Her e-mail address, steelpanlady@... is the handle which epitomises the passion for which yet another non-national, though resident in T&T, has for our national instrument.
Enamoured by the pan since her first introduction to the instrument back in the 1980s at Northern Illinois University, Dr Jeannine Remy, senior lecturer in music, Department of Creative and Festival Arts at UWI, St Augustine, has recently completed, with another non-national, retired judge Ray Funk from Alaska, the 75-year history of the Invaders Steelband. This publication is ready to go to print but is awaiting sponsorship for its initial print run, an exercise that is taking a lot longer than anticipated.
At UWI she teaches courses in percussion, pan (arranging, literature, history), world music, and musics of the Caribbean. Many of Dr Remy's compositions for pan can be found in the UWI Pan exam books that the Department of Creative and Festival Arts/DCFA created to promote music literacy.
Her first trip to Trinidad was in 1989 as part of her doctoral research at the University of Arizona. Since then, she has received numerous faculty research grants, including a Fulbright in 2000-2001 to research and archive Trinidad's pan music.
In 2003, she shipped what remained of her private collection of instruments in a container from Idaho to the pan theatre at UWI and thus started the UWI Percussion Ensemble, a dream come true for this self-confessed "pan jumbie." Prior to that, she had arrived in Trinidad with her two children and six suitcases.
The Percussion Ensemble group has produced two CDs–Rain Makers and DCFA Percussion Ensemble. With percussion now a major area of study at the DCFA, the programme has produced students who are currently pursuing their Masters degrees in percussion abroad. The Percussion Ensemble is now in its 12th year at UWI as the music students have become attached to the unique learning and performing opportunities the group currently offers.
Dr Remy connected with Franka Hills-Headley's Golden Hands to create a programmatic musical drama titled The Rainmakers for pan and percussion that was featured on a showcase concert for Percussive Arts International Convention in Austin, Texas, in 2008.
She is the first foreigner and woman to arrange for large conventional steelbands for panorama and music festivals, including Invaders in North and Hatters in South. In 2010, she became the first woman to win a steelband competition, titled Pan in the 21st Century, with Sforzata. During panorama Dr Remy can often be found working for GISL TV doing musical commentary and analysis of steelbands as they cross the stage.
Q: First, let's get a bit of background...tell us about your early years (where you were born, where you grew up, primary, secondary and tertiary education).
A: I was born in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, with Lake Michigan in my backyard. In fact, I am the person to whom the calypso Iron Man is all about.
I attended primary and secondary school in a rural farm community known for its Belgium and Scandinavian ancestry, in the Southern Door School District, Door County being the northeast peninsula of Wisconsin. It is a beautiful vacation land riddled with cherry, cedar and birch trees, and is part of the Niagara Escarpment.
In 2013, I was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame at Southern Door High School for excellence in performance and teaching.
I earned my BM and MM degrees from Northern Illinois University (NIU) and my DMA from the University of Arizona in Tucson.
How and why did you become involved and enamoured with the steelpan?
As an avid collector of recording, my first experience of hearing a steelband was from an LP but the sounds of those instruments were from the earlier years, whereby the pan was not yet "ringing." When I was in high school I attended a summer music camp (the percussion session) in Door County that featured pan as one of the electives. The steelpan teacher was G Allan O'Connor (seen in Trinidad many times as a judge for Pan Is Beautiful) who eventually brought a Trinidadian, Clifford Alexis, to NIU. Upon hearing the instrument up close and personal, I fell in love with the sound and musical capabilities. I transferred to NIU where I completed and finished my BM and MM degrees.
As a percussionist, the pan was an instrument that I wanted to master. I had a lot of experience as an orchestral percussionist but the pan was an instrument that completed my yearning for world music.
How do you incorporate pan in your teaching programmes at UWI?
