The Esso Trinidad Steel Band was a steel band from Trinidad, active from 1942 to 1976.

History

The group began in 1942 as the Tripoli Steel Band, named after a lyric in the United States Marines' Hymn.Biography
Allmusic In 1951, the group came under the leadership of Hugh Borde, who directed the ensemble to greater technical skill and established them as contenders in local

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competitions. In 1964, the group won the

Steel Band Music Festival Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

. The following year, the petroleum corporation

Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (the phonetic p ...

began sponsoring the group, who renamed themselves the Esso Trinidad Steel Band. Under Esso's sponsorship, the group grew to 28 members and was outfitted with uniforms and new instruments, and in 1967 they appeared at the

Montreal Expo The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It was a category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most su ...

. The band's performance at the Expo led to a record contract with

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, a label based in Toronto. Following this, Warner Bros. Records picked them up, and Van Dyke Parks produced a full-length album which was released in 1971. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording, but lost to Muddy Waters.Grammy Awards 1972
Awardsandshows.com Soon after the release of the album, Esso cancelled its sponsorship, so the group rechristened itself the Trinidad Tripoli Steel Band, and under this name toured internationally with Liberace.Lost and Found Sound: Liberace & the Trinidad Tripoli Steel Band
NPR, 2003. Parks recorded a one-hour documentary of the group's tour, and called them "the greatest group I've ever had the privilege to produce." Hugh Borde and his family moved to Ypsilanti, Michigan in the United States in 1976, after which the Trinidadian group disbanded, but Borde's sons played under the name Trinidad Tripoli Steel Band in the United States, and released the albums ''Momentum'' in 1985 and ''Hot Like Fire'' in 1994.

References

{{reflist Trinidad and Tobago musical groups Steelbands Musical groups established in 1942 Musical groups disestablished in 1976 1942 establishments in the British Empire