Caribbean-Canadian Joy Lapps is a talented Juno award winner and GRAMMY-nominated steel pannist of Afro-Caribbean influence. Joy aims to amplify the contributions that women have made, both to the steelpan movement and to her life’s work.
Joy Lapps is…
Educator
Joy Lapps is more than just a musician — she is an educator who has merged her love of music with academia. Her work focuses on facilitating multi-modal teaching and learning that centres on the ensemble as a practice.
Joy helps arts educators and community organizations plan and execute new steelpan programs. Students across the Toronto District School Board and the York Region District School Board have been impacted by her work. She empowers educators to creatively engage students with the steelpan and meet curriculum goals through alternate, inclusive and anti-oppressive pathways. Joy also leads workshops and residencies with corporate partners including the Harbourfront Centre, the Toronto Public Library and Evergreen Brickworks.
Community Icon
Joy is an integral part of the steelpan movement in Ontario. She has served as artistic and creative director for her multidisciplinary project, From Skin 2 Steel and Beyond, a steelpan-focused community art project launched in Toronto. Joy has previously been honoured for her work in the community with the HUTTers Phenomenal Woman Award for Leadership in Community Arts.
Joy loves helping her community and has worked with Sistema Toronto, a local organization that provides after-school musical and intellectual programming to children in vulnerable areas of the city. As part of Arcade Fire’s 2022 Juno Awards performance, Joy directed the children of Sistema Toronto to accompany the legendary band on steelpan.
A Musician
Joy has performed alongside the likes of Stewart Goodyear, Roberto Occhipinti, Larnell Lewis and the Toronto Mass Choir, Elmer Ferrer, Jeremy Ledbetter, Johnny Reid and her musical mentor, pannist-composer Andy Narell. She has also recorded with Gramps Morgan, whose 2022 Positive Vibration release received a GRAMMY nod.
A tribute to her versatility as an artist, Joy has appeared at the 2022 TD Toronto Jazz Festival, The Jazz Room, Mutahdi’s International Drumming Festival, Island Soul Festival, AfroFest, and McMaster University Concert Series. She has performed at Trinidad and Tobago’s Queen’s Park Savannah for Panorama Semi-Finals as well as at Lamport Stadium for Pan Alive with Pan Masters. Joy has also wowed audiences at the Brooklyn Museum with Pan Fantasy, a steelpan band from Toronto.
Girl in the Yard will be released on July 8th, 2022.
Joy previously released the following independent albums:
Media Highlights
CHUO 89.1FM
Black on Black Show
Your weekly connection to the Afro-Caribbean community in Ottawa and beyond!
A public affairs/arts show focusing on local and international events and issues, with special emphasis on the African diaspora. Black History Month coverage, Artist Profiles, Community Calendar and lots of music by U.S, African and Caribbean artists.
Lydia Liebman Promotions
NEW RELEASE: Steel Pannist Joy Lapps Presents ‘Girl in the Yard’
Multi-modal artist and composer Joy Lapps issues Girl in the Yard, her fifth leader release and first full-length album exclusively featuring original music and arrangements. Informed by a vibrant palette of styles, Girl in the Yard, released on July 8, pays tribute to the many women who have helped facilitate her mastery of the steelpan and supported her success in the Steelband movement.
Caribbean Camera
Pannist Joy Lapps releases her “Girl in the Yard” album
Recording artist and award-winning steel pannist and composer, Joy Lapps, continues a summer tour this weekend in Toronto, where she’ll perform songs from her newly released album titled, “Girl in the Yard’’.
CBC Music
Arcade Fire performs “Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)” | Juno Awards 2022
Students worked in collaboration with Joy Lapps-Lewis on Steel Pans in preparation for their first performance since March 2020.
Joy on Tour
North American Tour Dates
Joy Lapps will be touring North America this Summer 2022, where she will be bringing her Afro-Caribbean flair to shows and festivals across the country.
June 29 | TD Toronto Jazz Festival, ON
July 1 | Victoria INT’L JazzFest (JLP & LLB), BC
July 2 | Calgary JazzYYC Summer Festival, AB
July 3 | TD Edmonton INT’L Jazz Festival, AB
July 4 | Lethbridge Jazz & Blues Fest, AB
July 6 | Montreal INT’L Jazz Festival (LLB), QC
July 7 | Montreal INT’L Jazz Festival (JLP)
July 15 | Halifax Jazz Festival, NS
July 18 | Beaches Jazz Festival (LLB), ON
July 24 | Beaches Jazz Festival, ON
August 7 | Harmony Concerts Morrisburg, ON
September 3 | DC Jazz Festival, DC
Project team:
Dayo Kefentse — Managing Director
Natassia Morris — Project Manager
Adam Power — Lead Digital Designer
Aryana Singh — Junior Marketing Coordinator
Nthabiseng Selelo — Video Producer
Images courtesy of Nathaniel Anderson
Album artwork by Jesse Ryan of Fwe Culture