Newcastle All Stars STEEL ORCHESTRA

Transcription

p
Pe
Robbie
Jose
s
i
ph c
rF an
e
Eve
y
rsle
M il l s
Message
from the Board
At the Laventille Pan Festival in Trinidad recently the new Minister of Culture said that, in his
opinion, Panorama is killing pan – is he right? Should we be asking ourselves ‘What is the
value of Panorama to steel bands?’ Would that money be better invested elsewhere? How
would not having a Panorama impact on our band, our members and our communities?
De
bi G
ardn
Over the past three months BAS has learnt that two member bands folded. Those bands
engaged with several hundred young people in their local communities. These young
people now have nothing. Worldwide, the steel band community has been impacted by
the loss of funding and the recession. Panoramas in a number of countries have either
dwindled or stopped altogether. In the UK, with the support of the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, we were able to put on a Panorama competition this year – but only just,
and only because of the determination of band leaders and band members to maintain
what is a traditional and integral part of steel band culture.
er 2010 has been a challenging year. Last year we reported the challenges we all faced as
a result of the global recession. It is sad that, twelve months later, the global picture for the
steel band community has hardly changed, and where it has, things have only got worse.
Our band leaders lay out thousands of pounds every year to participate in a competition for no return. The production
company gets paid. Their sub-contractors get paid. The stall holders and local businesses make money. What about
the steel bands? What about the pan men and women? We believe that for the preservation of our culture and for the
benefit of our band members and the local communities in which we are based, we have to fight on. We have to preserve not only Panorama, but also blockoramas, band launches and all the other events and occasions we host that
bring us and our communities together. We have to work with the other arenas – calypso, mas and music - to promote
our culture throughout the year.
There is no denying these are difficult times but we have to push forward. We have to look at how we can move forward
without local and central government funding and almost no sponsorship opportunities. We have to think outside the
box. Governing bodies can look at sourcing new venues for events and can liaise with authorities and other funding
bodies about meeting infrastructure costs but it’s up to band leaders to look at how you can cover your costs.
Over the past three years BAS has lost 15% of its actual funding and we are set to lose another 14% over the next two
years – that’s a third of our income gone. Yet we are still being asked to deliver the same level of work – the same number
of events, the same number of new commissions, the same everything. It is only due to the dedication of BAS’ Executive
and the tireless and unwavering support of our members that we are able to achieve this.
As we move into the New Year BAS urges the global steel band fraternity to come together. Share our thoughts on what
we need to do to secure our future and our place not only in the carnival arena but also in the wider society. Here in the
UK we need to call on those in influential places to meet with us and support us in our endeavours. Explore and exploit
whatever opportunities that may be created as we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the first performance of TASPO
at the Festival of Britain and, of course as we look forward to the 2012 the Olympics and Paralympics. As a community
we are not new to struggle – it’s where pan came from.
Together we are strong. We need to use that strength, our belief and our visit,
to create our destiny and our legacy for future generations.
The Board Of The British Association Of Steelbands.
FROM THE EDITOR
2011
marks the beginning of a new decade of the existence of the
steelpan instrument in this modern world. The G Pan, PHI, E Pan and Pan Kat
all innovations created in this decade. The mind boggles with the thought
of what this one will bring in the development and further recognition of
steelband music on the global platform. There are still numerous locations
around the world that have not yet been exposed to this wonderful 20th
century acoustic instrument and Pan Podium continues its promotional quest
to expose and educate these audiences of the mystical musical prowess of
the magical steelpan.
A creation of Trinidad and Tobago, the southernmost twin-island in the Caribbean, the steelpan is our musical
gift to the world. Such generosity has led to increase exposure for the twin republic, its culture, people and
numerous artistes. Its great to reminisce but one must always remember that the past is for reference and not
residence. In this computerised era many innovative ideas will surface to ensure that we keep abreast with the
development of technology yet maintaining the unique sounds of the steelpan. I personally prefer to listen to
acoustic steelband instruments as that raw yet charismatic sound brings out the Pan Jumbie in me.
The UK celebrates the 60th anniversary of the arrival of the steelpan to its shores through the inaugural visit
of the Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra (TASPO) to the Festival of Britain on the 26th July 1951. Boscoe
Holder Dance Troupe having had it as an element of their performance in 1950. The ‘Sunshine’ instrument has
continued to bring that overwhelming Caribbean flavour to the UK and it is now considered a permanent ingredient in the fabric of multicultural Britain, having made it on the schools’ curriculum since the 1970s.
BAS has numerous events planned for celebrating this milestone anniversary in the history of the steelpan in the
UK which will include the Trafalgar Square Steelband Jamboree, Pan Explosion, Blockoramas, Jouvert, Junior and
National Panoramas and Annual Awards. As an associate member of Pan Trinbago we are also planning joint
celebratory events in celebration of TASPO’s visit and its surviving members. Pan Podium continues to spread
the Pan gospel worldwide with the assistance of its global media partners.
Pan 4 Life!
