"Philo" (later)

ALBERT  JAMES
DATE OF BIRTH: ......
PLACE OF BIRTH: Port of Spain, Trinidad
EDUCATION: St. Mary's College, Port of Spain, Trinidad
STEELBANDS:
  • Invaders
  • Starlift
    • SPECIALTIES:
  • Tuner
  • Player
  • Arranger
    • CAREER:                                  Originally a panman with the Invaders Steelband, James was one of the founding members of the Starlift Steelband in 1956, along with a group of ex-Invaders panmen that included Andrew "Bambi" Contant and Eugene Peters, Starlift's fist captain. During the 1950s, associating with a steelband was not considered socially acceptable, but James was one of a few who attended St. Mary's College who defied the norms by playing the steelpan.

                                           Under James' leadership, Starlift took to the road for the first time during the 1957 Carnival when James arranged Lord Christo's "Chicken Chest." Following the departure of Peters in 1958, James took over leadership of Starlift and became its musical arranger. In 1963, he became the band's tuner and went on to arrange "Hallelujah Chorus" (Handel) when Starlift took 2nd Place in the 1964 Steelband Music Festival. In 1966, the band returned to the Steelband Music Festival Final and took 5th Place with "For Unto Us A Child Is Born" (Handel). He migrated to Quebec, Canada, in 1966, appointed David "Splav" Waddell to succeed him as Starlift's captain, and continued to teach and play the steelpan in Quebec until getting ill.
    DIED: March 21, 2018, in Lasalle, Quebec, Canada, after a brief illness
    Compiled by Ronald C. Emrit