Winston Simon

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Winston "Spree" Simon (* 1930 in Port of Spain ; † April 18, 1976 ) was a Trinidadian musician who was one of the pioneers of the Steel Pan .

Life

Simon was born in East Dry River, a poor neighborhood in Port of Spain, and grew up in Laventille . As a descendant of African slaves, he carried the nickname of his grandfathers as a family name. As a 9-year-old he played in a percussion band that made percussive music of all kinds with bamboo tubes and metal containers.

The time between the beginning of the Second World War and the end of it is considered to be the birth of the Steel Pan. In addition to Spree Simon and his group, there were other bands in other suburbs of Port of Spain, which also played on biscuit containers or metal lids. The actual discovery of sounds in sheet metal, however, is attributed to Simon. By repeatedly hitting the bottom of his tin box, it was lowered, whereupon Simon tried to smooth the bottom with a stone again. In doing so, Simon discovered different pitches in the bumps formed by the stone. In 1943 Spree Simon presented a melody instrument with nine tones, in 1946 he had already developed an instrument with 14 tones.

Other music groups were also busy building steel pans, which promoted the development of this new musical instrument. In 1951 the Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra TASPO traveled to Great Britain to represent Trinidad at the Festival of Britain . Winston Simon was part of TASPO along with other leaders from various steel bands .

Simon worked with Anthony Williams , who would later develop the Circle of Fifths Soprano Pans. The discoverer of the harmonic mood, Bertie Marshall , stayed a lot at Spree Simon and received important impulses for his further work.

Winston Spree Simon suffered a stroke in 1970 and was so paralyzed that he could no longer play until he died in 1976. A monument was erected in his honor in Laventille.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Trinisoca.com: Remembering 'Spree' Simon. Retrieved December 13, 2015 .
  2. ↑ Michael Anthony: Historical Dictionary of Trinidad and Tobago . Scarecrow Press, London 1997, ISBN 0-8108-3173-2 , pp. 528 .
  3. ↑ BestofTrinidad.com: Winston Simon. Retrieved March 28, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Simon, Winston
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Simon, Winston Spree
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Trinidadian pioneer of the steel pan
DATE OF BIRTH 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Port of Spain
DATE OF DEATH April 18, 1976