Neville Jules Speaks on Pan
Mr. Neville Jules and friends
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TrinbagoPan.com Reporters
Interview Date: May 26, 2007
Posted: June 11, 2007
TRINBAGOPAN: Was it difficult to get players to play the classical music as opposed to the Calypsos?
NEVILLE: Not really. I showed them. Of course, there are some people who would catch on faster than others. I used to start the rehearsals with the regular Calypsos and whatever tunes we were doing. At a certain time, I would tell the players to take a rest and get something to eat so that anybody who was listening to the band would know we were going into the Bomb. When we started back we would practice very softly. Sometimes we practiced with fingers and the rubber part of lead pencils. The rehearsals didn't have to be the whole band but I would still have them practicing. That way a guy couldn't hide because I could have seen and heard who was really playing and what they were doing. Not until Carnival Monday morning we would get everybody together and bring them downstairs and they would all be anxious to hear how the entire band was really sounding. As a matter of fact, people who were in parties would leave at a certain time to come and hear this Bomb drop. The rehearsals we had, you either do it or leave. At times, especially when it was getting late, there were certain guys who would say they had to leave, probably because they were getting tired of the rehearsals. I would say, "Okay, look the door there; you can leave. But when you leave, do not come back," and they would stay. It ended up where a lot of bands were coming to contest All Stars on Monday morning with the Bomb. I remember seeing a lot of bands coming down Charlotte Street because we were in the Garrett. That is the way it was.
TRINBAGOPAN: How did Mr. Gerry Jemmot got involved with the band?
NEVILLE: Well, we were an unsponsored band and one of our members had put an ad in the papers that we needed a sponsor. We also had deceased Peter Pitts who was a strong supporter of the band. He and some other guys, from since back in 1948, used to come right there on George Street and sit with us at the side of the canal and 'ole talk' and so on. I remember when we were going into Panorama I got a call and he asked me if I would like to call the band Cattelli All Stars when I go on stage. The people from Catelli used to be in the band and he kept behind them to sponsor us. I said, "all right," and we called the band Catelli All Stars. Afterwards, we went and tried to negotiate with them. We decided we had to have a musical director because at that time, we had to enter festivals and so on.
In 1952, I entered the first festival and in 1954, I entered the second one. From the response I got, I decided not to participate in any more festivals because in the first festival a seven was turned into a three. In the old days, they had the pencils they called 'the indelible' which they used. You could have seen the number three in that writing.
Anyway, we listened to all that was said regarding the rules of the competition. They especially didn't want too much melody or solo. Our band was the fifth band that performed. When we played, we were the first band to play with somebody playing skins. We had a guy playing the bongos. In those days, there were no conductors. We got a conductor and we played. After everybody played, Dr. Wiseman came out and gave his comments, then he called out the points for each song the bands played. When he reached to us he said, "And here comes, Sir Thomas Beecham." We had a guy who came out with a baton. He knocked the baton and he turned around, we bowed and then we played. The other bands were not doing that, they just went on the stage and played. When Dr. Wiseman gave out the scores, our band had the highest score for the night but there was one more band to go. The band was from San Fernando and Theo Stevens was the leader. He was a very good player. They played "Anna", but Theo started solo. Nobody else was playing anything. The other parts of the band were just accompanying him. Now, when our scores were announced, the people started clapping and so on, then Dr. Wiseman said, "Wait, more runs to come after lunch". I said, "Oh my gosh, what is this?" Well, the band from San Fernando won the festival.
An amazing thing happened just before the festival started. When Theo Stevens was going through the gate in ROXY with the band, the gateman didn't want the band to go in because he was taking his mother with him inside the theatre. They argued a bit and Theo said, "Well if my mother cannot go in, I am not playing". I went to the gateman and I said, "If he is not playing, then I am not playing". That made him get the thing to go in and play and that was the guy who beat me.
I knew we had to get back into the festivals and that was when we went and got Jemmott. It was one of the best things we did.
TRINBAGOPAN: What sort of influence you feel he had on the band's ability to perform subsequently?
NEVILLE: The first thing he did when he came was make us change the way how we were doing things. In the early days, if he tuned a pan for a tuner or anybody who had a pan, he would call the lowest note 'C'. Now he came with his flute, and when he say, "Call these notes for me", I would hit the lowest note that we had, and he would say, "Ah ah, that ain't C," and he would tell me what note I played instead. He went around and he got the full range of the complete band and then he started to do his thing. He didn't just teach them sounds, he also gave them exercises which they had to follow. He was very good. He didn't only take part in the classical music, he also had his say in Panorama and so on.
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