DISCOVERY: Dr. Len “Boogsie Sharpe first came under the umbrella of my brain when in 1974 Lennox “Ranger” Glean took me to search for a pannist to complete my recording of a tune on Winston “Spree” Simon which I had just composed for the Calypso season 1975. Ranger’s exploits took me to a panyard in St. James where I found this young boy standing on a soft drink case and “ramajaying” on a tenor pan. On confronting him, I found out that his name was Len Sharpe and that he could play any given tune on a pan. As such, after consulting with his mother, I took him to the calypso tent to accompany me as a musician for the 1975 season and Len “Boogsie” Sharpe was born.
EARLY LIFE: Len “Boogsie” Sharpe was born on the 28th day of October 1953, the fourth of five children born to Grace and Randolph Sharpe whose house on Benares Street in St. James was the panyard of “Symphonettes” steelband which was led by his cousin Rupert “Shadow” Nathaniel. This allowed “Boogsie” to play the pans when “Shadow” and the big men were not around. By the time “Boogsie” could creep, he not only interfered with the pans, but using the young mangoes that fell in the yard as rubbers for his sticks, “Boogsie” from the age of three learned to hammer out tunes on the pan. His mother gave him the name “Boogsie” when, as a baby, the heavenly angels supposedly spoke to her while she cuddled her child to sleep.
EARLY CHILDHOOD: As ordinary children, Boogsie attended Woodbrook Presbyterian Primary school from the age of five, but as unordinary ones, he was schooled in the panyard of ‘’Shadow’s’’ pan music. From his early childhood, at age five, his father would take him to school concerts whereby other children would be amazed to hear him play. His parents also sent him to learn music theory with Mr. Sel Duncan a band leader and musician in the community, but after 5 sessions his parents realized that learning to read music was not in sync with Boogsie’s musical maturity gained from Symphonettes and his teenage band which he, as early as nine years old, began to lead from his own Benares Street yard. At the age of nine therefore, “Boogsie” began to arrange tunes for the youngsters in his teenage steelband, and hold concerts at his Woodbrook Presbyterian primary school.
THE START OF BOOGSIE'S PANORAMA CAREER: Although in the adult world of Pan Boogsie first played with Crossfire Steelband, his career truly and really started with him being a member of Starlift Steel Orchestra which was then musically run by Ray Holman. In the early 1960s, for Starlift, Boogsie arranged “Drunk and Disorderly” sung by Sparrow, and “Never Can Say Goodbye.” Around the same time, he also arranged tunes for Silver Stars Steelband such as “Malik,” his first composition for Pan. In 1971, the tune “Mr. Norbert” was arranged for Tropical Angel Harps Steel Orchestra and “Hush Up’’ for Birdsong in 1973. By 1972, “Boogsie” formed Phase ll Pan Groove and by 1975, he became better known in Panorama circles for, in terms of Pan arrangements, he completed “Rock It with Pan,” “Rags to Riches,” “I Like to Beat Pan,” and “Carnival is Bacchanal.” By 1979, his arrangements included tunes such as “Mine,” “No Panorama,’’ “Pan in a Rage,” “Pan Take Over,” “Pan Rebels,” and in 1989, he completed “I Music.”
