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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!