Robbie J - Editor
Pan Podium • Spring 2011
Table of Contents
Pan Podium Spring 2011 Edition . Issue 22
Center Stage with - Newcastle All Stars Steel Orchestra 6
Pan Podium Artiste Spotlight - Raymond James 8
Center Stage with - Steel Expressions Orchestra 10
Pan Podium Event in Tune - UK Junior Steel Band Panorama 12
Readers Letters/CD/Book Reviews 14
Center Stage with - Dutch Marine Core 16
Special Feature - The 3rd International Conference on Steelpan 18
One to Watch - Hannah Harrylal 20
Special Feature - When Steel Talks 22
Center Stage with - Steelhammers Steel Orchestra 28
Pan Podium Artiste Spotlight - Marlon Hibbert 30
Pan Podium Events in Tune - UK BAS 2010 Jouvert Competition 32
Center Stage with - PanGang Steel Band 34
Pan Podium Events in Tune - National Panorama Champions of Steel 2010 36
Pan Podium Events in Tune - Pan Jazz UK 2010 38
Pan Podium Events in Tune - Trafalgar Square Pan Jamboree 40
Special Feature - Sterling Betancourt MBE - Tripoli to Nostalgia 42
Center Stage with - Sforzata Steelband 45
Pan Podium Events in Tune - BASFDF Pan Explosion 2010 Competition 46
Special Feature - UK Centre for Carnival Arts 48
Center Stage with - Calypsociation 50
Pan Podium Events in Tune - BAS Awards 2010 52
Center Stage with - Pan Village Steel Orchestra 54
Center Stage with - Flamingoes Steel Orchestra 56
Editor: Robbie Joseph • Contributors: Louise Brydon, Raymond James, Ranee Maharaj, Dutch Marine Corps, Haroun and Louise Shah, Vashti Jacob,
When Steel Talks, Mazzini Gill, Alix Nicholson, Marlon Hibbert, Werner M. Weidensdorfer, Salah Wilson, Sterling Betancourt MBE, Calypsociation,
Yuuki Murakami and Delphina ’ Panness’ James. Photography: Response Photography
Cover Design and Art Direction - Jean-Pierre Potéon - www.poteon.com
Published by: British Association of Steelbands - The Tabernacle, Powis Square, London W11 2AV. • Telephone: 020 7565 7813
Fax: 020 7565 7810 • Email: [email protected] / [email protected] • Website: www.panpodium.com
The views published in Pan Podium are not necessarily the views of the editor or publisher. All material contained in this publication are the copyright of Pan Podium. No
material written or photographic should be reproduced in any way without the written permission of the publisher. No liability will be accepted for any errors which may
occur within the magazine.
by Louise Brydon
Newcastle
All Stars
STEEL ORCHESTRA
'rhythmically tight, energetic and enthusiastic
playing with a strong sense of ensemble'
The Newcastle All Stars Steel Orchestra is a community steel band for young people in the North East of
England. They were formed in 1996 by local community musician Ken Patterson and evolved from a school
band, the Pirahna Panners. They were awarded a National Lottery Arts grant which funded a minibus, trailer
and new instruments, mostly made in Trinidad with bass pans made by Tony ‘Cowboy’ Charles in London.
They were then set up as an outreach project to cater for a wider catchment area and to attract young people
from all over the region, irrespective of ability or background. They have since been entertaining audiences
at festivals, corporate events, weddings and charity functions
across the North East of England and Cumbria. They have also
been featured on TV and Radio on several occasions.
Ken Patterson retired as musical director in 2003. Louise Brydon,
music graduate, was appointed as their musical director running the
band with the support of a committee of parents and young leaders.
Their repertoire is self-arranged drawing upon Pop, Latin, Reggae and
Calypso genres as well as film scores.
All Stars are members of a community association in the west end
of Newcastle and are currently a band which includes varying ages
and ability with their young leaders who are a great asset, helping as
mentors. They are going from strength to strength and are pursuing
funding to introduce an additional band to cater for beginners in 2011.
Recent events include the Great North Run (the largest half marathon
event in the world) where they performed to over 40,000 runners as
they crossed the finish line.
They also progressed to the third round of, ‘Britain’s Got Talent’, in
2010. The audience and judges enjoyed their performance but the
crowd ‘booed’ Simon Cowell, when he suggested, ‘it didn’t suit the
cold North East of England’. His comments show how little he knows
6
about the steel pan artform which is thriving in their
region with huge demands for instruments and tutors
in local schools.
The region also hosts many successful community
bands performing to high standards and producing pan
players who now perform and compete internationally.
It was a fun experience but also an introduction to the
manufactured world of reality TV!
In contrast, the band also enjoyed taking part in
the Regional Music for Youth Festival in 2010.
The feedback from the mentors described their
performance as ‘good intricate playing from all parts,
rhythmically tight, energetic and enthusiastic playing
with a strong sense of ensemble’. The All Stars are
looking forward to celebrating their 15th anniversary
iin 2011 and are hoping to arrange a steel band
exchange in 2011 to share repertoire and spread their
wings!
The All Stars have had a fun-filled few months. In
October they were asked to perform at the Westerhope
community festival hosted by Palatine Beds who were
also staging a ‘Mattress domino topple’ world record
attempt at their warehouse in Newburn on the same
day. They needed over 380 people to take part to
break the world record and as time drew nearer they
were short of numbers so All Stars dropped their pan
sticks and hot-footed over to the warehouse to make
up the numbers.
One of their pannists took a video clip which was
uploaded to You Tube that same day; little did they
know the many National newspapers and magazines
then used it in their own online publications. The clip
has now had over 95,000 hits! This has also increased
the number of views of their other clips on the site.
They also had the privilege of playing at the wedding
reception of ex All Stars drummer, Mark Harle. Mark
is now the drummer of popular North East band, the
Little Comets and had one or two VIP guests there
including Mark from Westlife.
More recently they were featured on Look North &
Tyne Tees news for the launch of the ‘Alive after Five’
initiative which is the extended retail opening hours in
Newcastle City Centre. Live entertainment has been
arranged every evening between October and March
with street performances from all over the world and
the All Stars were honoured to have been asked to
perform on the launch day.
They are recruiting again for next year so
please contact Louise Brydon on 07775 803815
For membership enquires email us at
[email protected]
or visit our website at
www.newcastleallstars.org.uk
7
Raymond James
Pan Pioneer
“He went on to win the competition and the coveted prize
of a trip to the United Kingdom which proved to be
another turning point in Raymond's life.”
Raymond James grew up in Oropouche, South
Trinidad. He is one of ten children and the only
one to pursue a musical career. After establishing himself as a musician he taught his brother,
Dennis, to play the quarto and tenor pan. As a
child he visited his aunt’s house in Cocorite,
West Trinidad and on one particular occasion
he recollects an experience of listening to the
‘music’ made from rain falling on some discarded tin cans in the yard which inspired him to
create mini steel pans.
One of his early inventions was a ‘butter pan’
which he took and created eight notes on it. Later
on he saw some men burning the pans to create
different tones which he pursued and was able to
create flat and sharp notes.
