Shell Invaders gets panyard lease as Trinidad & Tobago Carnival Museum showcases pan exhibit

September 15, 2023

Shell Invaders is one of Trinidad & Tobago’s oldest and most popular steel orchestras.

Founded in 1940, they have won many contests and a regional title in Barbados in 2008.

Panorama, held during the twin islands Carnival, is the only crown missing from their trophy case.

They have competed in the world’s largest steelpan competition since 1963.

The sign at the entrance of the Shell Invaders panyard (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

However, Invaders biggest victory in their 83-year existence was the recent acquisition of the lease from the Trinidad & Tobago government for the space at 147 Tragarete Rd. opposite the Queen’s Park Oval.

The official handing over ceremony took place on September 6.

James Emmanuel Inniss, who at 83 is Invaders oldest member, was elated.

James Emmanuel Inniss is Shell Invaders oldest member (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

“This band has been part of my life for over 60 years,” he said. “I could remember when we were put out on the pavement and members took turns sleeping on the hard concrete while watching the instruments. We eventually came back in the panyard and have not moved. I am so pleased and thankful because we are not going anywhere. This is home.”

Invaders, which was awarded the Chaconia Medal (T & T’s third highest honour) in 1996 for its extensive contributions to the arts, was temporarily evicted in late 1979.

For Music Co-ordinator Desiree Myers, home is a blessed place where one and their family can feel secure.

“To know that you have something that you can all your own, that you can develop on, build, grow and do whatever you want with because it is yours is quite satisfying,” the Four Cello pan player noted.

Desiree Myers on the Four Pan (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

Canadian-based Anthony Pierre, who spent a lot of time with Invaders while in T & T for four years until March 1985, greeted the news.

“With all the struggles they have endured and with their longevity, it’s good to see they finally have a space they can claim to be their home,” said the former York Tones steelband arranger. “They have had a tough time, but that has always been their yard. For years, they have been trying to get that lease.”

Pierre was the band’s resident arranger in 1984, the same year that The Mighty Sparrow won the Road March title with ‘Don’t Back Back’.

“We left the panyard on J’ouvert Morning playing that song and when I tried to call another tune, that fell apart,” he recalled. “We played ‘Don’t Back Back’ all the way through the city and back to the panyard.”

Anthony Pierre (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

The percussionist and leader of the jazz sextet, Kalabash, is working with filmmaker/producer Gregory Christmas and actor/musician Ivor Picou on the production of a feature documentary, ‘Ellie Mannette – A Destiny in Steel’.

Regarded as the father of the modern steel drum, Mannette -- who co-founded Invaders -- died in the United States in 2018 at age 90.

Using discarded paint cans, biscuit tins and other empty metal containers, Mannette, Stanley Hunte and their friends started Oval Boys that became Invaders after they saw the thriller war film, ‘The Night Invader’.

Through experimentation with materials available on the street, they began to bridge the gap between the earlier rhythmic beat of the tamboo bamboo and the harmonies that emanated from the steelpan.

Through trial and error, Mannette discovered the uniqueness of the note blend on a pan and that the sweetness of the music came out with sticks wrapped with rubber.

Pierre’s father, Lennox Pierre passed away in 1993 at age 74, was a prominent Invaders member.

The former lawyer and founder of the defunct Steelbands Association took his violin into the panyard to help with arranging. He also devised a technique of numbering the musical notes for band members.

With a steady membership of 40, Invaders has about 120 players during Panorama, some of them from the United States, England and Japan.

Shell Invaders steel orchestra (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

“These are professionals who can match up with the best in the world,” said band Chairman & Managing Director Michael Din Chong. “We practice three nights weekly and every night at the beginning of each year leading up to Carnival.”

Michael Din Chong (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

As the band’s elder statesman, Inniss enjoys being around the younger players.

“They have a good time in their own way and are willing to learn,” he said. “It is refreshing to see so many young players here. Invaders has come a long way from when we use to open shows for the late dancer Beryl McBurnie at The Little Carib Theatre. Panmen with pans around their necks and a dancing fireman were the opening act before her events began.”

