Ebony Steelband’s 50th Anniversary
Europe’s Premier Steel Band Spreading the Steelpan Gospel Ebony Steelband was founded in the autumn of 1969 in Shakespeare Road, Acton, London. Founding members Cape James, Winston ‘P’ Joseph, Hugh and Wendell Hargreaves and Leeford Sylvester practised in the garden shed at Shakespeare Road; an activity which initially annoyed the neighbours, who would throw potatoes at the shed. However, it was not long before the same neighbours began enjoying the music and even making their own recordings of it. Cape initially wanted to name the band ‘Ebonites Steelband’ but the name was already taken, so he opted for ‘Ebony Steelband’ instead. Ebony’s first tune was Lord Kitchener’s ‘The Road Make to Walk on Carnival Day’, which they played at their inaugural gig on the Isle of Wight. Many more gigs were to follow, including performances at nursing homes, the Nurses’ Association Dance, Notting Hill Carnival, and the band’s first television appearance was on Hughie Green’s ‘Opportunity Knocks’, a talent show produced by Thames Television. The band began to grow, and more members including Randolph Baptiste, Earl Lewis, and current director, Pepe Francis, joined. In addition to being a steel band, Ebony also had its own mas band. The first mas makers joined in 1972, and by the mid-80s the mas band had become very popular. As Ebony Steelband grew in size, a new practice space was needed. The band made use of the church hall in Spencer Road, Acton, but players had to carry pans back and forth from Shakespeare Road as there was no storage space at the church. It was hard work, but they persevered for the love of the music and the ‘pan jumbie’ within them. The band moved to the Priory Centre in Action until the 1980s, when they moved to the Grenada Centre in Acton, then The Crypt in Paddington where they stayed for a few years. After this, Ebony moved on to the Carlton Centre in Kilburn, followed by Acklam Road in Ladbroke Grove, right in the middle of Notting Hill Carnival. The band were resident at Acklam for many years, and it was during this time that they achieved a recordbreaking nine consecutive panorama titles under arranger Annise ‘Haffers’ Hadeed, with pans tuned by Dudley Dickson. In 2004, Ebony left Acklam and moved to several locations during the following years. These included local schools, 24
panyards of neighbouring bands Mangrove, Glissando and Metronomes, and Westway Sports Centre, before finally settling at their current residence, the Yaa Centre in Maida Vale, London, as a member of the Carnival Village Trust.
Over the last 50 years, Ebony has celebrated many achievements and travelled the World to perform. Highlights include gaining trust status in 1986 and performances with pop legend Billy Ocean, and at London Marathon, Tate Modern, World Steelband Festival and International Conference and Panorama in Trinidad and Tobago, FIFA World Cup in Germany, Formula One Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi, Grenfell memorial service at St Paul’s Cathedral, a commission with electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk, Prince’s Trust events at St James’ and Buckingham Palaces, and receiving the Queen’s Unsung Hero Award for the band’s contribution to the community. Ebony has been performing at the Notting Hill Carnival and National Panorama Competition for several decades, and holds 22 panorama titles to date.
This year, Ebony has hosted a series of events to celebrate their golden jubilee. These include ‘Celebrating with Steel’ at Portobello Green, ‘E50: In Conversation with Pepe’, ‘Hidden Talents’, an Ebony junior band production, and most recently ‘Ebony Remembers’, an evening that celebrated and gave thanks to people that have contributed to the Ebony family, and enabled it to develop and grow from its humble beginnings into what it has become today. Stories, tributes and special memories were shared, all accompanied by renditions of some of the band’s most loved hits. Ebony Steelband is eternally grateful to generations of players, supporters, mas makers, trustees, arrangers and tuners for contributing to this milestone; here’s to the next 50 years!
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