Raymond created a set of mini pans which he played regularly. He was
recorded at Radio Guardian and Radio Trinidad in the early 1960’s. In the
late 1950s, Raymond played alongside Rudy ‘Two Lef’ Smith in his steelband called the ‘Beatniks’. Around 1963-64, he played double tenor with
the Trinidad All Stars Steel Orchestra and has fond memories of playing
with Eddie Hart.
Around 1957, a work colleague heard him playing and introduced him to
a couple of quarto players, the Munroe Brothers. They started practicing
at Mrs. Munroe’s house in Victoria Square East in Port of Spain. As they
practiced under a tree one of the players commented on the fact that it
was getting late and dew was dropping this led to the birth of their band,
‘Dew Drops’.
They went on to rehearse at Richmond Boys School and were introduced
8
to Sam Ghany of Radio Trinidad where they became the
resident band on Sundays and became renowned for
their Latin American and Calypso music. Raymond has
fond memories of meeting Winifred Atwell at Radio Trinidad who was very impressed with his performance. He
performed at the Little Carib Theatre in Woodbrook and
Dew Drops did various recordings at Cook’s studio in Port
of Spain. The Trinidad and Tobago Government at the time
sent Dew Drops to perform at the Crown Point Hotel in Tobago with the Mighty Sparrow, Melody and Lord Cristo.
Having been advised of Scouting for Talent by one of his
colleagues, Raymond made enquiries and was invited by
the host Holly Betaudier to perform at the preliminaries.
He went on to win the competition and the coveted prize
of a trip to the UK which proved to be another turning
point in Raymond’s life and musical career.
Raymond arrived in London in 1965 and stayed with his
sister who was a UK resident. Soon after his arrival he
started practicing with Geoffrey Holder brother of the famous Boscoe Holder and performed for a week in Liverpool with a limbo dancer. Raymond went on to appear
on Hughie Green’s, ‘Opportunity Knocks’ television programme and also BBC1. He was invited by Fuji to perform
in Japan but this did not materialize owing to issues with
his instruments.
From 1965, Raymond started performing on the UK gigging scene with established musicians, the likes of Ivan
Chin, Jerry Gobin, Freddie Toutesaut and Miguel Barradas. He played in a pan around the neck steel band at
Notting Hill Carnival from the late 1960’s and along with
Pedro Burgess was responsible for bringing the first bass
pan on the road for Notting Hill carnival.
Raymond played with Metronomes steel orchestra for a
few years before moving to Glissando playing tenor bass
with Bertrand Parris. He fondly recollects turning up at
7a.m. on the morning of carnival to learn the tune to be
played on the road and was proficient by the time they hit
the road. His love for carnival and steel pan music was not
deterred when his wife and children who had an unfortunate experience of a riot at Notting Hill Carnival decided
not to attend again but Raymond continued to attend and
play.
Raymond has toured Germany, France, Sweden and Switzerland. He played a vast amount of parang music on his
mini pans around the island of Trinidad including numerous performances in Arima and San Fernando.
He has performed a wide repertoire on his mini pans in
prestigious locations in London including the Dorchester
and Hilton and annually at the London Danish Club in
Hyde Park.
Raymond stopped gigging in the 1990’s and now suffers
from hearing problems. This does not stop him from enjoying his favourite steelpan music as his daughter Cindy
and granddaughters now play with the CSI Steelband
9
Steel Expressions
Orchestra
by Ranee Maharajh
& Alvin Alleyne
Alvin 'T-Shirt' Alleyne started playing steel pan in Trin-
idad as a young man in the late 1950’s with Valley Harps
Steel Orchestra. In the 1960’s, he played with Demfortunates and Shell Invaders, and he was one of the founding members of the Siparia Deltones Steel Orchestra.
‘T-Shirt’ moved to Canada in 1975 and was already living in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada for
several years when he met Ranee Maharajh who,
in the early 1960’s, played steel pan in Trinidad
with her brothers in the Maharajh Kids Steel Band.
In 1988, Dr. Colin Walley from the University of Manitoba
hired Jim St Rose and Albert John from Trinidad to make
and tune pans for their Advanced Rhythms Summer
Music Program.‘T-Shirt’ and Ranee both missing playing
the steel pan, seized this opportunity to purchase a set
of steel pans from Jim.
They convinced some of their friends to join them, and
the Steel Expressions Orchestra was born. Initially they
10
practiced in ‘T-Shirt’ and Ranee’s living room, but when
all the instruments were delivered and the players were
in place, the band moved to their small basement.
Shortly thereafter, ‘T-Shirt’ and Ranee moved to a larger
home with a comfortable basement which became the
band’s permanent residence / panyard.
In 1989, after Jim returned to Trinidad, Albert stayed in
Winnipeg as the drummer and arranger of the band until 1993. During this time Steel Expressions Orchestra
was kept very busy playing at Universities, Colleges,
Malls, Folklorama (multicultural celebration), Western
Canada Panorama, Winnipeg Carnival Parade, the
Mayor’s Office, Night Clubs, Manitoba Museum of Man
and Nature etc.
Herman Collins assumed the roles of arranger and tuner
of Steel Expressions Orchestra in 1993 until his death in
2003. He brought to the band a strong sense of history
and respect for steel pan because in his younger days,
he played with many of the top pan players and steel
bands in Trinidad including Casablanca, Sun Valley,
and the Trinidad & Tobago National Steel Orchestra.
Herman once placed second in the Trinidad National
Pan Soloist Competition, but one of his favorite memories was of a young Len ‘Boogsie’ Sharpe standing on
a milk crate in order to observe what he was playing.
During the years that Herman arranged for Steel Expressions Orchestra, the band performed at many private and charitable functions including Churches, the
Pan Am Games, Union Parades and The Red River
Ex Parade.
However, it was evident that the band’s focus had
shifted from taking on as many paying gigs to concentrating on the art form. Herman was an outstanding teacher who encouraged members of the band to
take the reins. He especially encouraged Ranee to
start arranging, and in 2003 she reluctantly accepted
that role to pay tribute to him after his death. Today,
Ranee is still their arranger.
