On Thursday, 26th January hundreds of Notting Hill locals, family and friends, filled All Saints’ Church to pay tribute to Selwyn Baptiste, who died recently of cancer age 75. Trinidadian born Baptiste moved to the UK and Notting Hill in 1960 and was well known for bringing steel pans to West London which are now taught around the country as a result. He made them, he played them, he taught them and he was very involved with local Notting Hill youth particularly in a hostel
known as Toc H. Baptiste was one of the founding fathers of the Notting Hill Carnival, now one of the largest and most successful carnivals in the world. He was a peaceful man and in 1976 when the Carnival turned into a riot, was one of the first to speak out saying: “This was supposed to be about fun and love – not violence.”. Following the service in All Saints’, mourners moved onto The Tabernacle, which is still the hub of Nottting Hill and the home of the Carnival, to remember a man who was central to a pioneering, post-war, multicultural community and very much part of British History – Selwyn Baptiste. To hear him play click…www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GkDuIRQcZs.
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