Truth, I-Blog

It was at the start of the seventh year of famine that Duvone Stewart and the Renegades crossed the bridge. When Joseph interpreted Pharoah’s dream (Genesis 41:30)  he saw that seven years of abundance would have been reversed with seven years of famine. Then would seven years of famine be followed by seven years of plenty? Indeed, it was in 2018, the seventh year since Duvone Stewart accepted the responsibility as an arranger for the Renegades Steel Orchestra, that he won a Panorama Championship. If he nipped an extra year of drought, it did not make a difference because of the debilitating politics of  Pan Trinbago and the National Carnival Commission  (NCC) which deprived the legendary steelband, one of the oldest in the country, of its million dollars prize money until the end of the year. And the  honour  reserved for champions. The victory did not turn into a national celebration either. Not even for the social work that kept a lid on turf wars...

It was my first ever night time assignment.  And my first foray into steelband journalism, if we can call it that. Being the kind of boss that he was, the late Editor/Publisher Patrick Chookolingo called me into his office and asked whether I could make it while assuring me that he had assigned a photographer who would ensure that I got home safely. The assignment: to interview all the conductors of the bands participating in the 1982 Steelband Music Festival-Pan is Beautiful Two- that was being staged at the Jean Pierre  Sporting Complex  (JPSC) in Port of Spain. So said so done. It was just a few months into the life of the T&T Mirror newspaper of which I was a founding member and Choko (as he was fondly called) was all about getting the news that needed coverage.  He was more than motivated by the fact that the mainstream media ignored almost all things related to steelband where he saw excellence. Enthusiastically, I went on the assignment and came back w...