Steel Expressions Orchestra now has a core of members who have been part of the band for over 20 years
and they are proud to be able to perform at functions
such as the Citizenship Ceremony at the Manitoba
Legislature. The band plays a variety of music chosen
by the members which includes the Top 40s, Oldies,
Calypso, Reggae, Latin and Classical.
Since members usually come to Steel Expressions
with limited or no experience in reading music, Ranee took a different approach and devised a unique
form of music notation which enables the players to
instantly understand what notes to play or strum. This
tool is also used by players to memorize their notes
when they are not in the panyard.
ed family. Originally, the band was focused on playing
gigs, now Ranee continues Herman’s legacy and the
focus is more on teaching the art form to the younger
generation and to older folks who wanted to learn but
never had the opportunity.
The current members of
Steel Expressions Orchestra (Adults)
Captain - Alvin ‘T-Shirt’ Alleyne
Arranger - Ranee Maharajh
Secretary/Treasurer - Roger James
Tenor – Ranee Maharajh, Rose Edwards
Double Seconds - Alvin ‘T-Shirt’ Alleyne
Double Seconds - Roger James
Guitar - Knolly Thompson
Cello – Ranee Maharajh
Tenor Bass – Malcolm Jones, Ghislaine Alleyne
Low Bass – Ghislaine Alleyne
Drums – Peter Frigo, Kush Maharajh
Percussion - Frank Phipps, Roger James
Percussion - David Edwards
Steel Expressions Orchestra (Children)
Tenor - Savana Maraj, Danielle Robidoux
Tenor - Keyshawn Gaskin
Double Seconds – Valia Louis
Tenor Bass – Ashton Gaskin, Jvon Louis
For more information on
Steel Expressions Orchestra kindly visit our website at
www.theworldonline.com/steelexpressions
Steel Expressions Orchestra has gone through many
phases and stages, and ‘T-Shirt’ has been the one
solely responsible for keeping the band running
smoothly. He is a natural leader and has been a mentor and positive role model to the children in the band.
He treats all band members as part of his own extend-
11
Junior Panorama
Steelband
Competition 2010
CSI Steelband Trust retained their BAS/
CAPCA Junior Panorama title for the third
consecutive year. This is coupled with their
victory at the first Dutch Junior Steelband
2010 competition in Holland in June.
The Kensington Memorial Park, St Marks
Road, London, W10 was transformed into a
Carnival Village on Monday the 9th August
2010 for the annual CAPCA/BAS Carnival
and Junior Panorama competitions.
The warm sunny weather provided that Caribbean ambience to enhance the festivities.
Five junior steel bands were due to appear
at this year’s Junior Panorama competition,
Ebony, Mangrove, Harlow, CSI and CSO.
Unfortunately owing to circumstances beyond their control only two bands were able
to perform, CSI and CSO.
The park was filled with sweet strains of
12
steelband music from the junior steelbands completing their final
rehearsals before the competition whilst Nostalgia steel band led
by Lionel MacCalman accompanied the Carnival parade before
the start of the Junior Panorama competition. The crowd was also
treated to an energetic display by male Indian dancers doing their
traditional Sikh ritual dances.
The British Association of Steelband in partnership with the Children
and Parents Carnival Association under the leadership
of Lee Woolford-Chivers hosted the competition. Junior
Panorama Judges for the 2010 competition were Chris
Storey of Pantasia/Pan Nation, Joel ‘Tubbs’ HamiltonMills of Metronomes and Jennifer Clarke -Sofolarin
from the Children and Parents
Carnival Association.
CSI Steelband Trust treated the audience to a scintillating Brent Holder’s arrangement of Iwer George’s,
‘Nah do Dat’. CSI’s execution saw them deliver their
Panorama rendition filled with vivacity. Their choreographed dancing, tight delivery and dexterity earn
them the Champion’s podium again for the third year
running.
In second place was Croydon Steel Orchestra under the musical direction of Paul Dowie. CSO played
Paul’s musically arranged Shurwayne Winchester’s
‘Dead or Alive’. CSO’s strong introduction and lovely
crescendos before going into the major were excellent
and well received. Paul continues to work tirelessly;
inspiring his young musicians to produce some exciting music. This youthful band had bags of drive and
enthusiasm which will prove to be useful assets in future competitions.
On the day the audience was treated to an explosion of
sweet steel band music played by young enthusiastic
pan musicians. Steel band music continues to be the
overall winner; the wealth of music on offer certainly
captivated the audience.
This infectious music is spreading like a global pan-
demic and Pan Podium is ably assisting in its dispersion. Everyone is now looking forward to next year’s
competition with great enthusiasm.
Pan 4 Life!
THE RESULTS
1st Place - Caribbean Steel International Steelband Trust - 288 points
2nd Place - Croydon Steel Orchestra - 257 points
13
From Trinidad and Tobago
Dear Mr Editor,
I thought that it was necessary for me to put pen to paper
and write a letter to you concerning what is happening
with our culture and the national instrument of Trinbago,
the steelpan. Recently it was highlighted in the Trinidad
Newspapers that our Minister of Art and Multi-Culturalism
stated that, ‘Panorama is Killing Steelbands’.
I remember when the only form of music at Trinidad Carnival was from the steelbands and as a little boy it was an
honour to push pan racks along the road for your favourite
steelband. Then the Big Trucks arrived and with it came the
mass commercialisation of Carnival. What is killing pan?
Pan yards are vibrant from December onwards with pan
players practicing to achieve a place in the finals. Practice
makes perfect and competition breeds excellence I was told
by my parents. What’s wrong with that? Local vendors ply
their trade at the steelbands’ nightly practices and it becomes a meeting place for all members of the local and surrounding communities to network and build associations.
Maybe the minister in conjunction with Pan Trinbago can
take on board Anthony D Blackman’s suggestions from his
article – Steelband + calypso + mas = Carnival in the Trinidad Guardian Newspapers, to inject a Grammy Awards flavour with several other categories, and opportunities for
winning, for instance, best new arranger and best tuner. I
look forward to some changes for the betterment of our culture and national instrument.
