Media Review: Steel Drums and Steelbands: A History

Abstract

Smith, Angela. Steel Drums and Steelbands: A History. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2012. xvii + 209 pp. Index, hardback. ISBN 978-0-8108-8342-0, $65.00. Steel bands remain one of the most popular forms of Caribbean artistic expression. Since the 1950s, these music ensembles have become more commonplace throughout the world, particularly in Britain, Japan, and the United States. Frequently added to K-12 and collegiate music programs in the United States, there are currently over six hundred such steel drum ensembles in the country. The art form prominently displays a communal music-making approach and is accessible to music students with various musical backgrounds. An examination of this art form is essential, particularly due to its rapid growth during the last fifty years. Steel Drums and Steelbands: A History by Angela Smith is an insightful, introductory text on the world of steel bands. Smith's efforts to capture the rich and interesting history of the steel band and its developments are laudable. Smith, a freelance writer, steelpan performer, and enthusiast, is the executive director emeritus of the Writers' League of Texas. The book addresses important and often overlooked areas, including the development of the steel bands in U.S. schools and universities as well as the importance of the U.S. Navy Steel Band in the propagation of the art form. Smith codifies an extensive amount of material, which has typically been conveyed, in bit and pieces, via oral history through workshops and interviews. Steel Drums and Steelbands: A History is an important addition as it provides the foundation for further research on the development of steelpan in the United States. Smith combined seven years of research, repeated trips to Trinidad, and insights from pioneers of the steelpan movement. Notable performers (e.g., Ray Holman, Bertie Marshall, and Andy Narell) were interviewed and provided content. She also interviewed and/or consulted established steelpan builders/tuners (e.g., Darren Dyke, Cliff Alexis, and Ellie Mannette) and scholars (e.g., Shannon Dudley, Eugene Novotney, and Myrna Nurse). Smith divides the text into three large sections: the history and development of the instrument in Trinidad, the expansion of the instrument to the United States, and modern development. The appendixes, which provide starting points for further inquiry, are largely designed to make the book accessible as a textbook or reference for new steel band students and/or directors. It consists of biographies of pioneering players and innovators, a timeline of historical events, guiding questions for each chapter, and a list of resources for further educational inquiry. The first section gives a broad overview of the history of steelpan development, including issues related to colonization, the conversion from bamboo to metal instruments, and the rise of steelpan from an art form of the lower class to the instrument's acceptance as the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago. Much of this information has been conveyed (in Smith's work as well as others) via oral histories; these accounts, while valuable, also provide contradictions and pose controversies actively debated in the steelpan community today. This section addresses the main historical landmarks in steelpan development; however, as the section was created to provide context for the remainder of the text, it does not address many of the fine points or nuances of steelpan history. The second section is a wonderful primer for those interested in pursuing the development of steel band in the United States. The spread of this art form throughout the country remains one of the most compelling examples of a musical diaspora and is elegantly retold through the stories of early Trinidadian immigrants, American steelpan enthusiasts, and ethnomusicologists. Smith notes the importance of such pioneers as Rudy King, Kim Loy Wong, Pete Seeger, Murray Narell, and Ellie Mannette. …