For the last 15 years, Kerri-Ann Borris has been playing the tenor pan with Invaders that was the first T & T steelband to hire a woman arranger for Panorama when late England-born Geraldine Connor came on board in 1978.

Kerri-Ann Borris (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

“I like the atmosphere and the versatility of this instrument,” she said. “It has a unique sound.”

The United Nations officially declared August 11 as World Steel Pan Day.

To mark the milestone, the Trinidad & Tobago Carnival Museum (TTCM) is staging an exhibit, ‘The Evolution of Pan’, that ends on November 30.

Passionate about arts and culture, entrepreneur Dennis Fakoory owns the Joseph Charles collection of 17 acrylic on canvas paintings.

Businessman Dennis Fakoory owns the collection of paintings (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

“We need people to know that the steelpan originated in Trinidad & Tobago and it came into existence because there was something different about the music coming out of a steel drum,” he said.

Author and educator Nasser Khan, who spent 20 years in the Greater Toronto Area before returning home in 1996, was the catalyst for ‘The Evolution of Pan’ exhibit.

“This is so important, especially for the young people,” he said. “There are many books on the steelpan, but these iconic paintings have gone a step further in showing places, many of which are not still around, where pan was very popular. To that end, we will soon be publishing a freely accessible E-book and giving hard copies to all schools, libraries and other deserving institutions in Trinidad & Tobago. A youth literary initiative courtesy of the Fakoory Group, it will trace the history and evolution of the steel pan through the paintings and will be a source of reference and research to students in particular.”

Nasser Khan (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

The collection at the exhibit includes steelpan players going down the street with pans around their necks, Hell Yard where the earliest known recording of a steelband took place in 1940 with Roaring Lion’s ‘Lion Oh’ and panmen in tuxedos and top hats, led by a female conductor, playing at a concert.

Located at the corner of Duke & Charlotte Sts., the TTCM occupies the space owned by the First Citizens Group of Companies whose First Citizens Bank emerged from the Trinidad & Tobago Co-Operative Bank that was known as the ‘Penny Bank’ because only a penny was required to open an account.

“The bank wanted this space to be used to promote arts and culture as Carnival started right outside on Duke St.,” said TTCM Director Kenny Attai who was a Tribal Carnival Command Centre manager. “I joined Dr. Hollis Liverpool (Chalkdust), children’s carnival designer and bandleader Rosalind Gabriel and Carnival Institute of Trinidad & Tobago director Kim Johnson in putting together a proposal to secure this building for a carnival museum.”

Kenny Attai (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

They acquired the heritage site in April 2021.

During renovations expected to end next year, there were two exhibits -- The History of Carnival and The Story of J’ouvert that ran for 12 weeks until Independence Day on August 31 -- prior to the pan exhibit.

“The aim of this museum is to keep the history of carnival and other art forms alive,” added Attai who spent almost 20 years with BWIA as a Maintenance Director and nearly three years with Air Caribbean as Chief Engineer. “About 300 students attended the J’ouvert exhibition and they were able to learn that what they see now is nothing close to what it was before.”

Gabriel, the Trinidad & Tobago Carnival Bands Association President, said the museum is a space where stories of Carnival will be told.

“We want to preserve the history and ongoing evolution of Trinidad & Tobago Carnival wherever it occurs in the world, passing on its knowledge and skills, communicating its legacy and telling the story of Carnival through education, art and technology,” the 20-time Kiddies Band of the Year winner leader added.

The Trinidad & Tobago Carnival Museum is located at Duke & Charlotte Sts. (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

The museum is open Wednesday to Saturday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. and on Sunday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Supported by Tourism Trinidad Ltd., the non-governmental organization of committed volunteers is seeking financial support for the museum to maintain its presence as a reservoir of knowledge.

They can be reached at 868-613-8504, @tt.carnivalmuseum or through www.ttcarnivalmuseum.com