Michael Gabriel has lived on the Cape for decades, but he originally hails from Trinidad — the birthplace of the metal percussion instrument known as the steel pan. Gabriel is a virtuosic pan player, and his gifts allow him to lead a kind of double life.
Spending his summers in Dennis, Gabriel can be found jamming at weddings, church performances, and all manner of beachside bash. Then, in the winter, he heads back to Trinidad to gear up for an annual competition known as Panorama — the world’s premiere venue for steel pan performances.
You can see THIS VIDEO of Michael Gabriel playing steel pan with the orchestra Phase II Pan Groove.
This piece came to us from our production partners at Atlantic Public Media through their media training program, The Transom Story Workshop in Woods Hole. Martine is a graduate of the Fall 2015 class. You can find out more about that program at Transom.org
Creative Life is edited by Jay Allison and made possible by The Circle of Ten, ten local businesses and organizations committed to local programming on WCAI.