Neville Jules

 Born on 21 May 1927, 3 Richards Lane, East Dry River, Port of Spain, Trinidad. 

Known to his band members and contemporaries as Cap or Captain, Neville Jules can be considered to be the Father of the Bass Pan for his contribution to its development.

His introduction to pan came at the tender age of seven whilst watching the Hell Yard Boys. From here his thirst for innovation and tuning began. He introduced the use of two sticks to play the pans and more notably following on from this, the use of rubber at the end of the sticks. 

He is also credited for inventing

• the 'tune boom', a biscuit drum with four notes which later became the bass pan.

• the 'caustic soda' drum.

• the Grundig another type of bass, named after the Grundig radios which were popular at that time, and later became the cello.

• the Cuatro pan, known today as the guitar pan.

• the 'Chaguaramas bass' on 55-gallon drums.

As the leader and founder of the legendary Trinidad All Stars, formerly known as the Trinidad All Stars Philharmonic Orchestra, he introduced classical music played to a calypso rhythm.

Unlike other community bands, the Trinidad All Stars was formed from players of neighbouring communities, in the same way that many bands are formed today. This may have contributed to the band changing its name from Hell Yard Boys to Second Fiddle and then to cross of Lorraine before the Trinidad All Stars.

In 1971 Neville moved to New York where he continued to promote steelpan culture.

In 2015, Neville was honoured by the Trinidad and Tobago Fine Arts Institute for his commitment to steelpan culture at a gala celebration in Brooklyn, New York.

In 2018, Neville was awarded the Trinidad and Tobago Chaconia Silver Medal for long and meritorious service in the fields of culture and community.

On 19 February 2020, Neville Jules passed away.