By Art Marshall
I hope we all remember Mr. John Larmonie’s Philipsburg Community Brass Band (PCBB)! The band consisted of a number of trumpets, trombones and a small tuba (euphonium) as well as a couple of saxophones (alto & tenor sax). The members could read music to some extent after practice. What was missing was a bass tuba, but in the band room, we found a never used baritone sax (the Beast) and since I played the clarinet, I was asked to play the bass parts on that barisax. Of course, there were drums, cymbals and a bass drum. I joined the band as arranger and as musician, to tame the Beast (barisax).
The band played at ceremonial occasions, such as royal visits, in churches and at funerals and had a repertoire to cover these tasks. The most important day for our band was St. Maarten Day, November 11. St. Maarten, being an island shared by two nations, France and the Netherlands, always held a ceremony on St. Maarten Day. The band was traditionally invited to play at the Border Monument or in French Quarter in the presence of the Dutch and French authorities and dignitaries. I had made arrangements of the St. Maarten Song, the Dutch National Anthem (Wilhelmus), and … the Marseillaise! No band in St. Maarten could play the French Anthem, but we could! The members of the PCBB were extremely proud of this achievement.
Funeral worries
There are many anecdotes from our time together and one in particular concerned me. One day, we were supposed to play at a cemetery and on that day, the guys had decided to play a different song from the usual ones. I happened to be late and rushed to the spot between the gravestones; I grabbed the barisax and was ready to play. One of the guys quickly passed me a music sheet page. They started to play the song from memory; but, oh disaster, in a different key than the sheet music they had given to me. So when I was reading the given part, my first two bars sounded completely different from what everybody else was playing. I finally succeeded to get into the same groove. At the end of a funeral, there were always a few beers out of the trunk of a car and when I was about to taste mine, one of the trumpet players jokingly made the remark: “Mister Hein, who is the professional now?” I became the laughing stock for some time.
Those St. Maarten band members were very musical and what’s more, very pleasant persons; and we developed a very close friendship over the years.
Christmas on the French side
There was a lady on the French side who had this hobby of adorning her house with all kinds of Christmas ornaments during the Christmas season. Her name was Bernadine Arnell Joe, but the people of Sint Maarten called her Dine. She used to live in Cripple Gate, in the area of French Cul De Sac. She would welcome anyone to her house to visit and enjoy all of the Christmas ornaments on display.
When the Season would begin, she always invited the PCBB to play when she would switch on the lights for the first time. We have always been treated in the Sint Maarten traditional Christmas spirit with goodies, tarts and … Guavaberry liquor! It was a real treat to play for the opening of Dine’s “Christmas House”!
Members of the Philipsburg Community Brass Band
I will now, 58 years later, try to write the names of the members of the PCBB. On the trumpet: Bobby Vlaun (leader), Dolphus Richardson, Cappy, Rino, and Yves; trombone: SA-SA (One two three) and Steve; trombone/ keyboards: Boyston; tenor sax: Jantje, Norman, and Cee-Cee; alto sax: Carolien; euphonium: Don; flute: Tyrone (Philippa); Snare drum: Erwin (aka the governor); Bass drum and cymbals: Boy Blue; and Baritone Clarinet and Arranger: Hein (Schalkie).
Art Marshall is the artist name of clarinettist/ bass clarinettist/ arranger Hein van Maarschalkerwaart. Originally from The Netherlands and residing in Curaçao, he spent many years in St. Maarten in the 60s, and again in the 90s, as a teacher and Inspector of Education.
Pictured: The Philipsburg Community Brass Band (November 1998)
