As a child, Choy Aming's greatest ambition was to be musician - a feat he achieved by his mid-20s when he formed his own orchestra band.
In fact, he was to become a great many things during his long life, which ended last Thursday after he succumbed to a long-time illness at the age of 80.
Mr. Aming was also a nightclub owner, music promoter and mentor to some of Bermuda's up-and-coming entertainers. He was known to have often said that Bermuda's worst attribute was its lack of entertainment.
He was born in 1926 to a Chinese father and a mother of African descent. That cultural diversity helped shape him as he grew up in the middle of Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.
One of his first musical talents was drumming and in his 20s he started the Choy Aming Orchestra.
When he moved to Bermuda in 1968, he helped infuse this island with the culture of birthplace. He added a distinctive Caribbean flavour to the Bermuda Day Parade with his spectacular carnival costumes.
Mr. Aming was awarded the Humming Bird Silver Medal Silver for his contribution to the development of Trinidad Culture.
Stevie Wonder
He also brought some of the world's most famous entertainers to the Clayhouse Inn, the club he operated on North Shore. They included Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, The Manhattans, George Benson, Ziggy Marley, and Musical Youth.
His "ultimate dream" was to bring Michael Jackson to Bermuda - something which turned out to be too costly when he approached Jackson's agents in the early 1990s.
His favourite shows in Bermuda were those by Luther Vandross and Sunsplash, which he brought to Bermuda in 1991.
Historian Ruth Thomas was the cultural affairs officer around the time Mr. Aming was pulling tourists and locals into his club "in droves."
Ms Thomas said: "He totally immersed himself in segments of local culture - particularly through his activities at the Clayhouse and also during the Bermuda Day parade.
"He was part of the very first parade I believe in 1979. He loved having his brother and other people fly in from Trinidad to teach locals how to sew all the wonderful costumes for the parade.
"He was also a kind individual who would supplement funds for the parade with his own personal money if they were running low."
Fellow musician Gene Steede knew Mr. Aming for more than 30 years and says his friend was "highly influential" on Bermuda's entertainment scene.
"He was a really nice, loveable guy," Mr. Steede said. "For many years I would work at various shows he had organized at the hotels. "Usually they would be a three-tier show - with a limbo dance, steel band and then at the end I would come on and do some comedy and calypso.
"It was very broadway-esque and always a success.
"He kept me employed like that for years!"
He added that Mr. Aming also knew exactly how to make money for the Clayhouse Inn.
He said: "He had a 12-piece steel band at the club, which was very popular and he used to make the club available to young people who he allowed to hold their own rap and reggae shows there.
"But years before that he brought a lot of tourists down to Clayhouse for calypso and limbo dancing which, at that time, was very popular."
Mr. Aming was also generous with charities-and he served as the first chairperson of the Bermuda Physical Abuse Centre, which he helped found.
His son, famed shark enthusiast Choy Aming Jr., will debut his new documentary A Tiger's Tale in the Bermuda International Film Festival this month.
Mr. Aming Sr. and his sister Kim Sabeney held the franchise for Miss World and Miss Universe for many years in Trinidad.
Author and former Culture Minister Dale Butler said: "Choy Aming played a significant role in the development of local entertainment by highlighting local and international talent at the Clayhouse Inn.
"He endeavoured to share his much loved Trinidadian Carnival with Bermudians by developing costumes and entering the Bermuda Day Parade. He was a cultural icon who will be sorely missed."
When asked in an interview with the Bermuda Sun in 1993 what he would like his epitaph to read, he replied: "He was an entrepreneur who helped young entertainers in Bermuda."
Mr. Ming's funeral takes today at the Assumption Church in Maraval, Trinidad.
Reader Comments
Posted: Thursday, March 18, 2010
Comment by:
fudge/bermuda/photographer
Please allow me to add my voice and thanks to Choy who welcomed me into his club as a musician, and provided an opportunity to make him a part of my photographic history.
