Like any artform, steelpan would be nothing without the people who created, cultivated and forged it. One of those people was the late Dr. Ellie Mannette, considered by many to be the father of the modern day steelpan instrument and perhaps its chief innovator, having created the double second, triple guitar and six bass instruments, among others.
On July 12, 2019, hundreds of people gathered at the Met Theatre in downtown Morgantown, W.V., to celebrate the life and times of Mannette. The concert was hosted by Chanler Bailey, a student of Mannette’s, steelpan educator and performer, and builder of steelpans at Mannette instruments. The concert featured a variety of performers and speakers, many of which were clinicians at the Mannette Festival of Steel that week. The presenters included Tom Miller, Emily Lemmerman, Chris Tanner, Jeff Narell, Andy Narell, Duvone Stewart and Victor Provost. Each performer took to the stage to say a few words about Mannette and what he meant to the global steelpan community, then several of them performed a solo piece to pay tribute.
“Ellie was a very gifted artist and probably more obsessed with his work than anyone else I’ve ever met in my life. I can’t think of anyone who was more obsessed with reaching a level of perfection,” said Narell, one of Mannette’s closest friends and colleagues. “He was always looking to elevate his work. He lived and breathed pan.”
Several steelbands took to the stage to perform in honor of Dr. Mannette, playing various pieces by the clinicians. The bands included The Rhythm Project All-Stars and players from all over the world who attended the Mannette Festival of Steel workshop. One notable performance of the evening was the piece, “The Alchemist”, written and conducted by Victor Provost, in honor of Dr. Mannette. Emily Lemmerman, one of Mannette’s long-time students, sat near Provost on stage, simulating the tuning of a tenor pan while the song played.
“I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about this week or preparing for the memorial concert. We all wanted it to be a celebration and a joyful thing,” Lemmerman said. “It’s so important to Ellie to continue his legacy. That’s exactly what’s happened. He is not here but this thing is continuing. That’s what he wanted and that’s our gift to him.”
The concert also featured a few minutes of footage from an upcoming documentary about Ellie Mannette. The shots featured a glimpse into what Mannette did for steelpan and how he inspired the people he knew.
After the concert concluded, many people in the pan community hung around to chat about what transpired. One of those people was Ryan Roberts, who apprenticed with Mannette during the last five years of his life. “I felt the love of the room. Everybody was there honoring Ellie and his legacy. There were a lot of locals that came out. It showed how important he was and how he touched every one of our lives,” Roberts said. “The biggest life lesson Ellie ever taught me is to never settle for less. Once you settle, you stop improving. That’s why Ellie was Ellie. He never stopped.”
The weeklong workshop involved three groups – beginning, intermediate and advanced, plus a steelpan building workshop – and culminated in an outdoor concert at the Morgantown farmer’s market space. Each band performed pieces they learned from each clinician throughout the week, much to the delight of the crowd. Songs performed included La vida es un Carnival by Celia Cruz, arranged by Duvone Stewart, Master Blaster by Stevie Wonder, arranged by Jeff Narell, and Appreciation by Andy Narell, which was written as a tribute to Ellie Mannette and performed at Trinidad and Tobago Panorama. Both attendees and staff were thrilled by performances, which meant even more this time around given the circumstance.
“There is something really cathartic about being here and coming through this week. Ellie’s absence was powerfully felt,” Lemmerman said. “But since he died in August I’ve had a chance to work through my own personal feelings and my life continues to be consumed by pan. So I’ve gotten to the point that I’m making peace with this huge absence. And feeling a little bit older myself like your parents are gone and now the next generation is us. That’s heavy, it’s big.”
Festival head, Dave Longfellow, had a similar sentiment, acknowledging the absence of Mannette but also the gravity that brought to this year’s event. “Being here all week you can feel this giant presence missing. But at the same time it made everyone realize that this really is something special. It’s definitely a bummer that he’s gone but it’s bitter sweet. It’s such a happy moment to see everyone come together for Ellie. It kind of means a little more now. People have asked me since September if this would continue. And yeah, it’s exactly what Ellie would want. His whole thing was setting the standard and continuing the legacy. Even though he’s not here, everything about him is here.”
Watch videos from the Ellie Mannette Memorial Concert and Mannette Festival of Steel 2019 HERE.
