.) Michael has provided a platform for the Island’s aspiring performers. He does this thru’ his Wednesday night talent contest held at the Golden Star, with the attraction of a car as the 1st prize. With weekly T.V exposure, arranged by his new marketeer and producer, Carl Groome of Multi-Concepts, there’s no shortage of contestants. The action starts in May, so you are right in time to enjoy this ‘must see’ - wonderful barmy nights beneath the stars, balmy evenings full of hilarity and joie-de-vivre where he helps the aspirants present their acts before an expectant full-house – laughs galore and dance the night away at the after-show disco.
Michael retained the Tobago Calypso King title for a number of years and performed in the major Calypso Tents alongside the great bards – Sparrow, Shadow, Arrow etc.
He is also the Head of Lifeguard Services on the Island and was the first Lifeguard to be recruited and sent to the U.K. for training 35 years ago. Sitting on the beaches, strumming his guitar while off duty, an American visitor spotted him and invited him to play at his party at the Crown Point Hotel.
The rest, as they say, is his-story.
He performs nightly at the larger Restaurants and Hotels. CHECK HIM OUT!!
Tel: 639 8243 – mbaker@trinidad.net