Kim Loy Wong and His Wiltwyck Steel Band

The steel drum evolved from the tunable tamboo-bamboo wood sticks that African slaves in Trinidad used to communicate with one another, and it became an important instrument in Trinidadian Carnival road marches in the late 1930s. With the help of Pete Seeger and Folkways Records, Kim Loy Wong became one of many steel drum artists who brought the sounds of the chromatically pitched instrument from Trinidad to America in the ‘60s. Using his music to reach out to underprivileged youth, Wong formed the Wiltwyck Steel Band when he became the steel drum instructor at the Wiltwyck School for Boys. Kim Loy Wong and His Wiltwyck Steel Band deftly mixes Trinidadian samba and rhumba styles with popular American songs ranging from gospel to folk, including renditions of “Saints Go Marching In” and “This Land Is Your Land”. The huge, soft sound and dissonant melodic rhythms of the steel drums as arranged by Wong will amaze anyone who hears them for the first time. Liner notes include descriptions and illustrations of the steel drum, its origins and its uses.

RELATED LESSON PLAN
"Steel band Style, Calypso Culture and Childhood Chants:Trinidadian Music for the Classroom" in your class

Track Listing

101	Gun Slinger	Kim Loy Wong	03:06
102	Happy Wanderer	Kim Loy Wong	03:31
103	Brown Skin Girl	Kim Loy Wong	03:10
104	My Sweet Tibisay	Kim Loy Wong	03:01
105	Heart and Soul	Kim Loy Wong	03:04
106	Boo Boo Calypso	Kim Loy Wong	03:25
201	John B. Sails	Kim Loy Wong	03:00
202	Saint Go Marching In	Kim Loy Wong	03:28
203	This Land Is My Land	Kim Loy Wong	03:06
204	Blue Moon	Kim Loy Wong	03:31
205	La Paloma	Kim Loy Wong	03:10
206	Michael	Kim Loy Wong	03:01