This was the response of Salah leader of Salah’s Steelpan Academy in response to a question from a caller from Toronto during the Pan Diaspora segment inside “Pan in Yuh Puefen” Sunday on Wack Radio90.1 FM with Hollis Clifton and Steve Sealy behind the controls. The caller had questioned the bands use of plywood on the floor during the band’s 4th straight winning presentation at Pan Alive (panorama) 2010 at Lamport Stadium, Toronto.
But there is scientific logic of using the ply wood, affirmed Salah. The first year at Lamport they allowed us to play on the grass and we realized how effective the ply wood was since the grass absorbed the sound and with the plywood in place there was a great acoustic effect so we have continued that concept ever since. No one seemed to pick up on it yet but I am sure by 2011 they will....we were also the first to introduce tents.... and amplification at the other place when it was allowed......all of this is because we take our work seriously and plan for the event and always seek to improve on what we did the previous year....like for next year God’s Willing we know that we have to beat our own song, in other words, do a better arrangement of this year's song in order to be one step ahead of the pack. But a lot of it is also based on experience, for instance the concept of using a base like wood for acoustics reminded me of a time I played with Exodus and they played a song called Baillamos ...I recall the effect it had on me at the Grand Savannah in Port of Spain. I played with the band and on stage when the first notes were sounded it literally lifted me off my feet… the effect of the sound bouncing off the wooded floor of the stage, so that effect remained with me.
Another caller from Toronto added a touch of humor positing that he would have to go and do some plywood research… Lol
Salah recalling his initial plight to Clifton highlighted his first gig two weeks after arriving in Montreal in 1972. If ever there was an illusion this must have been it. It took years before another engagement was to follow. So off he went to the Black community in Cote des Neiges where he impacted on their first ever
“Carifete” parade. The event was so grand that it drew imminent personalities cum Mohammed Ali, et al however, for reasons untold Carifete met its demise in the ensuing years.
Salah & Family
Montreal appeared a bit on the slow side for the budding pannist. So he packed his bag and took his wife, Adiylah, to Vancouver where he linked up with a few of his home boys (Trinidadians) including
Kenrick Headley, Jimmi Phillip, Orvis & Hamish Noel, Sammy Morris, Patrick Wilson. There they were doing the circuit fairly regularly. However, the young, restless and daring Salah picked up a ‘vaps’ and decided to acquire a complete set of steelpans to form his own band. He managed to convince a few of the guys with whom he played in other bands to move on to Edmonton. (Jimi Phillip, Gale Hunt, Vin Thomas, Nicky Asson). The move resulted in the crystallization of his first steelband – Pan Vibes Exhibits.
Financially the outfit did not show much promise so with his wife returning to relatives in Montreal the group enrolled in “Grant Mc Ewan Community College” to do a music programme, performances at the university, schools, coffee shops and recording for a radio station, inclusive of vocals. This must have been a first for a steelband anywhere.
With all this going, however, Salah found that the thought of Montreal always conjured up images in his mind and so with the upcoming Summer Olympics in 1976 he returned to Montreal. Pan Vibes Exhibits eventually met its demise. This led to the emergence of the Galaxy Vocal Steelband with Trinidad’s Junior Byron as lead vocalist. Internal migration again saw the band return to Edmonton in 1978. This time he took his wife and two children.
A couple years later, 1980 the band continued to search for the establishment of its own identity which meant travelling between Montreal and New York. His wife gave birth to another son, this time in New York. Alas the family returned to Trinidad where another child was born before returning to Montreal in 1984.
In an effort to put food on the table Salah revealed to Clifton that he became a Street Busker, playing on the streets, the Metro (subway) and the parks, almost anywhere to get ends to meet. The period 1984-1987 was truly trying times but in which he took pride in his profession as a pannist. It enabled him to establish contacts and contracts so that he was gigging all over Montreal. Most important of all he was able to attend Mc Gill Conservatory of Music where he completed his Secondary III, IV and V.
Salah took the opportunity to revisit the Montreal’s Black Communities establishing steelpan programmes in Cote Des Neiges and N.D.G... His experience as a Street Busker, nonetheless, continued unfolding motivating chronicles.
The genesis came in 1988 when the pan maestro decided to put together “Salah & Family Steelpan Workshop” in his own apartment. The aggregate thrived till 1990 when another kid arrived on the scene. His wife then emerged as the band’s vocalist.
It was in 1991 when Salah made inroads into the public schools, starting with Coronation Elementary then the following year Somerled Elementary came into the fold. Later Shadd Academy, John Grant High et al were added. Today Salah and his family provide pan programmes in seven English schools and one French school.
Salah in Hong Kong
In 1992 Wilson seriously began writing a Steelpan Text Book entitled “Steelpan Playing With Theory”. He also enlisted for a degree at Concordia University. This made it the first time that the steelpan would be accepted at a major university in any part of Canada – Salah spearheaded the project. In 1995 he graduated with distinction obtaining a BFA in jazz specialization with the steelpan as his principal instrument.
With so many schools involved in the steelpan programme Salah, in 1992, configured a Summer Festival – Pan Jamboree - to channel the efforts of the young players. Together with his own Salah & Family Steelpan Academy, among other community groups, the event was held at the Bill Durham arena in Cote Des Neiges. A winter Yuletide event entitled “Classics to Calypso” was later created on par with pan Jamboree. “Pan Quebec” was significant in producing this annual event.
Salah’s Steelpan Academy
In 1995 the pan family headed to the studio with the resultant debut CD entitled “Good Feelings”. That same year Salah with his six member family band went to Toronto and created hysteria when they when they won the coveted “Panorama” title eliminating other bands four and five times their size.
In 1997 Salah established his own private “Salah Steelpan Academy” and open its doors to John Public.
By the turn of the century Salah’s elder children were by now assisting in the teaching of steelpan music in the public schools.
Clifton then asked Salah about fallout he had in 2005, to which he humbled himself in reference to an Ethnomusicology Masters programme which he was pursuing at the University of Montreal and was really struggling due to his inability to effectively comprehend French as a second language. He eventually had to drop out. This nonetheless gave him the opportunity to go to Trinidad and Tobago to have talks with the government. The result was that his book “Steelpan Playing With Theory” was formally adopted into the public schools’ curriculum. He went on to pen five additional Steelpan Text books designed for different levels of comprehension. Three of the books have been translated into French.
In 2006 he opened his store Steelpan Plus, which also serves as the centre for the private classes. With Hameed Shaqq, he has a branch in Toronto.
Over the years The Academy has served as an outreach location for troubled youths where they are given a disciplined art form and an environment to interact with their age mates. It has also served as a meeting place for young adults and senior citizens. The positive effect on the group with Autistic students has also been noted.
Salah laments that to date the Academy has managed to survive without funding but they need to go beyond merely survival. Their desire is to create employment of students, offer the programmes in French inclusive of other aspects of the Arts. To this end they seek partners to fund their programmes.
Pan Diaspora can be heard on the last Sunday monthly on WACK Radio90.1FM from 4–5 PM
Hollis J. Clifton
Pan Diaspora Visionary
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