Ray Funk (center) at the 2013 T&T Film Festival
Another school year gone—almost. (The stacks of papers arrive soon, then it’s a weekend of marathon grading.)
In one of my earliest posts to this blog, I lamented the fact that globetrotting musical omnivore Ray Funk had abandoned his long-running Kaiso Newsletter, and I expressed my hope that he’d find another regular forum for news of his latest researches. (He typically has so many projects going at once that I can’t keep count.)
I’m happy to report that he now has a regular gig with the Trinidad Guardian, where his byline has been appearing in a series of articles co-written with Andrew Martin, author, ethnomusicologist, steelband historian, and Associate Professor at Inver Hills College in suburban St. Paul, Minnesota.
Here’s a profile of Funk by Guardian feature writer David Cuffy, and here’s a selection of recent pieces by Funk and Martin:
- “Calypso, pan and limbo film classic now restored,” on the re-release of the 1958 film Windjammer
- “Cyril Khamai, global pan pioneer,” a profile of the British Trinidadian ex-pat and Notting Hill Carnival stalwart
- “Trinis stage pan show in Illinois,” on the NIU Steelband’s spring concert
- “Two US recitals show reach of pan education“: more about pan in the cornfields
- “Teague takes pan in new directions“: on Pan virtuoso and NIU Professor Liam Teague
As you can see, the pair have a special interest in the NIU Steelband, the first (and arguably the most influential) active steel band formed at an American university. They’re collaborating with Jeanine Remy on a history of the group, which was founded in 1973. Keep your flak jacket on and your Moleskine at the ready, Ray!
(P.S.: check out Christopher Laird‘s interview with Funk about his filmic sleuthing, done for Laird’s FLIMS series, now available on Vimeo.)
Working for the Yankee Dollar 