Don Rowe
Trinidad and Tobago
From the United Kingdom
Hi Robbie
Wow! Imagine 2011 marks the 60th anniversary of the
steelpan’s existence in the UK. It has certainly captured the
attention and hearts of so many people in the UK. I am so
pleased to see that Music for Youth has included steelbands
at their Royal Albert Hall concerts as well.
I believe that it is an important tool for teamwork and networking whilst providing a valuable source of activity for
everyone especially the young people of Britain addressing
the shortfall of activities provided by the government and
local authorities and proves to be a valuable product to combat the current gang culture.
14
I would like to offer my sincere appreciation for what you
and the BAS are doing with the steelpan artform and hope
that it continues to develop and spread to other parts of the
UK, Europe and the rest of the World.
Thomas Higgins
United Kingdom
From Spain
Hello Mr Joseph,
I am a keen steelpan fan and proud of my collection of Pan
Podium magazines. Your team has certainly done a great
job in promoting this numinous instrument. A people without identity are a lost nation and Trinidad and Tobago has
certainly stamped theirs all over the world by giving to the
global community their national instrument, the steelpan.
This captivating music is spreading to all four corners of
the globe, establishing the culture and its identity and your
magazine has been a valuable vehicle in delivering this message to the World.
Thank you.
Carmillo Garcia
Spain
From Trinidad & Tobago
What’s up Robbie?
Just a few words to say thank you very much for the last
issue of the magazine. As usual its contents were as always
very interesting and full of information. I have noticed the
distinct enhancement in the new design including the increase in pages and applaud your continued quest for perfection. Congrats to your team on your continued success
and I look forward to your Trini Carnival issue with great
expectations. See you in the Big Yard for Panorama!
Marcia Smith
Trinidad and Tobago
Contact Pan Podium
Have you got something to say about this magazine or the pan industry in
general? If so, please send your comments to:
British Association of Steelbands
The Tabernacle, Powis Square, London W11 2AV
or email them to [email protected]
400 Questions & Answers On Pan
1960 to Present
Ian R. Franklin
400 Questions & Answers on Pan: 1960 to Present was written and compiled by Ian R. Franklin. This
book is a great resource for anyone involved with pan. It is great for anybody looking for a fun way to
learn about the history of the steel pan. Franklin has compiled decades of information into a fun trivia
style of learning. Use this book to learn interesting historical facts about pan. There are now 589 questions! That’s right; Franklin has continued to add questions from his first version but still carries the original title for consistency. To obtain your copy visit any book store in Trinidad & Tobago.
by PANNESS
PARIS
PAN JAM – Pamberi Steel Orchestra
Pamberi – the Zimbabwean word meaning “Forward” have played and produced their 10th pan album with the
other 9 albums for sale on iTunes. Paris Pan Jam is a collection of songs that were played on their 2009 and
2010 tours with Brian Villafana arranging a Classical piece from Beethoven, Soul from Stevie Wonder, Jazz
from Pat Metheney and a traditional from the late Calypsonian Lord Kitchener with also original compositions
from himself and 2 other young members of the band: Reon ‘Spooks’ Patterson and Cheo Cato. It’s easy and
enjoyable to listen to and great hearing solo’s from the middle range pans. I will be listening to this album for
weeks. Highlights from the album: Just for you, Flowers, Paris Jam
PANORAMIC
- Liam Teague and Robert Chappell
Panoramic contains 8 amazing compositions by Liam Teague and Robert Chappell with mesmerising tunes
and solos. Liam Teague does an amazing introduction on his own composition called ‘Chant’ which is intricate, fast and entrancing. It has to be said. The blend of talent, passion and great producers (also done by
the ‘panoramic’ duo) provides an exciting vibe to the recording and keeps the listener wanting more. This is
a musical gem to be in your music library for Jazz fans pan fans alike and good music fans. You will not be
disappointed. Highlights from the album: Orlando’s Cha-Cha, Calcados Feliz, Nikkara
SHANTI
OM – Richard Bailey
This album is definitely for the Jazz funk listeners out there. It really shows just how versatile ‘pan’ is and
how it can fit amongst other instruments. You will have to be in the mood for this music as Richard Bailey
has given listeners a unique new sound with this album. As well as giving us his great skill on the drums, he
also presents us with his pan playing ability. There are too many musicians to mention that contribute to the
variety of vibes. I can only describe this album as COOL. Highlights from the album: Sande Grande Plains, Shanti
Om, Sambagee
OPEN
WINDOW - Liam Teague and Robert Chappell
Nothing but great musicianship and superb skill is present on this album from the magnificent duo, teaming
up again for another success. Open Window has Liam Teague doing his thing once more and he doesn’t
disappoint. Not only does he play solos on front line pans; he does a complete solo on Cellos. This eclectic
album allows the listener to be taken from Classical compositions to North Indian music traditions and it keeps
you wondering...what else is coming. While listening to this album I felt very inspired and proud that there are
musicians still willing to step out of the box...ADD THIS ALBUM TO YOUR MUSIC LIBRARY NOW!
Highlights from the album: Cell O’Vibes, El Rio, Spickle
FESTIVAL
OF VOICES – Northern Illinois University Steel Band
There is no note to say where this performance took place nonetheless Northern Illinois University is performing these 8 tracks live on this album. This great sounding band plays with such control and you can hear that
the band is well rehearsed for this concert. It is refreshing to hear this 32 piece band collaborate with other
instruments with such a great balance. This album shows just how versatile the band is and how good work
pays off. They are a great representation with A GREAT ALBUM.
Highlights from the album: The Battle is the Lords, Cantei Pra Distrar/Cade Jojo
15
STEELBAND OF THE
DRUMMERS & PIPERS OF
THE ROYAL NETHERLANDS
MARINE CORPS.
...Major General Luijk decided that the drummers
and pipers were the most suitable men to do so.
