Gombey Festival Honouree, September 12, 2015
At the age of nine, Allan made his first gombey suit, everything besides the mask and the pants, which he learned to make later. Over the years, Allan has since taught numerous people who were willing to learn how to perfect the craft of regalia making, gombey dancing and drumming.
The Warner Gombeys, under the direct influence of Allan with Captain Willis ‘Old Man’ Steede and Andrei ‘Mice’ Simons have taught traditional gombey dances depicting oppression, slavery, freedom, etc. to many young members of the group.
Allan began fluently drumming for Warner Gombeys at age 16. The act of mastering the traditional drum beats to coincide with the various dances were influenced by drummers namely, the late Shorty Maynard, the late Henry ‘Grother’ Wilson, the late Reginald ‘Way Way’ Wainwright, the late ‘Blue Pond’, the late Eugene ‘Pond Dog’ Parsons, the late John ‘Pickles’ Spence, the late Roy ‘Rocky’ Hassell, the late Gerald ‘Beesie’ Greene and the late Roy Young. Allan has influenced drummers, namely the late David ‘Tootsie’ Darrell, Gary ‘Sully’ Wellman, Jimmy ‘Furb’ Furbert, Ken ‘Ting’ Douglas, Ricky ‘Rick’ Smith and Granville ‘Sticks’ Hughes.
The Warner Gombeys under Allan’s leadership have travelled to various islands and countries representing Bermuda in different events. The Warner Gombeys have travelled to St. Kitts, Bahamas, Germany, Switzerland, New York, Philadelphia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Washington D.C. They have also performed locally in most of the major hotels, from St. George’s to Somerset and all points in between.
Allan always insisted the Warner Gombeys perform at least three to five charity events each year which included performances at various Senior Homes and Government School fairs. In 1995, Allan was the recipient of the Queen’s Certificate and Badge of Honour, ‘for keeping the Gombey tradition alive’ and was the first Gombey Captain to receive this honour.
Note: Mr. Warner passed in 2016.
