Emancipation Support Committee to honour Master Drummer and percussionist Junior Noel
The Emancipation Support Committee is dedicating this year’s Yoruba Village Drum Festival to the memory of the late master drummer and percussionist, Donald Martin Noel Jr. better known as Junior Noel. A Special Award will also be given to his family in recognition and appreciation of his contribution to keeping the tradition of drumming alive in the Yoruba Village and in communities throughout Trinidad and Tobago.
The Keeper of the Tradition Award is presented annually to someone who has worked diligently to preserve and develop African art forms and traditions. This year’s presentation will be part of the annual Yoruba village Drum Festival to be hosted by the Emancipation Support Committee on Saturday 18th June from 2:00pm – 8.00 p.m. at the Yoruba Village Square, corner of Piccadilly Street and Old St. Joseph Road, Port of Spain.
The Yoruba Drum Festival is one of the major events of the Pan African Festival in commemoration of Emancipation 2016, it is also a tribute to fathers and an opportunity to present awards to a young male and female of the community for his/her achievement of excellence, in commemoration of the United Nations International Day of the African Child.
The tribute to Junior Noel is based on his accomplishments over the years and his efforts to preserve the tradition of African drumming and other art forms. He was a master drummer and percussionist who brought life to any instrument he played, making him one of the best musicians in Trinidad and Tobago. Noel started drumming at the age of nine (9) years old in 1969 with the Jean Coggins-Simmons Dance Group. He went on to play with groups in the Prime Minister’s Best Village Trophy Competition like, Central East P.O.S. Village Council, St. Francois Valley Road, Lower Morvant Way of Life, Malick Folk Performers, Sogren Trace Best Village Group and North West Laventille Cultural Movement. He also played with dance groups including, La Tropical Dance Company led by Mr. George Percival, Carlton Francis Dance Company, Cyril St. Louis Humming Bird Dance Company, Noble Douglas Dance Company, Carol La Chapelle Dance Company, Eugene Joseph Dance Company and Andre Etienne Dance Company.
Performing with big names in local Steel Orchestras such as All Stars, Renegades, Casablanca and Starlift, Noel also worked with various calypsonians at the Calypso Review and Kaiso House and performed throughout the Caribbean and in England, Canada and France. Junior Noel was also privileged to be trained under the late Andrew Beddoe, Sam Phills (Baga) and Jeffrey Beddoe and he shared that knowledge with his group Natural Expressions based in New York and tutored many others groups.
Among the drumming groups to perform at the Drum Festival are, Wasafoli, St James Police Youth Club, Frontline, EGBE OMO ONI ISESE, Freeport Sea Scouts, St James Cultural Artisans, Belan Drummers, UWI Afrikan Society, Sogren Trace Laventille Enhancement Organisation, Groups from Tobago and others. Performing acts also include, Brother Book, Oba Dread, Wolde Dawit, Curious Ringo, Prince Cardinal, Mc Meo and Knocker and the Black Beat International Band.
The Yoruba Village Drum Festival has been held at the Yoruba Village for many years in recognition of the large Yoruba-speaking population which resided there since the 19th century. The Yoruba people came to the city of Port-of-Spain after being kidnapped by British France and Spanish plunderers, following the abolition of the Slave Trade. They came mainly from Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Togo but today the only semblance of the town’s history and existence is the Yoruba Village Square located opposite the old Besson Street Police Station.
Among the traditions retained and passed on by the Yoruba was the gift of drumming. The drums were used as a call to prayer, a call for help and a call for celebration but the colonists felt threatened by the sound of the drum and laws were passed to ban the playing of the drum. Nevertheless the playing the drums was retained and transferred from generation to generation and this year, the participants will show off their talents, calling for unity, brotherhood, peace and consciousness in the Yoruba Village, which we know today as the communities of Morvant, Laventille, Belmont and Gonzales.
