If you’ve ever traveled to Trinidad and sampled the regional fare from street vendors, you’ve probably eaten a seriously toned down version of that island nation’s spicy cuisine.
Kristian Paradis, a steel pan musician and teacher from Philadelphia, has been to Trinidad many times and knows that the local cooks don’t want to blow out a tourist’s sinuses with heat.
“When a non-Trinidadian places an order to a street food vendor, they’ll often be served a mild, ‘tourist safe’ version of the dish,” Paradis says. “In order to get the true, authentic flavor, you must order by saying, ‘plenty pepper!’”
That’s why Paradis chose the phrase for his steel pan band, based in Philadelphia.
“Plenty Pepper was formed in 2015 to celebrate the musical traditions of Trinidad and Tobago, and to build new audiences for the steel band art form,” he says. “The name of the band comes from the lingo of Trinidad’s food vendors. Our philosophy is to present music the same way, with all the spice you would expect from the Caribbean.”
The Plenty Pepper Steel Band will be in Trenton on Saturday, April 20, as part of the Capital Philharmonic of New Jersey’s bold evening of music. With George Antheil’s avant-garde masterpiece Ballet Mecanique as the concert’s centerpiece, the program is titled “Where Music, History, and Circus Meet.”
The concert will be held in the Roebling Wireworks Machine Shop in Trenton with special appearances by the Trenton Circus Squad, a variety of guest musicians, and Plenty Pepper.
Daniel Spalding, the CPNJ’s conductor and music director, imagined a night of sound and vision in celebration of Trenton native Antheil (1900-1959). Sometimes called “The Bad Boy of Music,” Antheil lived in Paris and associated with the likes of Pablo Picasso and Erik Satie. Antheil’s unusual composition, which debuted in Paris a century ago, is arranged for four pianists and 11 percussionists.
At CPNJ’s concert drums and percussion will also be in the spotlight for J.S. Bach’s Concerto for Four Harpsichords and Orchestra, arranged by Spalding for four pianos and percussion. The concert will open with Spalding’s original work, “Overture to Industry,” and includes pieces by 20th century composers John Cage and Lou Harrison.
In addition, look for performances by the Trenton Circus Squad throughout the evening, accompanied by the Plenty Pepper Steel Band. Paradis’ ensemble will also be at the entrance of the Wireworks building, welcoming concert-goers.
“Dan (Spalding) knew about me and reached out because he wanted to get a steel band involved,” Paradis says. He explains that, of course, Roebling Wireworks was famously, historically involved in the production of steel and metal products, and the concert’s programming celebrates themes of steel, metal, and industry.
Aside from Paradis, Plenty Pepper includes Marji Eldreth (Maryland), Wes Morton and Joseph Whitney (Delaware), Emily Roane and Andy Thierauf (Philadelphia), and Christine Walthers from East Windsor.
“All of us lead and play in other steel bands outside of Plenty Pepper,” Paradis says. “Joseph, Christine, and I are board members for Resolution Steel Band, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit set up to help get youth and community members in Wilmington involved in steel band. Andy leads a steel band at Kutztown University, and Marji is the director of the steel band at the Cab Calloway School of the Arts in Delaware.”
Giving a little more Plenty Pepper backstory, Paradis says, “Wes, Joseph, Christine, and Marji all started playing together in the steel band at the University of Delaware (UD). Wes and I played in the band together as students back in 1994 or ’95, and the others joined the band as either students or community members after I returned to Delaware as a graduate student in 2003, and then as a faculty member teaching steel pan from 2005 to 2020.”
“Christine was my final graduate assistant at UD,” he adds. “Emily and Andy came into our circle through another group that we’re all involved in, the Philadelphia Pan Stars Steel Orchestra. Emily and Andy had played together in a steel band before at the University of Iowa before they both ended up in Philly, and I recruited them into the band.”
Growing up in Lyme, Connecticut, Paradis first tried organ, then clarinet, but neither lasted too long. He says his older brother was a drummer, and there was always a drum set in the house. That’s what Paradis had his eye on.