The instruments were shipped off to Rotterdam, the
‘home-base’ of the Marines and the drummers and
pipers began practicing with the pans...
Genesis.
For the history and the development of steel band/pan
culture you must go back to the Caribbean in the 1930’s,
to the island of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the birthplace
and home of the 20th century acoustic instrument
affectionately known as, the steel pan.
The abject poverty, together with the ban on the possession of musical instruments on the island, led the
innovative Trinidadians to make musical instruments out
of improvised objects. The success is shown by this
band.
16
Why Marines?
The engagement of the Marine Corps with the inhabitants of Aruba is very strong. There is a large Marine’s barracks at Aruba, populated by hundreds of Marine personnel. In 1969, in appreciation for what the marines did and
still do, the people of Aruba offered the commander of the Marine Corps at that time, Major General Luijk, steel
pan instruments to form a steel band. Soon the question arose; ‘Who is going to play those?’ After some thought,
Major General Luijk decided that the drummers and pipers were the most suitable men to do so. The instruments
were shipped off to Rotterdam, the ‘home-base’ of the Marines and the drummers and pipers began practicing
with the pans. At the end of 1969 and after a few months of practicing the Steel Band of the Drummers and Pipers
of the Marine Corps was born.
A tropical surprise in Dutch uniform.
The Dutch Marine Corps Steelband comprises of ten enthusiastic and talented drummers and pipers who have
evolved into qualified pan musicians. These musical ambassadors of the Marine Corps have sailed nearly all the
world’s oceans. They have visited the United States of America, Indonesia, India, Russia, Australia, New Zealand,
France, Norway, Germany and of course in the Netherlands, Antilles and Aruba taking with them the captivating sounds of the, ‘sunshine’ instrument. Their fifty (50) plus local annual performances have seen them grow in
popularity. They are also regular performers on their local Radio and TV stations.
Repertoire.
Their extensive and melodious repertoire makes them employable for ’tropical’ parties as well as providing atmospheric music during receptions, and dance music at social evenings. Their repertoire includes the rumba,
bossa nova, waltz, calypso, disco, salsa and lambada. They continuously add new music to their repertoire
ensuring that they continue to entertain their audience with catchy, up to date tunes. Pan Podium applauds
their continued efforts in promoting the steel pan and its music.
17
by Louise C. F. Shah
Nostalgia Steetband
The 3rd. International Conference
on Steelpan 2010
The 3rd International Conference on
Steelpan witnessed a paradigm shift in
intellectual debate on the carnival arts
as compared to the first held in 2006.
This year’s theme, integrating the three elements of carnival: steelpan, calypso and
mas, revealed that practitioners in the field
hold a unanimous position on the benefits
of forging greater symbiosis between them.
Whereas calypsonians in Trinidad can expect
their compositions to be played by steelbands on the
road and contested at Panorama, it’s not the same for
the UK’s home-grown calypsonians, despite the high
standards achieve yearly.
The use of Mas as a creative expression of cultural, political or historically relevant themes is lost amongst UK
audiences who are disengaged from the historical roots
of carnival. The potentiality for social evolution and creativity derived from these three art forms is highly underutilised in the UK today with calypso, steelpan and mas
never having been combined holistically on the road. A
major issue arising from the conference was the rapid
decline of funding, which is leading to deterioration
standards across these art forms. This was vividly evident when Nostalgia Steelband, conference hosts, announced that their second application to the Arts Council England was refused on the eve of the meeting which
left the financial responsibility solely on them.
The Politics and Potency of Carnival Arts
Christopher Innes, who opened the meeting, discussed
the declining standards of Toronto’s Caribana. A shift to
‘tourist entertainment’ at the cost of cultural expression
or ‘political emasculation’ as described by Peter Minshall was evident while the continued loss of steelbands
to sound systems and static stations was encouraging
a loss of “social bonding” that celebrates liberty and independence, and symbolizes “emancipation” that is so
relevant to all carnivals. The trend of deliberately replacing historical characters with frivolity invariably leads to
dilution of the political power of mas’. Innes cautioned
18
that unless carnival regains its
political meaning it will be impossible for it to survive with integrity.
Alexander D Great and Akima Paul
built upon the notion of political integrity
addressing specifically the evolution of calypso
both in Trinidad and the UK, the former commenting on
how humour foiled the British public who were unaware
of calypso’s double meanings and the latter tracing
calypso lyric evolution in Trinidad moving from double
entendre and metaphorical socio-political commentary
to more direct calls for social action post Eric Williams
with calypsonians becoming agitators rather than relators. Alexander D Great also traced the route of various calypso forms, highlighting the misnomer ‘soka’ (a
short form of ‘calypsoka’ where the ‘ka’ refers to a type
of Indian drum) by a journalist, unwittingly led to popular
belief that soca is a combination of ‘soul’ and ‘calypso’,
thus obscuring the clear Indian infusion.
Everard Phillips teased out the finer points of calypso
as a form of social action dealing with the ‘inequality
problematic’ through linguistic analysis and application
of conflict transformation methodologies. Similarly, Mas
has lost much of its political clout with the towering exception of Peter Minshall whose commitment to political and ecological themes have been expressed most
famously in epic deliveries such as ‘Paradise Lost’,
‘River’ and ‘Anti-Nuclear’ masquerades. Ray Funk’s attempts to coherently and carefully document carnival
arts are thus invaluable in clarifying and preserving it’s
rich history, and in providing a solid foundation for the
advancement of the three art forms. Furthermore, work
such as Yoko Kimura’s on Notting Hill Carnival and Adela Ruth Tompsett (presenting on the African elements
of carnival) are vital to obtaining more in-depth analysis
of the evolution of carnival within and from Trinidad to
the UK. Pepe Francis and Frank Rollock offered their
experiences of the triumphs and tribulations of leading
steelbands in Britain over the years, noting the importance of uniting the three art forms. The issue of funding
was the repeated theme of this meeting with Panorama
only being saved at the last minute by changing its venue to offset a reduced budget. Considering that some
£93 million is generated through Notting Hill carnival,
such poor resourcing reveals cultural marginalisation
and exploitation. Self financing is fraught with difficulties and unachievable.
