At 3pm on Friday 27 July 1951 a crowd gathered outside the newly opened Royal Festival Hall on London’s Southbank and witnessed musical history being made. They listened and stared in wonder, laughed, clapped, swayed, were beguiled and bemused in equal measure. Some in the crowd, bolder than the rest, stepped forward to peer under the instruments to try to see where the sound was coming from, but came away shaking their heads in disbelief. There was no trick: this sweet sound, a tantalisingly intricate liquid melody, really was coming from a collection of rusty old oil drums. Steelpan had arrived and Britain was amazed.
Wherever steelpan went in that summer of 1951, it conquered the hearts of all who heard the music. Before long a steelpan craze was sweeping the country, and panmen were in demand at chic clubs and high society parties.
The arrival in Britain of the Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra (TASPO) was a significant moment in musical, social, and colonial history, with effects that continue to resonate through the years.
To mark TASPO’s 75th anniversary, a special edition of the International Carnival Arts Conference will take place in London in July.
The conference itself – featuring speakers from Australia, Canada, Trinidad & Tobago, the UK and USA – will be held at the University of West London (UWL) in Ealing on Wednesday 22 July (covering TASPO and steelpan) and Thursday 23 July (calypso and mas).
Friday 24 July is dedicated to workshops on steelpan, mas-making, calypso and sound systems at UWL and the Southbank Centre.
The 75th anniversary celebrations conclude with the Steel Pan Weekender on Saturday and Sunday 25-26 July. Exciting live performances are planned for the very spot where TASPO performed all those years ago on the banks of the Thames – an unmissable and unrepeatable event.
