Tommy Crichlow

“Man of Steel”

 The steelpan is the only instrument invented in the twentieth century.  It is formed by sinking the top surface of a fifty-five gallon steel drum and tuning portions of the curved surface to produce a variety of musical notes.  Tommy Chrichlow is one of Canada’s four pan makers and it is known that Tommy does it all.  He makes, tunes, teaches and arranges steelpan productions.

            Tommy Chrichlow was born in Tunapuna, Trinidad in the year 1942 and has been involved with music since he was nine.  At the age of eleven his love for pan music began after hearing the sounds of “Girl Pat” an all-girl steelband.  The teacher Miss Henley noticed his ear for music, encouraged his interest and set him on his path.  Soon thereafter he joined “Samba Boys” where, along with playing the bass guitar and the piano, he learned to play and make the steelpan.

            In the following years he improved his skills in tuning the notes of the steelpan from a group called “Tripoli” and also learned to arrange and compose music with playing with the ”Silver Stars.”  In the sixties Tommy started his own instrumental steelband group named the “Moon Rakers.”  This conquest did not have the success that it was expected to have but served as a stepping-stone into the pan music business.    

             After placing third in Trinidad’s largest pan competition “Panorama”, Tommy was invited to Canada to play in the 1967 Expo in Montreal, where he saw the possibilities for expanding his dreams.  While on that trip he visited Niagara Falls where he had his picture taken with Trinidad’s Prime Minister at the time, Dr. Eric Williams.  To this day that picture hangs on the walls of the “Maid of the Mist” restaurant with the mistaken quote “A young Stevie Wonder.”

            Tommy knew that Canada had a market for what he had to offer and kept that in the back of his mind.  He continued to successfully arrange and compose for many pan groups in Trinidad including the Valley Harps, Silver Stars and Tobago’s 1972 and 1973 festival competitors, the “Melotones.”  He went on to judge Panorama competitions and also won the “Pan around the Neck” title in 1986 and later in 1996.

            Tommy revisited Canada in 1988 with the “Power Stars” to play at the Grape and Wine Festival in St. Catherines.  It was at this point where he made the necessary connections and the decision to move to Canada was finalised.  To improve his understanding of his craft, he attended and graduated from the Tool and Die program at George Brown College.

            At the same time that all of this was going on, he started operating the Toronto “Pan Masters” out of his Brimely Road home.  Most of the band’s participants are students who dedicate there summers and afternoons to help out and to learn the instrument.  The whole situation was a volunteer experience.  To fund the group, Tommy is continuously making and tuning pans in his basement workshop and performing “gigs” across Ontario.

            In the summers Tommy basically runs an open house five to six days a week.  People have to park their cars side-by-side on the driveway and on the front and back lawns.  The basement is always full with the sounds of someone practicing or Tommy making minor repairs to players’ pans.  Christabelle (who lives in the house) turns the living room into a mas-camp for the production of costumes and visitors are always coming by to be fitted or to see what help they can provide.  As the Caribana weekend draws near the practice sessions go later and later into the night sometimes not ending until 2 a.m. 

                                         In September of 1995 Tommy and Christabelle Sinanan got married.  She has been both, a life partner and a business partner.  She coordinates the events for the Pan Masters during the Caribana season and also is a member of Pan Trinbago of Ontario that shares in Tommy’s goals to introduce pan music to the youth of Ontario. 

            At present there are many recordings of Tommy’s solo performances in circulation.  His second official CD release “Mind Your Business” includes Mr. Chrichlow’s presentations of songs by David Rudder, Boogsie Sharp, Sonny Man and Lionel Ritchie.  His latest compilation “Misbehave” features two songs by Lord Kitchner, one of which is “guitar pan.”

            In January of 1998 Tommy was asked to start a steel orchestra in Nantes, France named “Calyp’s Atlantic.”  This is France’s only steelband whose members made their own pans and consists of a special stand to accommodate one wheel chair bound player.  In June 1998, Tommy was privileged enough to join 149 other world wide pan players in France to play in a celebration of 150 years since the abolition of slavery.

            Today Tommy Chrichlow has a busy life.  He is constantly fulfilling demands for new instruments and performing at various locations across the world.  Each year he travels to France to teach new songs and is highly involved in the Panorama competition in Trinidad at Carnival time and takes his Pan Masters to the Caribana festival in Toronto.

            Tommy feels as though he has accomplished everything he has aspired to do except for winning a Panorama competition and jokes that all he has to do now is get rich from it.  In 1999 he placed third in the “Pan around the Neck” competition in Trinidad proving that he is far from done.   Recently he has started workshops teaching students the art of making and tuning pans.  His latest goal is to find people to carry on his legacy.  He needs students who are willing to do the hammering and learn the art of tuning.  One thing is for sure; what ever happens in the next few years Tommy will still be teaching and playing pan.  He is one of the lucky people that has found something he loves to do and gets paid for it.

WORKS CITED 

Crichlow, Tommy. Personal interview. 01 October, 2000.

McIntyre-Joseph, Monica. "Panmaker in Canada." Pride Magazine 25 March 1999.

Bull, Ron. "Fired up for Caribana." The Star 29 Sept. 1995: Cover.