BOOGSIE, THE SUPREME PAN ARRANGER: Although “Boogsie” was a member of Phase 11 Pan Groove which, with Selwyn Taradath, Barry Howard, Rawle Mitchell, Andy Philip, and Noel Seon he formed in 1972, his career as a pan arranger truly blossomed with his arrangements for other bands. For example, in 1982, he arranged both for Jewel 22 and Deltones steelbands. With Peter Aleong as Manager and himself as Musical Director, Phase 11 Pan Groove became a household name in Panorama circles in the Caribbean, North America, and Europe, while “Boogsie” was seen as the supreme “Arranger of Pan,” and the yard of Phase 11 became known as the University of Pan. Boogsie’s Pan arrangements reached to greater heights when in 1974, he opted to play his own tunes for Panorama in Trinidad and Tobago. Thus, by 1987, he created history in Trinidad and Tobago when he won the Panorama Steelband competition with his own tune entitled “This Feeling Nice.” After the Panorama chief judge Margorie Wooding heard Boogsie’s rendition of “This Feeling Nice,” she was heard to say: “Boogsie has led the steelband world into a new era.” By 1989, so outstanding was Boogsie, that he arranged for eight (8) of the forty-eight (48) bands in the preliminaries, and four (4) of the twelve (12) finalists in the contest in Trinidad and Tobago. That year, there were other bands such as Fonclaire and Cordettes playing Boogsie’s arrangements as well. By 1996, his arrangements for Pan were played by zonal winners in Tobago, Our Boys, playing “Pan Progress,” Skiffle Bunch who played “This Feeling Nice,” and Deltones from the Southland who outplayed all others with “Sing Ram Bam.” In 1988, “Boogsie” repeated his 1987 victory with his composition “Woman is Boss,” and had the south band Skiffle Bunch playing it as well in the Old-Time Steelband category. In addition, he won the East Zonal title with Scherzando playing another one of his compositions, “Hard Times.” Scherzando also tied with Potential Symphony who played “This party is it.” Boogsie in 1999 was in such a demand that the Tobago House of Assembly offered him a home for his contribution to Pan playing in the island.
BOOGSIE, THE PAN ARRANGER & CULTURAL AMBASSADOR OVERSEAS: History has shown that “Boogsie” distinguished himself not only in Trinidad and Tobago, but became a Cultural Ambassador and consequently a household name for Pan arrangements locally and overseas. Not only did he arrange for the National Steelband of Trinidad and Tobago, but his arrangements carried the Skiffle Bunch band to the Finals of the World Steelband Contest and won with his composition “In the Rain Forest” and Professor Philmore’s “Pan by Storm.” By the turn of the century, Boogsie was arranging too, for top bands in Antigua, the U.S. Virgin Islands, The British Virgins, the Mangrove, the Acklam Road 57, Ebony and Metronomes Steelbands in London, Moods Pan Groove in New York, and the BBC Concert Orchestra in London. He continued too, to spread his wings at home and abroad by teaching at the University of Trinidad and Tobago, and winning more panoramas at home.
THE DOMINANCE OF BOOGSIE CONTINUED: In year 2005, he collaborated with Anthony “Lexo” Alexis to win Trinidad and Tobago’s most popular local, Panorama contest winning by the widest margin in the large category with 20 points with the tune “Trinis Gone Wild.” He repeated his victory in year 2006 playing his tribute to another panorama giant Clive Bradley. The tune was entitled “This One’s for You, Bradley.” In year 2012, Boogsie and the Lydian singers cooperated to pay tribute to Pat Bishop the Lydians leader. In year 2013, Boogsie again won the local Panorama with his tune “More Love.”
THE INTERNATIONAL PANORAMA: In year 2014, Panorama was changed to an international contest and Boogsie won its first Panorama with his tune “Jump High.” In 2015, his band was the runner-up in the contest with his tune “Happiness.” In year 2008 and again in 2018, Boogsie and the most outstanding musician in Cuba, Roberto Fonseca, collaborated on pan and piano to bring musical concerts to Cubans whereby the audiences were so astonished by the chords and musical runs of the two gentlemen, that the crowds were heard applauding, hours after the shows ended. Thus, by year 2009, at the handing out of awards for Independence, Boogsie was awarded the Hummingbird Gold Medal by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago for his contributions to the steelband. More and greater awards came his way, for in year 2020, the University of the West Indies awarded him an honorary doctorate of Letters Degree (D.Litt.) for his contribution to Pan playing, Pan compositions and Pan arrangements.
THE BOOGSIE OF MUSIC: While speaking to Boogsie’s peers of Pan tuning and Pan arrangements, one of them informed me that “Boogsie” is the “Mozart of Pan” in the Caribbean today. I had to correct him thus: “Sir, you are wrong. Mozart is the Boogsie of music in Europe.”
ENIGMATIC: The history of “Boogsie” Sharpe has shown that in terms of using musical chords and mysterious, musical runs to effect music from a steeldrum, Dr. Len “Boogsie” Sharpe is the most enigmatic pan player and pan arranger in the world today.
Hollis Liverpool, Copyright 2024