I incorporated the steelpan just like teaching any other musical instrument. When I first began teaching pan at UWI, I saw a need for an exercise book with scale patterns and sight-reading... all components for pan assessment at UWI. These are things all of the tutors do with their pan students, in addition to learning exam pieces. Prior to that, in 1995, Dr Osborne devised a graded exam for pan. These pieces also added to the repertoire to develop music literacy in T&T. But as time went on, I realised that some of my students were exceptional players who needed music composed specifically forthem. This is all what the "C" category of the three pan exam set pieces is all about...local compositions promoting pan literacy.
As for my percussionists, I am very proud of them. Most having no percussion at the elementary or secondary school level, I have to take them from point A to Z very quickly. I am so proud of the fact that I can boost about three of my percussion majors getting scholarships to study percussion at the masters level abroad. That means we are doing something very right here at UWI and that all of the music faculty should be complimented for their success.
What is/are your current and future project/s?
Pan history and research has always been very important to me and my colleagues (Kim Johnson, Ray Funk, Andy Martin, to name a few). I began researching for the 75 Years of Invaders Steelband 25 years ago, beginning the process by doing interviews with pan pioneers back as early as 1989. Ray Funk joined into the project in the last five or more years to help collect data.
The importance of the 350-page Invader's book is the fact that many of the stories would now be lost as many historic members have passed away. Additionally, many photographs were shared during numerous interviews. With the assistance of many pan elders, now fallen, the book is an accurate account of the history of steelband as seen through the eyes of Invaders. The book has been completed and is ready to go to print but now seems to be on hold as Rubadiri Victor has tried to assist us through the Ministry of Culture to obtain the required funding for its printing and distribution. We have been told that funds would be released so we are anxiously waiting. Before that, Caribbean Airlines were hot on the trail to assist financially with the printing and launch, but we are not sure what is happening as so many hands have changed. We are still hopeful they will assist. The manager of Invaders, Michael Dinchong, was given the book in hopes that it would be sold in the panyard and become a main item to help promote cultural heritage...especially with the International Conference and Panorama (ICP) around the corner.
Archiving steelpan newspaper clippings over the years has been another big project, http://uwispace.sta.uwi.edu/dspace/handle/2139/17577.
My next project with Ray Funk is a book on steelbands from south Trinidad. We have already began the research and with the assistance of Pan Trinbago South (kudos to David Balbosa and Michael Joseph) who are allowing us to use their conference room for interviews.
Who were the people who have influenced you the most in your career and life in general and how did they?
I would have to say this would be people like Al O'Connor, Cliff Alexis, Ray Holman, Andy Narell and many, many pan elders who were so generous in sharing their stories on their role in a steelband.
What goals and/or ambitions do you still have in the areas of the steelpan?
Any pan arranger would say "win a Panorama!" but for me, mainly to bring the joy of music in the hearts of any eager listener.
What are some of your favourite pieces of Trini music?
I love listening to vintage soca...like listening to 107.7 Soca Train on Saturday! But one has something to learn by listening to all kinds of Trini music. That is a hard question. My favourite arrangers are Ray Holman, Boogsie Sharpe and Clive Bradley. This year I really liked Ducking and Vagabond.
What other information about yourself would you like to share with our readers?
My most memorable moments as steelband conductor were in 2000 with Invaders and conducting Toco Band while being about six months pregnant. The other was conducting Hatters in 2002 with a piece called 911 when the audience gave us a very long standing ovation and recently, 2013, the ensemble category of the Pan Is Beautiful in Napa. Of course, conducting Bust Your Windows for the Pan in the 21st Century was also a blast.
This year, I really enjoyed playing Chuku Chuku/Denise Belfon with Hatters in Skinner Park. That performance was top notch and regardless of what the rating was, we really performed and had a good time.
Describe yourself in two words, one beginning with J, the other with R, your initials.
I don't know about the J part, but the R for sure is rebellious. When I left my last job in Idaho to move to Trinidad my colleagues thought I was crazy. They asked me why would I move to a third world country with enough pan players and arrangers already. I just smiled and waved goodbye to them.