André Michael Tanker (25 September 1941 – 28 February 2003) was a

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

musician and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

Background and career

Born in Woodbrook,

Port of Spain Port of Spain ( Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a muni ...

, Tanker was considered one of the most original musicians that his country produced. His influence on the music of Trinidad and Tobago was compared by David Rudder to that of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

on American music.Bruce Paddington
"Andre Tanker: The Bob Dylan of Trinidad, whose music embraced many styles but kept a political edge"
''The Guardian'', 12 March 2003. Tanker's work defines the Caribbean folk-jazz genre. Tanker's mother was a dancer who was a descendant of Michel-Jean Cazabon, Trinidad's first great painter. Tanker grew up close to the

Invaders ''InVader'' is the fourth album by Finnish glam metal band Reckless Love, released on 4 March 2016 through Spinefarm Records. Track listing All songs written by Olli Herman, Pepe Reckless, and Ikka Wirtanen, unless otherwise noted. Reception Wr ...

' pan yard and the

Little Carib Theatre The Little Carib Theatre (LCT) was established in Woodbrook, Port of Spain, Trinidad, in 1947 by Beryl McBurnie "to showcase the vibrant and rich culture of the Trinbagonian people". The first permanent folk-dance company and theatre in Trinidad, i ...

. His first instrument was a steelpan that he received from legendary pannist

Ellie Mannette Elliott Anthony "Ellie" Mannette (5 November 1927 – 29 August 2018) was a Trinidadian musical instrument maker and steel pan musician, also known as the "father of the modern steel drum". Life Born in Sans Souci, Trinidad, Mannette as a young ...

at the age of seven. When he was aged 12 or 13 Tanker began to play the

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

and cuatro. In his teens he formed a number of small ensembles with

Ray Holman Raymond Anthony Holman (born 1944) is a musician, composer, pannist and performer from Trinidad and Tobago. Biography In 1957, Ray Holman began playing steelpan at the age of 13 with the Invaders Steel Orchestra, led by Ellie Mannette, for ...

which played local parties. This evolved into "André Tanker and the Flamingos", which played at the Trinidad Hilton. He added

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and was influenced by the

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

n percussionist Mongo Santamaría. In the 1960s and 1970s Tanker developed a link with Caribbean music and wrote songs of black consciousness and liberation. He developed an interest in

Orisha Orishas (singular: orisha) are spirits that play a key role in the Yoruba religion of West Africa and several religions of the African diaspora that derive from it, such as Cuban, Dominican and Puerto Rican Santería and Brazilian Candomblé. ...

music and African drumming, working with Andrew Beddoe of the Little Carib Theatre who was an Orisha priest. Exposure to Indian music drew him to Indian classical music. He was influenced by

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North In ...

and later worked extensively with

Indo-Trinidadian Indo-Trinidadians and Tobagonians or Indian-Trinidadians and Tobagonians, are people of Indian origin who are nationals of Trinidad and Tobago whose ancestors came from India and the wider subcontinent beginning in 1845. Indo-Trinidadians an ...

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form ...

ist Mungal Patasar. In 1973 Patasar and Tanker scored the soundtrack of the movie ''

Bim ''Bim'' is a 1974 Trinidad and Tobago film written by Raoul Pantin and directed by Hugh A. Robertson. It was described by Bruce Paddington as "one of the most important films to be produced in Trinidad and Tobago and... one of the classics of ...

'', the second locally produced movie in Trinidad and Tobago. Tanker also wrote the music for the musical version of

Derek Walcott Sir Derek Alton Walcott (23 January 1930 – 17 March 2017) was a Saint Lucian poet and playwright. He received the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. His works include the Homeric epic poem '' Omeros'' (1990), which many critics view "as Walcot ...

's '' Ti-Jean and His Brothers'', which was produced for the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Shakespeare Festival in 1972. He followed this with music for Earl Lovelace's '' The Dragon Can't Dance'' and a production of

Mustapha Matura Mustapha Matura (17 December 1939 – 29 October 2019) was a Trinidadian playwright living in London. Characterised by critic Michael Billington as "a pioneering black playwright who opened the doors for his successors", Matura was the first Br ...

's '' Playboy of the West Indies'' at the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...

. Tanker's classic works include "Sayamanda", "Basement Party", "Morena Osha", "Hosanna Higher", and "Forward Home".Georgia Popplewell
"André Tanker: Music Beyond Measure" (obituary)
, '' Caribbean Beat'', Issue 61, May/June 2003. André Tanker's influence is still being felt. Cousins in America including André Lassalle are representing the spirit of Andre Tanker and Cazabon.

References

External links

"Music Beyond Measure"
- obituary by Georgia Popplewell in '' Caribbean Beat''.
"Forward Home - André Revisited"
- obituary by Judy Raymond in ''Caribbean Beat''
"Like a Liberation"
- interview with André Tanker by Simon Lee in ''Caribbean Beat''

by Bruce Paddington in

Guardian Unlimited TheGuardian.com, formerly known as Guardian.co.uk and ''Guardian Unlimited'', is a British news and media website owned by the Guardian Media Group. It contains nearly all of the content of the newspapers ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer'', ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanker, Andre 1941 births 2003 deaths Djembe players 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago musicians Trinidad and Tobago people of Chinese descent Recipients of the Chaconia Medal Trinidad and Tobago composers