"Chick McGroo" (Picture Needed)

ULRIC  SPRINGER DATE OF BIRTH: 1923 PLACE OF BIRTH: Woodbrook, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad EDUCATION: ... STEELBANDS: Charlie Chan (1940s) Hells-a-Popping (1940s) Katzenjammers (1950s) SPECIALTY: Player CAREER:                                        When steelband music was in its early stages of development, Springer rose to fame during the first tenor-pan (ping-pong) solo competition in 1946 when he played "Now Is the Hour" and "All Through the Night" with two sticks and was believed to be one of the first players to do so. He played (skin) drums with the Ralph Davies quartet and performed regularly at the Trinidad Hilton Hotel. He also played drums for other musicians such as Felix Roach, Martin Albino, and Schofield Pilgrim. In 1965, he left Trinidad with Davies for the Commonwealth Arts Festival in Great Britain. He remained in London after the festival and continued to perform all over Europe, both as a panman and a drummer, and never returned home. DIED: October 10, 2001, in Amsterdam, Holland, from an asthma attack. Compiled by Ronald C. Emrit