A Multi-Cultural Beat
Elementary school band bringing world music to other students

Isaac Padilla, Troy Laner and Robert Allan take center stage Friday during a rehearsal for the Turpen Elementary Steel Drum Band in Gallup. The band is led by music teacher Randy Markham who has perofrmed professionally and even worked with the creator of the steel drum. (Photo by Jeff Jones/Independent)

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff Writer

GALLUP — Randy Markham and his Turpen Elementary Steel Drum Band are adding unusual musical ingredients to Gallup's multi-cultural scene.

Calypso music from Trinidad, Latin music from Mexico and South America, classical, reggae, bossa nova rhythmic style, and East African and West African drumming styles will soon hit a number of lucky school audiences like a refreshing ocean wave on a Caribbean beach.

The calypso-type steel drum band, comprised of 15 fifth-graders from Turpen Elementary School, has been putting in extra rehearsal hours in preparation for its tour of seven area school performances over the next couple of weeks.

The only musical ensemble like this in the Gallup McKinley County Schools, the band plays an impressive array of steel drums from Trinidad and a number of percussion instruments native to Latin American, East Africa, and West Africa.

But at the heart of the Turpen band are the large steel drums, which are created from 55 gallon barrels.

Markham, the music teacher at the Mentmore neighborhood school, said the drums' appearance is deceptive.

"They're extremely fragile instruments," he said. "One bump and they're out of tune."

And ironically, he added, even though steel drums were invented in Trinidad and are known as island instruments, they cannot be played in direct sunlight. The heat from sunlight softens the metal and makes the drum go out of tune. Therefore, he said, steel drum musicians always have to play under the shade of an awning.

The students in the Turpen band have been very responsible in caring for the instruments, Markham said. Although they don't have to be straight-A students, band members are required to be "well behaved, good, diligent students," he added.

"These are some of the best kids I've had," Markham said about his current fifth-grade band members. "I wish I could keep this one group together."

According to Markham, the steel drum is an ideal instrument to introduce to young musicians. Music for the steel drum can be very simple and very accessible to children just learning about music, he explained, but it can also be very complex and challenging to experienced musicians.

Through participation in the Turpen Elementary Steel Band, students learn theory, rhythm patterns, and different styles of music.

Markham explained that the different steel drums compare to different instruments in an orchestra. The drums that have more notes and are higher in pitch compare to the first violin in an orchestra. Another drum compares to viola, another to a cello, and a set of full-skirted drums compare to a bass.

In addition to the fifth-grade musicians, the Turpen Elementary Steel Band includes Markham playing the lead steel drum and Ben Ippel, a high school musician from Rehoboth High School who accompanies the group on a conventional drum set. Markham sometimes has an adult bass guitarist also accompany the steel drum band.

World of music
Markham has been sharing his passion for world music with the Turpen Elementary students for the last two and a half years. A professional musician, he has studied with Ellie Mannette, the inventor of the modern steel drum, and he has performed with a number of jazz, salsa, raggae, and steel drum groups from around the world. He has performed with Chuck Berry, opened for Jimmy Buffet, and toured concurrently with Ziggy Marley and the Wailers.

In addition to the Turpen Elementary Steel Band's upcoming tour of school performances, Markham said he would like to have his students perform for community events, like an Arts Crawl appearance.

"I'm hoping the community has an interest in this," said Markham, who is also interested in putting a small group of musicians together to play for local venues. To that end, Markham is offering summer classes for children and adults, and he's hoping some of his students will continue to have an interest in playing these different styles of world music.

On tour
The Turpen Elementary Steel Band will kick off their tour with a concert for the students in their own school this Thursday at 9:30 a.m. The next week the band will perform on Monday, April 25, for Indian Hills Elementary at 9:30 a.m. and Stagecoach Elementary at 1 p.m., on Tuesday, April 26, for Red Rock Elementary at 9:30 a.m. and Rehoboth Elementary at 12:30 p.m., and on Wednesday, April 27 for Church Rock Elementary at 9:30 a.m. and the GMCS Central Office at noon.

According to Markham, the concerts will run 40 minutes and feature eight songs. Each performance will conclude with rousing limbo music, a limbo stick, and audience participation.

— Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola can be contacted at 863-6811, ext. 218 or ehardinburrola@yahoo.com.