Ray Holman

Raymond Anthony Holman (born 1944) is a musician, composer, pannist and performer from Trinidad and Tobago. Biography In 1957, Ray Holman began playing steelpan at the age of 13 with the Invaders Steel Orchestra, led by Ellie Mannette, for whom he composed his first pan piece, “Ray’s Saga”, recorded by the Invaders in 1961. At 20, he became the youngest player to win the solo Ping Pong (an early version of the tenor pan) competition in the 1964 Trinidad and Tobago Music Festival. Later, he became arranger for Invaders Steelband, doing classical pieces such as “Dream of Olwen” and “Etude in Ab.” In 1963, he moved to work with the steel band Starlift, whom he achieved consistent success with in both the Panorama competition and the informal “Bomb” played on the road at Carnival. Two of his most renowned arrangements were “I Feel Pretty” and “Penny Lane”. During the 1960s his arrangements placed Starlift in the top 3 twice (1964: “Mas in South” – Kitchener, 3rd place; 1968: “Jane” – Sparrow, 2nd place) before finally winning the coveted first prize in 1969 with his arrangement of Kitchener’s “The Bull”. After placing second in 1970 with Sparrow’s “Pan Man,” Starlift was joint winner o