Panyard at Cabrillo High School

When I first migrated to this country, and specifically this state, I was an oddity. Those I met would comment on my accent. Those who knew of or had been to Trinidad would comment on my look. They still do. I'd wondered if there were others from Trinidad around, but for much of my time here in the U.S. there was no interaction with other Trinis (folks from Trinidad), except those related to me. Eventually I did meet one or two Trinis. One married my brother.

It's not that Trinidadians don't travel. Quite the opposite. It's that Long Beach, CA is so far from Trinidad and Tobago. If I recall correctly, it's at least 9 hours of flying, with a change in Miami, or longer if you change planes in New York. You've got to have a reason to come to Long Beach from Trinidad.

Lately, though, I've noticed signs of Trinidad all over Long Beach. I've written about some of them.

• There was the Long Beach Steel Drum School. Who ever thought I would find a Steel Drum School in Long Beach?
• I found Dave's Island Instruments, a store owned by Dave Beery, who makes and tunes steel drums. His drums are shipped all over the country. Wow, I recall thinking at the time, wondering at the range of the steel drum.
• I met with Derek Brewster who teaches at the Long Beach Steel Drum School (at the time, hopefully still) and plays with soca band Upstream with Einstein Brown, son of Lord Shorty a well known calypso artist.
• I've attended the Christmas performance of the Steel Drum Orchestra at Cal-State Long Beach, directed by Dr. Michael Carney. I think I should make a point of meeting Dr. Carney.
• I found a Trini restaurant, Callalloo, named after the slimy green soupy okra dish that is often served over rice. Yum! (really) Callalloo (the restaurant) is right here in Long Beach, on Anaheim Street.
  

Today I'm writing about the Steel Drum performances at Cabrillo High School.

I read about it on the Long Beach Unified School District and on the Grunion Gazette websites. I was intrigued at the thought of such a program, so I put it on my list of things to do that day (yesterday).

I was late to the performance, as I had been building LEGO(r) models with some teens at El Dorado Park earlier that day. We're preparing for exhibits at the Long Beach Public Library in April.

Guest artists were Joseph Peck and Chris Wabich. Chris played front and center alongside with the Panjammas high school steel drum band. I may be biased, but I will say that there is nothing so beautiful as the sound of the steel drum well played.

What was interesting to me was the selection of music played on the steel pans. Game changing steel drum music, a classical Bach piece, a song by the Police. Several of the arrangements were done by visiting guest Chris Wabich, who shared his story of tuning pans as he pursued his masters' degree at Cal State Long Beach, with the classical pianists practicing in the background. He'd learned on the East Coast, and when word got out that he could tune pans, well... insta-work.

The performance was kindly supported by the Arts Council of Long Beach.

It's a long journey for an instrument, born of a need for music when there was none, many years ago on the plantations of Trinidad. Many clanging things coming together to make sounds. In seeking information to share here, I found an interesting tidbit on Wikipedia (yes, I quote Wikipedia):

"Since Pythagoras calculated the formula for the musical cycle of fourths and fifths, steel pans are the only instruments made to follow play in this range." Very interesting, whatever it means.

And, for the musically and culturally informed out there, who might be reading this.

I've always wanted to find a Parang presence here in the U.S. If you know of one, please let me know!

Parang is a traditional form of Christmas music which is sung in Spanish and uses instruments such as the wooden fish, the shak shak (maracas), the triangle, the cuattro and the box bass. The box bass is a very curious instrument. It consists of a large wooden box with a hole in the top, and a long stick which can be used to alter the tension on a string connected to the top of the stick and the box itself. The stick sits on one point on the hole's diameter, the string is connected to the other.

I was exposed to Parang when a friend suggested I join her parang group. We dressed up in flowing, flowery skirts, and practiced our songs in Spanish. I've never been much of a singer, but I belted out my words alongside the other singers. I was truly amazed at the depth of the sounds that came out of that curious instrument, the box bass...

Trish Tsoi-A-Sue is a creative facilitator in the Long Beach area. Certified in LEGO® Serious Play, she is the President of ETES Inc, and creator of Makersville, a community of makers. Trish is the Ambassador for the Long Beach LEGO® User Group, a group of AFOLs and Teen Fans of LEGO® (TFOLs). Join our facebook group! Some of her random experiences are recorded on her You Tube channel, Squigglemom! Please subscribe! She often writes about LEGO and her birth country of Trinidad.