Ace arranger launches new CD

Holman is among Trinidad and Tobago’s finest composers and arrangers of steelpan music.

His belief that life’s circumstances have conspired to make him a composer and musician cannot conceal the fact that he is a gifted artiste whose musical signature is that of a master and innovator.

Holman’s interest in music, particularly the steelpan, started at an early age but it was during his secondary school years that it really took flight.

At age 20, he became the youngest player to win a Ping Pong solo competition in the 1964 TT Music Festival. In 1972 Holman became the first arranger to compose and arrange his own music for the National Steelband Panorama competition.

Appropriately titled “Pan On The Move,” the composition won the preliminary round but placed Starlift third in the finals.

Playing a non calypso in a Panorama competition was a revolutionary move which was criticised at the time but nevertheless, paved the way for a new mind-set and allowed other composers to showcase their talent in the years since Holman’s and Starlift’s bold move elevated steelpan music to another level.

Yara Trinidad Limited has documented six original steelband compositions of this great musician in an initiative to commemorate its centennial anniversary.

As the executive producer Yara has funded the entire project which is supported by The University of The West Indies Centre for Creative and Festival Arts (CCFA) at the St Augustine campus. This project is also endorsed by the Music Literacy Trust.

The double CD consists of audio recordings of the six compositions performed by the UWI Festival Steel Ensemble under the musical direction of Jessel Murray (Disc 1).

Disc 2 shows scores in Sibelius, Finale, Midi and PDF formats as well as several files of scores categorisation, company/personality/ ensemble profiles, comments by the musical transcriber and editor, Music Literacy Trust profile and accompanying photos.

The objective is to increase music literacy by documenting Holman’s work which is taught at CCFA and internationally, as well as for the cultural aspect of preserving Trinidad and Tobago’s steelpan music.

The six compositions are “Sand Point Reggae,” “Playa Larga,” “Changing Time,” “Waltz for Iris,” “Heroes of The Nation” and “Shocking it With Steel.”

The project is the second in a series which began in 2003 when Hydro Agri Trinidad Ltd (Yara’s predecessor) documented six of Dr Jit Samaroo’s original compositions in a double CD entitled Original Notes.

This is also of the CCFA teaching material.

Tonight’s CD launch kicks off at 6.30 pm.