Marcel Cruickshank at his sound mixer board
Veteran musician, Marcel Cruickshank, who was for many years a member of Dominican’s longest-serving band, Swinging Stars, has passed away.
Swinging Stars Band leader, Peter Letang, told Dominica News Online (DNO) this morning that Cruikshank died at the Princess Margaret Hospital at 7:25 last night. He said Cruickshank had been ailing since after Carnival this year.
Cruikshank started off in music as a drummer for Swinging Stars and later became the sound engineer for the band performing that role for the rest of his musical career.
Letang also told DNO that Cruickshank was the drummer involved in the original creation of the soca beat which has been attributed to the calypsonian, Lord Shorty, of Trinidad and Tobago.
Cruickshank was also an electronics technician who operated a repair workshop located in Roseau.
Marcel Cruickshank was the brother of the late Oliver Cruickshank of Exile One fame.
