TASPO (Steelband)

The Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra was formed to participate in the Festival of Britain in 1951. The group presented the newly invented Steelpan to an international audience.

Members of TASPO

Lieutenant Joseph Nathaniel Griffith was the conductor of the Band. Griffith was originally part of the Trinidad Police Band.

July 6th, 1951, TASPO left Trinidad for England on the SS San Mateo. Carlton "Sonny" Roach fell ill and and was left behind in Martinique. TASPO returned to Trinidad December 12th, 1951, the only exception being Sterling Betancourt, which stayed in London. Betancourt has been vitally involved in building up Notting Hill Carnival.

Readings

* Felix I. R. Blake: The Trinidad and Tobago Steel Pan. History and Evolution. ISBN 0-952-55280-9
* The Steelband Movement: The Forging of a National Art in Trinidad and Tobago. By Stephen Stuempfle. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1995)

References

* George Goddard, "Forty Years in the Steelbands: 1939 - 1979"

Weblinks

* http://www.bestoftrinidad.com/steelband50s.html
* http://www.calypsoworld.org/uk/taspo.htm