Sterling Betancourt
| Sterling Betancourt | |
|---|---|
Betancourt in 2008
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| Background information | |
| Born | 30 March 1930 |
| Origin | Trinidad, Trinidad and Tobago |
| Occupation(s) | Pioneer, inventor, musician |
| Instruments | Steelpan |
Sterling Betancourt MBE, FRSA (born 30 March 1930) is a Trinidad-born pioneer, inventor, arranger and musician on the steelpan, a major figure in pioneering the Pan in Europe and the UK (1951). In a career spanning over five decades he has received numerous awards including his involvement in the origins of the Notting Hill Carnival in the 1960s. Betancourt lives in London, England.
Betancourt (Trinidad pronunciation: Betancou) was born and raised in Laventille near Port of Spain, Trinidad. His father, Edwin, was a musician and a man of all trades to make ends meet, his mother Stella Bowen, a seamstress and a cleaner. At a very early age Betancourt was involved with music with the Tambo Bambo family band and grew up experiencing with the Steel pan, becoming a member of the Tripoli Steel band. He began his career in the 1930s and became a steelpan tuner and eventually leader of Crossfire, a steelband from the St James area. He also played a large part in the development of steelpan in Trinidad,
Selected as a member of TASPO (Trinidad All-Steel Percussion Orchestra) to go to the Festival of Britain in 1951, Betancourt toured England and Europe with the band that year. He was the only musician of TASPO to remain on in England when the others returned to Trinidad on 12 December 1951. Betancourt's calypso "Taspo's Story" features on the RASPO Rhythms CD by the Reading All Steel Percussion Orchestra (RASPO). It relates the tribulations encountered by the arrival of the first Steel Band in London: The Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra.
Betancourt together with Russell Henderson and Mervyn Constantine, who later on was replaced by Max Cherrie, followed by his brother Ralph Cherrie, formed the first steelband in the UK and performed all over London as well as in radio shows, jazz clubs and the BBC. In 1953 Betancourt was taught by Tony Kinsey to play the traps drums in order to form The Henderson combo.
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