 In 1948, Mannette was formally offered a scholarship to study music in London which he turned down in order to be able to build more steel pans.After having visited the United States in the beginning of the 1960s to build up the US Navy Steel Band,  he was invited to New York City to build instruments for an inner city youth program.This invitation had been carried out by Murray Narell, a New York social worker and father of Jeff and Andy Narell.