Rum co-founders hope to revive Mighty Sparrow movie idea

“We believe Sparrow should be on everybody’s lips, like Bob Marley. Sparrow is absolutely as important as the greatest musical artiste of the 20th century,” US singer/songwriter Lane Steinberg, one of the co-founders of the Mighty Sparrow Rum Co, said in a phone interview with Newsday on June 17.The rum grew out of Steinberg’s professional admiration for the legendary calypsonian and, later, when he became one of his business managers.

Newsday featured the rum in a June 12 article.

The founders wished to share more and inform the public that Sparrow is one of the rum’s co-founders and owners.

US filmmaker Lenard Dorfman, another co-founder, said the contract Sparrow referred to in the first article was a distribution one. Sparrow then said he was waiting on a contract.

Apart from the rum, Steinberg hopes this venture will revive interest in a possible biopic about the artiste’s life.

Giving a more detailed account of how the rum developed, Steinberg said he always loved Sparrow’s music. His musical background is rock and roll but, as a musician, he loved all kinds of music, he said.

He lived in Queens, New York, and knew Sparrow lived there as well. He always wanted to say hello, but wasn't brave enough.

“I sort of let the opportunity go, and then he got sick around 2012.”

In 2013, there were numerous media reports of Sparrow being hospitalised and in a coma.

“I felt terrible. I was hearing...he was in really poor health and I thought, ‘Wow, I never did that. I never knocked on his door,’” Steinberg said.

So after Sparrow recovered, he walked over to the calypsonian’s house one day and knocked on the door.

Steinberg introduced himself and showed Sparrow he was knowledgeable about old calypso, citing the work of calypso greats like Kitchener and Lord Invader.

They became friends and he would often visit Sparrow and talk about music.

“One day I decided I would bring my guitar over, because he had not really been doing anything. I would say, Sparrow, at that point in time, people looked at him like he was old. They loved him, they respected him, but they did not expect any more music out of him.”

A lasting musical bond was formed.

But Steinberg also worked in the spirits business and, one day, when the developers of St Lucia’s Bounty Rum were hosting an event, he took the opportunity to ask for Sparrow to perform.

They agreed and he performed at the event, in Harlem. That was five years ago, Steinberg said.

“He loved it, (and) he was charged up about it. Then I found this core group of musicians (Sparrow included) and we started playing shows. We played in the Public Theatre in Manhattan, we played in Lincoln Centre, right before covid.”

The group also played in at the 2018 Windrush Festival at the Barbican Centre, London.

The idea for the biopic came up while Steinberg and his other business manager, Irwin Chusid, worked on remastering, cleaning and putting Sparrow's original recordings in chronological order.

For Steinberg, calypso was one of the world’s great musical artforms and Sparrow was the tip of its spear.

Successful Broadway and Hollywood producers were interested in the biopic, but the pandemic hit and funding fell through, Steinberg said.

“We were sort of deflated about that.”

The idea of the rum was born out of a discussion with childhood friend Dorfman. He and Dorfman were discussing how Steinberg’s friendship with Sparrow developed, the Caribbean, and his involvement in the alcohol and spirits industry.

Dorfman suggested he produce a rum and it was almost like “putting Sparrow’s history in a bottle,” Steinberg said.

That casual conversation grew into an actionable idea. Steinberg consulted with industry partners who liked the idea and this morphed into the Mighty Sparrow Rum Co.

Dorfman said there is a global market for the rum and hopes to have it in the US, Caribbean, European and Asian markets.

He described the process of creating the rum as “long and extensive.”

“The fact that we have Sparrow’s name on it necessitates that this is an ultra-premium, the most delicious-tasting aged rum with spices that anyone ever tasted.”

Steinberg, Dorfman, flavour developers and Sparrow spent over two years just developing the taste formula.

“It was a long and exhausting process, but we have got to a point where we feel like this is best-tasting, high-quality rum that is possible.”

Asked for an update on when the rum would be on shelves, Steinberg and Dorfman said the packaging was finalised and they were on the verge of production. Dorfman estimated it would take three and a half-four months to get the distribution contract and then have the product on shelves.

Ideally, the Mighty Sparrow Rum Co would like to have a global launch in TT during the Carnival period, with Sparrow there to perform, once he is well enough to travel.

Dorfman and Steinberg have visited Ttinidad and Tobago and are members of the TT Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA).

Steinberg and Dorfman also put Sparrow’s music on the rum’s bottle via a QR code on the back label.

Consumers will be able to enjoy the Mighty Sparrow rum and music while having a drink, he said.

Sparrow is expected to be honoured at this year's Caribbean Music Awards on August 29 at Kings Theatre, Brooklyn, New York.

Dorfman and Steinberg believe they are on the verge of something really great and hope the interest and discussion around the rum lead to the possibility of a movie again.

“I think Sparrow’s story, the way he really came from humble beginnings to be an ambassador for calypso and touring the world and spreading the calypso gospel that eventually turned to soca...

“It is all Sparrow. Sparrow broke all of the boundaries. He had his own recording label, he had his own recording company, he signed other artists, he made sure they got paid, he made sure people looked good on stage.

“He took calypso from being a folk idiom to an international genre and I don’t feel people are necessarily aware of (the size) of his contributions. I think it is a great story, and if they think the idea was great, then there is no reason to think someone else isn’t going to think it is great in the near present and future,” Steinberg said. “The essence of Trinidad is Sparrow, and to bring that to the world is a great thing.”