The genius of Nearlin Taitt
Nearlin Taitt
Taitt was a guitarist with the legendary band of the 1950s and 60s, the Dutchy Brothers, and also arranged for a number of leading steelbands in San Fernando including Guinness Cavaliers. He once tuned a pan, literally, with his shoe to be in tune with a piano.
I grew up hearing about musical pioneer Nearlin Taitt and was disappointed in not reading about his passing in the daily newspapers; only this online newspaper Tntinsider carried the news.
The country certainly lost a gifted son of the soil in this gifted steelband and music pioneer from San Fernando and one of the many individuals who helped put the southern city on the map musically, along with the likes of Bobby Mohammed, Larry Du Boulet, Steve Achaiba, the Dutchy Brothers, Watty Watkins and the late Zaid “Tosca” Mohammed.
Taitt died in Montreal, Canada at the age of 74 years after a long and illustrious career mainly in Jamaica, and eventually in Canada where he had settled.
An accomplished guitarist and pannist, Taitt is credited with revolutionising popular music in Jamaica to produce the Ska and Reggae beats with his unusual guitar riffs.
Taitt continued to pursue music after he migrated to Canada. However, long before this move, Taitt became a legend among his musical peers here in Trinidad:
At a memorial service for Taitt on January 30 at Belgrove’s Memorial Chapel in San Fernando, Cavaliers co-founder Bobby Mohammed reminisced about Taitt’s remarkable talent as a tuner: “ I could never forget, Nerlin and I going to perform together one evening at a benefit radio programme in Port-of-Spain to raise funds (in the late 1950s). “Nearlin told me to check the piano as he played a note on the pan to see if they were in sync. “They were both in different keys, so Nerlin took off his shoe, took his pan stick and began knocking the pan stick with his shoe on each note, and believe it or not, he tuned-over the whole pan in key with the piano,” Mohammed said.
Taitt was a guitarist with the legendary Dutchy Brothers, and arranged for several steelbands, including Southern All Stars, Gondoliers, and Guinness Cavaliers.
According to Mohammed (Bobby), Taitt was one of a small group of people that encouraged him and other members of Southern steelbands to develop their musical talent: “Nearlin Taitt was one of the people who encouraged me as a young piano player to keep on. “I remember when Nearlin came to our home bringing the first tenor pan, I combined the piano with him on the tenor pan and we made beautiful music.” This started a series of events that led to the establishment of Cavaliers Steelband in San Fernando.
Taitt later travelled to Jamaica and started a music band there: “We heard he went to Canada and continued with his music there, but we never heard more of him until his death last month,” Mohammed said.
Saved as: “Nerlin Taitt (obit.)