Carnival Arts in Education: Adding Value
The potential of these art forms on education in the
UK provided what might be carnival’s most valuable
legacy here. Celia Burgess-Macey spoke of carnival
arts in early years’ of education, opening up worlds of
imagination, creativity, self confidence and a stronger
sense of identity. Through writing calypsos, designing/
wearing mas and playing pan, children learn new ways
of self expression.
As Diana Hancox stated, the major appeal of pan is in
its inclusivity; all levels of ability can perform together.
Recognising these virtues, the first conference in 2006
placed considerable emphasis on a steelpan graded
examination system as a major objective and huge
strides have been made as announced by Jacqueline
Roberts and Victoria Jacquiss. There was universal
agreement with Rachel Hayward that steelpan is still often pigeon-holed into a ‘Yellow Bird’ repertoire or pan
players stereotyped as “black men in straw hats and
floral shirts playing on cruise ships or in hotel lobbies”
which is entirely unrepresentative of the UK steelpan
landscape today. Perhaps public perceptions of pan
might shift if the instrument’s capacity and complexity
were better understood.
Improving and Broadening the Reach of
Carnival Activities in Britain
Nestor Sullivan offered concrete suggestions for improving Mas judging standards and participation, based on
his experience both in Trinidad and the UK. Presentations
from Carl Gabriel and Colin Spalding provided further
evidence of Mas as a complex and unique art form. Keith
Khan focused on applying carnival skills and traditions to
other areas to extend their reach and recognition and to
create a new generation of artists qualified to take carnival
forward into the future. He called for “sharper language
to describe what we do” to help counter negative public
perceptions and for practitioners to “make alliances” for
a more enabling environment. Chris Hocking’s presentation celebrating the feats of technology at the annual Guy
Fawkes carnival in Bridgwater, Somerset provided much
inspiration.
Summing up, it was clear that the carnival arts community
is more united than ever and determined to push forward
for a more integrated carnival celebrating its three key
components: steelpan, calypso and mas; that a conference forum offers an appropriate setting for real intellectual exploration of the carnival arts as well as a setting for
open debate and blue sky thinking; that the virtues of the
carnival arts are far reaching but needs to professionalise
to impact more tangibly on public perceptions; that the
essence of carnival and its history need to be preserved
as a means to retaining its integrity – socio-political and
artistic; and perhaps most critically, the lack of funding
presents a major concern and is better addressed
collectively.
Anthony Joseph’s literary offerings documenting Lord
Kitchener’s life in a quasi fictional novel format visibly
moved the audience; one could almost feel the presence of the grand master while Ursula Troche’s carnival
poems provided delightful relief. Soren Maloney demonstrated how steelpan may be utilised as a means
through which engineering is taught since it involves
several disciplines including material science, manufacturing technology, acoustics and vibrations.
19
Hannah
Harrylal
Young Pan Prodigy
and more
After her grandmother, Vashti Jacob, bought Hannah’s
fifth birthday present, a tenor pan, she started lessons
with Michael Cumberbatch. After two years of tuition, Hannah was able to play the Trinidad and Tobago’s National
Anthem, Xmas Carols, Gospel and many other melodies.
She is able to read and write music and has passed her
grade 1 music exams.
Hannah performs at church concerts, birthdays, and retirement parties. Her distinguished performances include
appearances at the Crown Plaza and the Hugh Wooding
Law School Tea Party. She is ardent participant at school
competitions and was commissioned to do a musical
piece, ‘Sohani Rae’, for the 2008 Divali celebrations held
in Chaguanas in central Trinidad.
She was awarded a monetary award for her efforts. Hannah attends the Las Lomas Pentecostal Church where
she is a respected member of the congregation and is always willing to assist them at any fund raising events us-
20
ing her elating musical skills.
She is a very stronger swimmer and is the proud holder of
seven swimming certificates
from the Trinidad Centre of
Excellence in addition to the
level 3 Safe Swimmer certificate she possess.
Hannah is also a keen gymnast excelling in this field at
school events. She attends
ballet lessons at the Caribbean School of Dance where
she is taught by Mrs. Yipchoy
and holds a grade 1 dance
certificate. Her dancing skills
has seen her perform at the
legendary Queen’s Hall in
Port of Spain.
She excels in the classroom
and has a passion for reading and according to her grandmother, loves to study. She has been described by her
teacher, Robert Ramoutar, as a well behaved pupil. This
well rounded student certainly reveals that a combination
of pedagogic, sports and the performing arts certainly create a well rounded disciplined individual who excels in all
walks of life.
She resides with her grandparents, Vashti and Leo Jacob,
who have been the inspirational driving force behind her
success. Her dad, Alvin Harrylal, played the steel pan for
the Exodus Steel Orchestra and was the manager of the
Tunapuna All Stars steel orchestra who toured India and
Central America.
Pan Podium congratulates this young prodigy, acknowledging her various achievements hoping that she will be
presented with many more opportunities to hone her varied
abilities during her life’s journey and wishes her all the luck
in her future endeavours. She is certainly One to Watch!
21
New York
Panorama 2010
special features
The Orchestras
entered the panorama with the unenviable task of playing in position one. Position one is
known as the sound check position for obvious reasons
and none of them good. Their tune of choice was “Battle Zone”. Again, size matters in New Yorkís panorama
to offset the negative effects of the sound system. Pantonic was served up a triple whammy - playing first,
small in size (their smallest ever), and braving a bad
sound system.
Pantonic
followed Pantonic on stage and came
ready to take everything, but could do no better than
third this year, a repeat of last year. Their tune of choice
was “Tell Dem” which, indeed, was the battle cry of CASYM all season. It was also the first time they went to
panorama with a selection composed by their arranger,
Arddin Herbert. CASYM took the stage with 100 players. The orchestra has been in the top three, seven out
of its last eight panorama competition entries. They
continue to be one of the best bands in North America.
