Thank you for coming home, Gems and Friends

20.JUL.07

EDITOR: “Life begins at 50”. This is the certainly message that the audience gets when listening to the performance of the Gems and Friends Steel Pan orchestra. Over the last weekend, Gems and Friends under the direction of (Trinidadian) pannist/arranger Elton Jones performed at Government House a scintillating programme of light classics and popular favourites including Johann Strauss waltzes, Memory, and Red, Red Wine, with Becket’s “Teaser” as an encore.{{more}}

The evening’s entertainment also featured Syl McIntosh on sax, veteran Vin Cato on solo pan and Erlene Williams King, soprano, each of whom is a musical talent of the first order. The Sunday evening performance at the St. George’s Cathedral put on display a range of gospel renditions and included a variety of local artistes.

Watching Gems and Friends, one comes to a new appreciation of the phrase “con vivace” as one can truly feel the energy they transmit. The entire programme was marked by panache, pizzazz and professional polish and justifiably elicited a standing ovation.

Originally conceived as a ladies-only steelband, Gems eventually welcomed a few select males to their ranks. The steel band was the brainchild of the Sandy sisters, Monica, Betty and Louise, daughters of the late George and Pauline Sandy of Montrose. I have known these ladies all my life and even though I was well aware that they are high-achievers and indefatigable workers in many areas of community service, yet I listened with a sense of wonder and with a new respect for their ability and commitment. For I know only too well that during their formative years, a certain stigma attached to the steelband which was in any case the exclusive preserve of men. It is presumably due in large measure to their long residence in Toronto that they have been able to embrace the steelpan in defiance of the conventional stereotypes of age, gender and social class. No relaxing in rocking-chairs for these retirees. It also says something about the environment created by the generation which has passed on, an environment which nurtured and shaped these Vincentian women and men.

There are many important lessons here for all of us, young and old alike. Among them are: that we can overcome our early prejudices; that we need not be constrained by stereotypes; that it is never too late to learn new skills; that we are limited only by what we can imagine.

Make no mistake, musical performance requires dedication, discipline and many long hours. The performers may be in the strict sense amateurs, but the quality of their performance is thoroughly professional. It is no hyperbole to describe Gems and Friends as representing a triumph of the human spirit. As the Mighty Sparrow says, and the group has so ably demonstrated, “age is just a number”. “Thank you Gems and Friends for coming home. I am sure that your performances will continue to be an inspiration to many. May you ever soar to new heights.”

Ann Eustace