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Living 'Happy' in life of music ... Dreams can and do come true
TameasDust
Date:
September 2, 2006 @ 9:17 AM
Saturday September 02 2006
by Patricia Campbell
If you ever have the opportunity to sit down with
Herbert “Happy” Lewis, you will, within minutes,
realise that the name suits the personality.
At 51, Happy is patently contented with his
career, his family and his life. And no wonder. A
trumpeter and a skilled jazz musician, he has
seen success and recognition that few growing up
in Antigua with dreams of careers in music ever
experience.
Lewis comes from a background that would, on the
surface, seem unlikely but his early life laid
the foundation for the artiste he has become.
He was born in Antigua in 1955 and grew up in the
St. John’s area. His stomping ground, he says was
Christian Street in Gray’s Farm, Kentish Road,
Ottos and Cassada Gardens.
His father, Alfred “Pope” Lewis was a band master
in the Salvation Army and insisted that all of
his children learn to read music and play an
instrument. Happy’s was the trumpet.
“We were born in this setup,” he reminisced. “We
had to play. We were in the Salvation Army Band.
I played 'till I was 17 or 18 years old and then
it was time to get life going after I was
finished with my schooling.”
Happy’s early academic career may have been over,
but his “schooling” in his chosen art form was to
continue for decades. His early experience in the
Salvation Army Band and under his father’s
tutelage was to take what parents Alfred and Ruth
must have seen as a startling turn.
A young adult, Happy decided to try his hand at
playing in a band for Carnival. He played about
two years of Carnival or rather, as his sister
Edna Taitt laughingly inserts, he snuck out of
the house to explore this new avenue.
“In those days, he wasn’t thinking so much of the
Carnival, per say. It was the music in him. To
him, music was just music and in the eagerness of
wanting to play he wasn’t concerned about
‘Carnival’ music; it was just music,” Taitt
explained, reaching out to place a loving hand on
her brother’s arm.
It was a move that might not have gone down well
with his parents, but it was during one of these
performances that Happy caught the eye of someone
who would change the direction of his life.
“These people came in from Guadeloupe. They were
checking around and saw me playing, so they
approached me. But they came with a contract and
said we can offer you this, you can come on with
the band – which, at that time, was Guadeloupe’s
number one band, the Vikings of Guadeloupe. This
was about 1974. That was the turning point.”
He ruefully confesses that, concerned about his
parents’ response, he stole away to Guadeloupe to
take up the offer. “I did not say anything, I
just disappeared,” he smiled, shaking his head at
the memory.
The fateful meeting with scouts for the Vikings
of Guadeloupe led to a seven- or eight- year
stint with that band playing dance music; but
Happy’s career was still in its infancy. He had
yet to find “his sound".
“All during this period, I was still getting to
know myself as a musician and what my true role
was. I was a hard worker, a lot of practising and
studying music so that means that I was growing
into someone else musically while I was playing
this dance music.”
A chance decision by his uncle, Marcus
Christopher, to give him an album by legendary
jazz musician Miles Davis, was to bring all this
practising and studying to a focus: jazz.
“I still remember the title: ‘Miles on a Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.’ It was a double
album. He listened to it one time then he said I
have something for you to listen to; this is your
kind of stuff. And that was it from that point.”
He found his sound and has been called Antigua’s
answer to Miles Davis.
Operating in a field where success is tenuous and
fleeting, Happy now has three hard-won decades
under his belt. He established the Happy Lewis
Quartet and has toured throughout the Caribbean
from his base in Guadeloupe. Lewis has had the
opportunity to tour France and other parts of
Europe with the Caribbean Big Band and has played
with artistes of the calibre of Luther Francoise
from St. Lucia, Monty Alexander and well known
jazz musician Winton Marsales.
His life has, however, not been without trial or
pain. The death of brother Alfred “Ashby” Lewis
in January 2000 gave pause to the musician, and
brought a soberness and maturity to his life and
thought process that had not been there before.
It also stimulated a longing to return to the
land of his birth and contribute to the
development of music in Antigua.
Currently he is a contracted musician, employed
by the government of Guadeloupe to, among other
things, work with the military band and teach
music. He works with young musicians at the
community level and has also created a local Big
Band to help contribute to the development of
musical skills in Guadeloupe.
Now Happy dreams of being able to do the same in
Antigua one day. He has already started at a
limited level. He has returned to Antigua this
trip to conduct a workshop with the Antigua &
Barbuda Defence Force Band. This week end, they
will display the fruit of this effort when they
perform four original pieces composed by Happy
especially for them.
Over the years he has returned to Antigua time
and time again to, in his words, “keep my roots”
and those roots run deep. Happy says he would
like to be able to share the benefits of his 30
plus years of experience with young, up and
coming musicians in Antigua & Barbuda and help
take the local art form to the next level.
He has no solid plans for a permanent move as
yet, but keep your eyes and ears out for him.
AdNauseam
Date:
September 2, 2006 @ 9:42 PM
smokey1980
Date:
September 8, 2006 @ 11:31 AM
all right!
erolennah
Date:
February 5, 2012 @ 11:45 AM
"Human Cause" is a fabulous album. Will there be
another one any time soon?
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TameasDust
AdNauseam
smokey1980
erolennah