January 2013


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And so it was. The Homecoming. From Daaga Hall to Daaga Auditorium. Almost 36 years later, birdsong returned to The UWI St. Augustine campus, on the same spot that birthed it. Except that it was not the old gym and old Guild Hall, but the new, sophisticated Daaga Auditorium. And it was not the group of young, exuberant UWI students in our early twenties eager to learn this truly fascinating and addictive musical instrument, but rather, a group of school children of the Tunapuna community and beyond, who could read music, who were playing pan and standard musical instruments with a most varied and rich repertoire. What an achievement!

The vision of the original birdsong finally fulfilled.

On that Saturday in August 2009, it was an emotional, nostalgic feeling, indeed, a deep sense of pride that enveloped me as a founding member who had played on that same spot, on a Saturday evening in September 1973 when the then Chancellor of UWI, Sir Hugh Wooding had launched birdsong.

It was hot and there were several speeches. We were perspiring with nervousness. We had practised long and hard for that moment, all through the long vacation (‘summer’ as it is now called!) on discarded pans from Phase II, under the instruction of Selwyn Jones (Joe Beetle) and the visionary leadership of Teddy Belgrave. Unlike the birdsong Academy of 2009, our repertoire for the night was no more than six tunes, including what became our signature tune: ‘Memories’ by the Mighty Sparrow.

Dressed in our dark pants and blue and white flowered shirts that did not fit too well, we were excited nevertheless: Freddie Lera (Bug), Eastlynne Greene, Anthony Bartholomew (Bartho), James Howard and Joseph Howard on tenor pan; Michael Adams, Leslie Callender, Dave Clement, Andre Moses, Rhoda Reddock and Albert Vincent (Vinco) on double seconds; Terrence Farrell, Gerry Kangalee and Cyril St. Louis on the six bass; Jerry Sagar, Charles Da Silva (Charlo) and Ronald Hinds on the double tenor; Johnny ‘Slim’ Andalcio, Dennis Phillip and Margaret Hinds on the triple guitar; Cathy Ann Jones, Ronald Sandy and yours truly on the tenor bass, and the rhythm section comprising Teddy Belgrave, Henry Williams (Henny) playing iron with ‘Panther’ from Canada Hall’s cafeteria as the drummer. (I apologise for any omissions or errors in the names.)

For the Homecoming, Teddy, Dave, Jerry, Dennis and I from the original group were present, as were several others who had played in the band over the years.

And what was that original dream, that vision that had so captivated us that we would head to the panyard three times a week and sometimes more? It was the dream that birdsong would make a difference; that we would bring pan to the people; that, by virtue of our very presence on the campus and through our instrumentality, UWI would become the seat of pan research; that our music would be as sweet as the song of a bird; that the special brand of music we would be playing would have an everlasting impact on the society.

Beholding the event of August 8, 2009 reassured us that the vision was alive. Dennis Phillip, leader after Teddy Belgrave, has been determined, purposeful and relentless in his effort to ensure that birdsong makes that difference. Through the creation of the birdsong Academy in 2004, the band is finally having that positive impact in our society that is crying out for organizations and people to reach out and help our youths. By providing a structured forum for young people to achieve music literacy, learn to play the national instrument as well as other conventional ones, birdsong has gone where no other steelband organization has dared to go. Birdsong has taken the lead and is deliberately using the national instrument as a medium that could restore, renew and revive Trinidad and Tobago; birdsong has achieved that vision for the music to be as sweet as the bird’s song; birdsong is successfully playing a brand of music that incorporates the national instrument and conventional instruments in a variety of musical idioms through the work of Raf Robertson, Richard Quarless, Terrence Sealey, Mark Hosten and others. Through the band’s close association with Professor Clement Imbert, its current chairman, we can even claim to be part of the pan research that is taking place at UWI through Professor Imbert and Professor Brian Copeland. As Dennis articulated in his closing remarks at the Daaga Auditorium, the objective remains the same as it was in 1973 at Daaga Hall, “we have to leave the world a little better than we met it.”

Jennifer Joseph is the University and Campus Librarian, based at the Alma Jordan Library, UWI St. Augustine. This is a slightly edited version of an article she wrote on August 13 2009, celebrating birdsong. This year marks its fortieth anniversary.