La Verne jams to sounds of steel drums
Campus Times
October 9, 1998
As members of the audience danced in front of the Dailey Theatre stage,
Garend Lawrence, performer in the "Trinidad Steel Drum Band,"
pounds on his six-base homemade steel drum. The 40-year-old interchanged
band has produced four albums.
Crystal blue waters float bellow the cruise ship as it docks on the
tropical island of Trinidad.
Disembarking from the cruise ship, flavorful sounds of the Trinidad
Steel Drum Band greets and dances into the ears of the ship's passengers.
The Trinidad Steel Drum Band will put the island rhythm into a person's
feet and a smile on their face.
Their Oct. 1 performance put smiles on the faces of the some 50 University
of La Verne students in attendance, who were magically transported from
ULV to the private beach at an exotic resort.
Steve Biondo, Music Department assistant, introduced the band as part
of the department's Fall Concert series.
The five men, clad in matching stripped shirts, crowded under the yellow
lights of Dailey Theatre with their different drums.
The men, all related with the exception of one, swayed like palm trees
in the wind as they jammed out song after song.
During their performance they did covers on songs like Jimmy Buffet's
"Margaritaville," UB40's "Red Red Wine" and the Bangles'
"Hazy Shade of Winter."
Before a short intermission, the band allowed the audience to participate
with them on stage as they played an informal song so that the audience
could see how different strokes make different sounds.
The steelpan is a pitch instrument in the Idiophone class.
The instrument is traditionally made from a 55 gallon drum with 22 3/4
inch diameter ends.
The flat circular end of the drum is sunk concavely (like a bowl) and
elliptical, convex portions are raised in a predetermined pattern with specific
dimensions. These raised areas are marked by grooves which isolate each
from the rest of the surface and represent the notes of the instrument.
