By Neil Armstrong

Many Torontonians have memories of commuting on the subway and hearing the sweet sounds of steelpan and witnessing the dexterity of steelpan musician, consultant and researcher Hameed Shaqq. His hands are now stilled; he passed away on May 5 and will be buried on May 9.

The musician was wrestling with an illness for the last few years and was in the recovery stage of it when he fell ill again. It took a turn for the worst and he suddenly passed away.

The community will celebrate his life with music and tributes on Friday, May 9, 7:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. at Tropicana Community Services, 1385 Huntingwood Drive in Scarborough. All are invited, and those who may want to share a tribute should contact Wendy Jones, CEO and Band Leader of Pan Fantasy Steelband and Itah Sadu, co-owner of A Different Booklist and managing director of Blackhurst Cultural Centre.

Originally from Arima in Trinidad, Shaqq first started playing steelpan with Arima All Stars, the first steelband to welcome Haile Selassie to the country in 1966, notes his website. It notes that he is an original member of the Pan Pipers Steelband of Arima and played with “a few of the largest Trinidad Steelband orchestras such as Shell Invaders, Coco Cola Silver Stars and Solo Harmonites, where he was greatly influenced and trained by some of Trinidad’s virtuosos of steelpan music arrangements and compositions such as Earl Rodney, Junior Puchete, Birdie Manette (brother of Ellie Manette), George James, Perry Martin and others.

Shaqq was committed to music education and cultural anthropology. “Through my work, I facilitate not just the learning of steelpan but also the understanding of its socio-cultural significance,” notes his LinkedIn profile.

“My approach integrates the historical context of the steelpan with contemporary methods to inspire creativity and collaboration among learners. At the core lies the objective to awaken the learner’s mind and inventiveness, leveraging music as a transformative force,” he continues.

Shaqq’s activism for Trinidad and Tobago to recognize the steelpan nationally began in 1992. He was happy when the government on July 4, 2024, designated the steelpan as the national instrument of the Republic. The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed August 11 as World Steelpan Day in 2023.

In a Facebook post, Itah Sadu wrote in part: “You were a Pan Ambassador, teacher with first class honours, griot, master pannist, innovator, pioneer, lifetime achievement, father, grandfather, advocate, creator, dapper dresser.”

She described him as a “lifelong learner,” “drum major for pan justice,” “historian,” and “friend” and ends with “Thanks for walking the journey of life with us, your time was well spent with love and joy.”

Jones said Shaqq was a longstanding member of Pan Fantasy Steelband and they are saddened by his passing.

“Hameed had a vivid interest in pan in Toronto as a musician. He was one of the first pan bands to get a license to play pan in the subway. He became the ‘pan piper.’ One of the things that Pan Arts Network did was to acknowledge him as one of the pan pioneers.”

Jones said the double seconds was Shaqq’s pan of choice “and any song you called, Hameed could play it and that is how he got the ‘pan piper’ name.” He later added the tenor pan in his repertoire.

She said Shaqq was instrumental in teaching steelpan in the schools as an itinerant teacher. He was also one of the first steelpan musicians to travel to Japan with the management team of Caribana.

The Celebration of Life is organized by Pan Fantasy, Pan Arts Network, and Itah Sadu to remember Hameed Shaqq and his family.

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