Sterling Betancourt

Sterling Betancourt MBE, FRSA (born 30 March 1930) is a Trinidad-born pioneer, inventor, arranger and musician on the steelpan, a major figure in pioneering the Pan in Europe and the UK (1951). In a career spanning over five decades he has received numerous awards including his involvement in creating the Notting Hill Carnival (1964). Sterling Betancourt lives in London, England.

Life

Betancourt (Trinidad pronunciation: Betancou) was born and raised in Laventille near Port of Spain, Trinidad. His father, Edwin, was a musician and a man of all trades to make ends meet, his mother Stella Bowen, a seamstress and a cleaner. At a very early age Betancourt was involved with music with the Tambo Bambo family band and grew up experiencing with the Steel pan, becoming a member of the Tripoli Steel band. He began his career in the 1930s and became a steelpan tuner and eventually leader of Crossfire, a steelband from the St James area. He also played a large part in the development of steelpan in Trinidad,[1]

Move to Europe

Selected as a member of TASPO (Trinidad All-Steel Percussion Orchestra) to go to the Festival of Britain in 1951, Betancourt toured England and Europe with the band that year.[2] He was the only musician of TASPO to remain on in England when the others returned to Trinidad on 12 December 1951. Together with Russell Henderson and Mervyn Constantine, who later on was replaced by Max Cherrie, followed by his brother Ralph Cherrie, they formed the first Steel Band in the UK and performed all over London as well as in radio shows, jazz clubs and the BBC. In 1953 Betancourt was taught by Tony Kinsey to play the traps drums in order to form The Henderson combo.

In 1985 Betancourt's steel Band, "Nostalgia", was born and continued with him as the leader, player and arranger until 2005.[3]

Betancourt has also taken steelpan to many other countries throughout Europe and Asia, including Switzerland, Hong Kong, Bahrain, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Morocco, Indonesia, Germany, Spain, France, Oman, Italy, Sicily, Sweden and Norway.[3][4]

A 1976 performance he gave in a hotel in Zurich, Switzerland, inspired some locals to form their own Swiss group, which they called Tropefieber ("Tropical Fever"), the first steel band in Zurich, followed then by many others.[5]

Betancourt's calypso "Taspo's Story" features on the RASPO Rhythms CD by the Reading All Steel Percussion Orchestra (RASPO).[6] It relates the tribulations encountered by the arrival of the first Steel Band in London: The Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra.

Awards

Honours and awards that Betancourt has received include: in 1993 Trinidad and Tobago’s Scarlet Ibis award. A University of East London Honorary Fellowship in 1996, a membership of the FRSA for his commitment in promoting steelpan culture throughout the United Kingdom, and pioneering steelpan projects in English schools[7] and in the same year, the New York Sunshine Award.

He was appointed as a Member of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in the New Year Honours 2002 "for services to the steel band movement".[8][9] In 2004 he received a Fellowship of the Royal Society, in 2006 a Pantrinbago Pioneer award, in 2010 Pan Jazz Life Time Achievement, 2011 Pan Trinbago Commemorative Plaque for Life Time Achievement.

In 2012, on the occasion of the Trinidad and Tobago Independence Jubilee celebrations, he was a recipient of one of the Arts awards recognising citizens who made a positive contribution to the promotion and development of Trinidad and Tobago in the United Kingdom during the past 50 years, given at a gala dinner in London hosted by High Commissioner Garvin Nicholas.[3][10][11]

Further reading

References

External links

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