CECIL HUME - The Maestro Pan Player, Arranger, Composer, Pan Tuner [?] - 1977

   One of the many calypsonians who had a hand in the Steelband Movement was Cecil Hume, known as The Maestro, who passed away quite unexpectedly on August 31st 1977 [in] a vehicular accident.

   Some other [calypsonians who were also associated with the steelbands] [are] Squibby with West Star and Superblue with Tornadoes.

[West Star and Tornadoes were steelbands that used to function from the South of Trinidad; they are both out of operation at this time - 1998. There is still however a band in the North that is called West Stars.]

   [Cecil Hume's] father lived at Ste Madeline, and his mother at Princes Town. When he left Ste Madeline for Princes Town, his involvement with the [steelband] movement came to pass.

   In Princes Town he formed the band Freetown; for which he was the tuner and arranger.

   He arranged for Free French, one of the oldest bands in San Fernando, in 1960; and he was also associated with True Tones of Princes Town.

   At the Steelband Music Festival in 1968 he arranged the tune Concert Hall for True Tones. They came second to Desperadoes; whose interpretation was arranged by Mr Anthony Prospect.

   Concert Hall was Maestro's first 45 [record]; and [on] the reverse side Great Inventions was a tribute to Ivory and Steel.

   Maestro himself wrote the tune Tempo in 1975; which was a tribute to the steelband movement in which he commented on the lack of tenor... [arrangements] in their Panorama [performances].

   Steelband and calypso go hand in hand and Maestro surely solidified this in his contribution to both.

© 1997 Gideon Maxime: Pg 202; PAN THROUGH THE YEARS (1952 - 1996)

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© 1998: tobagojo@gmail.com - 19980317 - 1m20071228 - 2m20140615 Historic Update: 04 December 1999; Last Update: 18 July 2014 21:00:00 TT Processed by: Jeremy G de Barry