“It was natural to gravitate towards it,” he says. “So I’ve played drums all my life, including high school, where I was in a band that toured and performed all around. I got a taste of that lifestyle early on.”
“My parents were both amateur musicians, with my dad (a World War II veteran and Navy pilot) on clarinet and my mom on piano,” he says. “They weren’t playing by the time I was born, but they still loved to dance and would take me with them (to dances), where I would hang out with the band.”
After studying music and computer science at the University of Delaware, Paradis was accepted into the U.S. Navy Music Program. Upon completing his military music training at the Armed Forces School of Music, Paradis became a member of the U.S. Seventh Fleet Band in Japan.
He was the drummer for the Navy’s Far East Edition show band, drummer and steel-pan soloist in the Navy Jazz Combo, and principal percussionist in the Navy concert and ceremonial bands. With these groups he served as a musical ambassador for the Navy and the United States, performing in Russia, China, India, Australia, South Korea, and many other countries in East Asia and the Pacific islands.
“I had a passion for steel pan from an early age, and I had read that the Navy had its own steel band,” he says. “I thought I could play full time and get a government paycheck, so I enlisted right away. Then in basic training, I learned that the Navy was getting rid of its steel band, which was a shock for me.”
“So I went to school in Norfolk (Va.), focused on drum set and played Big Band-style drums,” Paradis says. “I was based in Japan, but the band traveled all over the world, playing for heads of state, presidents, and a couple of kings — all concerts for diplomacy.”
Paradis also performed as a lead steel pan player for the Tokyo Panorama Steel Orchestra.
After the Navy, he returned to UD, where he earned his master’s degree in music, with an emphasis on steel pan music. He currently directs steel pan bands at UD, at the First State School community band in Wilmington, and hopes to get the band at the Springside Academy in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, up and running again.
In addition, he frequently travels to Trinidad to play in various large steel bands there for that country’s national musical competition called “Panorama.”
“I’ve played with Silver Stars, Pandemonium, and Supernovas steel orchestras, and Joseph has also played with Supernovas,” Paradis says. “Joseph and I also played together in the International Panorama competition in Trinidad in 2015, but we were representing Japan.”
“I had lived in Japan from 1999 to 2003 and played with the Tokyo Panorama Steel Orchestra, led by Yoshihiro Harada,” he says. “When that band joined the competition in Trinidad in 2015, they asked me to rejoin the group, and I dragged Joseph along.”
By the way, the proper term for Paradis’ instrument is the “steel pan,” but many might call it the “steel drum.” That name comes from years ago, when Trinidadians crafted percussion instruments from discarded oil drums.
“In the U.S., people might call them steel drums, but you have to be careful in places like Trinidad, where it’s an incredibly rich art form,” he says.
For the better part of a decade, Paradis has also been music director and drill master for the Philadelphia Pan Stars, the only full steel orchestra (as opposed to steel band) in Philly. It’s a group that performs sophisticated repertoire, music just as intricate as a symphony orchestra would play.
“Many Americans don’t know that steel orchestras in Trinidad have as many as 120 players and play works that are just as complex and important (as symphonic music),” Paradis says. “It’s a far cry from the music played on cruise ships and poolside at resorts. It’s not just ‘Yellowbird,’ ‘Rum and Coca-Cola,’ and ‘Margaritaville.’”
“Unfortunately, that’s the stigma we have to overcome while trying to present steel band music as a legitimate art form,” he says. “The instrument itself is capable of playing anything that any other instrument can. The steel pan is a serious instrument, and we want to open people’s eyes to this.”
Plenty Pepper Steel Band with the Capital Philharmonic of New Jersey, Roebling Wireworks Machine Shop, 675 South Clinton Avenue. Saturday, April 20, 7:30 p.m. $40; $10 for students. 609-200-0443 or www.capitalphilharmonic.org.
Plenty Pepper on the web: www.facebook.com/plentypepperband.
