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Dennis De Souza

(born 1935, British Guiana; died 7 April 2012, Toronto, Canada) Pianist based in Trinidad, well known there for performing and recording popular music. Originally from Mahaica, East Coast Demerara, British Guiana (now Guyana), De Souza began playing the piano at age 9. "I finished a 3-year course in seven months and then went to a piano teacher, Mr Herman Faria. I loved to play popular music by Pat Boone, Jim Reeves, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Dick Hayes and whatever I heard on the radio," he later told Indo Caribbean World. At age 20, he was booked to sail to England via Trinidad to study music composition. But Dennis had another interest also – cricket. He later recounted: "I fell in love with T&T and the ship sailed without me. I played cricket with Harvard and with Queen’s Park C.C.” One night after "a big victory," Dennis and his cricketing pals went to the Penthouse in Port of Spain to celebrate. "The resident band leader, Choy Aming, invited me to play the piano with his band. Because of the constant encores, people would not let me leave until 5:00 a.m.," he recalled. Among De Souza's later gigs was a 3-year contract at the Hilton Hotel in Port of Spain. He spent his final years with his family in Canada and last performed publicly in 2010.