CASYM
played third for the night, with
all eyes upon the band this year. They came into the
2010 competition with very high expectations. Indeed, many looked for them to move into one of the
top three positions, and possibly even outright win the
panorama. “De Last Band” was an ideal tune for Despers USA. The band looked exceptionally dapper and
well-dressed in white and gold. Despers USA took the
stage with 100 players.
Despers USA
22
was up next, and performed “Battle
Zone” as their tune of choice. They have now been
around for a number of years, but have not figured out
how to change their zip code to the contenders row.
Harmony
D' Radoes drove into the musical fray in position
five for the evening, with Al Foster who hails from Canada, in behind the arranger’s wheel. Finally D’Radoes
seems to have brought some stability to the position.
This was Foster’s first attempt at bringing home the
goods at a New York panorama. By all accords he did
well on his New York maiden voyage which can be brutal on first-timers. The bandís tune of choice was “Pan
Army.” Foster proved to be a competent arranger with
promise. Moreover he seemed to have bonded well with
his “troops.”
continues to maintain their presence in the
“high-rent district” where champions dwell. Sixth on
stage for the competition, their tune of choice was “Pan
Army.” Again their young arranger André White demonstrated that he is here for the long haul. ADLIB looked
great and sounded great. Their performance brought
the crowd to its feet on a few occasions. ADLIB took the
stage with 100 players.
ADLIB
performed “Battle Zone” in position
seven with Sheldon Elcock at the arranger’s controls.
Elcock was also part the 2010 crew in the freshman
Dem Stars
when steel talks special features
class of New York panorama arrangers. His first outing was unforgiving. Dem Stars was simply not a factor in this year’s
competition. They suffered from their small size, the sound system and apparent lack of musical connection with the
judges and the audience.
Sonatas came into this competition as the defending champions
- and left as the champions. Everyone else was chasing them, and they
took the stage confidently in position eight. This year they chose “Battle
Zone” as their war cry. Their props and uniforms definitely worked. They
hunkered down in the “battle zone” and looked every part of a great musical military machine with their full arsenal of 100 players. They remain
the talk of the town.
CrossFire called on the services of arranger Leon “Foster” Thomas to lead them to the next level. Mr. Thomas’ maiden voyage into the
New York panorama scene was indeed a good one. He is part of that young talented crop of arrangers who can be the
new face of pan for the foreseeable future. On stage in position nine for the competition, CrossFire achieved their highest
placement since 2004. Their tune of choice was “Pan on Fire”. Dressed as fancy firemen and women, this presentation
definitely worked for the group, visually, and with the band’s name.
Boston Metroes methodology for the New York panorama is considerably different from that of the local (New
York) bands. Theirs is a laidback approach. Taking the stage as the penultimate band in the competition, their tune of
choice “Ah Love Meh Pan” brought a completely different feel to the panorama competition. Again, however, size matters in the New York arena.
Sesame Flyers entered this year’s competition with Kareem (Kay) Thompson at the helm. As arranger,
Kareem proved quite capable and ready for the task, taking Sesame Flyers, which was the final band on stage, to its
highest finish ever in panorama competition. Their tune of choice was “Pan Army.” Indeed, Thompson faired the best
of this freshman class of New York panorama arrangers. He settled in and dropped some musical movements that merit
serious attention. The future looks very bright for Thompson.
Mas, Mud, Paint and Steelpan
Rule New York J’Ouvert 2010
New York, USA - It’s 4:30 a.m. in the morning and the 1-mile Flatbush Ave.
stretch between Grand Army Plaza and Empire Boulevard is packed with
bands filling the air with a percussive symphony of rhythm and soul. It is Labor
Day and it’s J’Ouvert morning in Brooklyn!!
There is nothing like J’Ouvert in Brooklyn. Pan, pan and more pan. In fact nothing but steelpan music is allowed. Few events capture the authentic spirit of
carnival as J’Ouvert in Brooklyn. The mischief makers in the form of blue devils
and jab jabs were everywhere doing their naughty thing. Many of the steelpan
players fresh off of the panorama wars could be seen playing, dancing and
have a fantastic time.
Yes, Sara Palin, Dick Cheney and the Pope were all there as live ‘reality commentary’ via Ole Mas. There was no shortage of political satire. And the steel
and iron bands came out in full force as the parade of steelbands stretched
over the 6-block route that passed designated judging points. Mud, mas, paint
and sweet steelpan music were the order of the morning. Thousands of revelers enjoyed themselves to the max from the pre-dawn hours to the sounds of
pan and iron.
The old advice really holds true in this arena: “Doh play mas if yuh ‘fraid powder!”. In J’Ouvert - there is no such
thing as a spectator - if you are present, you are a participant, especially if willingly or not, you are ‘adorned’ with
paint, grease, and the like...
23
Sonatas Steel Orchestra Repeats as
Panorama Champions for 2010.. And owns New York..
Epic musical fight in the “Battle Zone” for Steelpan music supremacy.
New York, USA - Field Marshall Yohan Popwell
otherwise known as the panorama arranger for champion Sonatas Steel Orchestra - pointed to the far left and
right, and instantaneously the quads camouflaged as
small armored mobile vehicles rattled off a series of musical volleys over the heads of the audience that were so
sharp it seem to cut a part in the hair of one patron, giving him a reverse Mohawk hairstyle. We will not mention
what it did to the women in the audience.
He, Popwell, then pointed to the sky and then to the
floor and the frontline (made up of whistling master tuner Birch Kelman tenors and seconds) immediately executed a chromatic dive bomb maneuver at a rapid-fire
pace that had folks diving for cover - only to have them,
his players, skillfully pull up at the last moment into a
fascinating shrill crescendo; yes, there were spilled
drinks everywhere, mouths wide open and men looking
to hide under chairs. And then the final blow was this
Latin movement - a very disciplined Sonatas percussive
special unit began to rock the house.
Powell did a ëcha chaí move - he indeed loves to dance
while his troops are meting out musical punishment to
his opponents, and there was a loud boom from a secret drum Sonatas had built; everything came to a full
stop - the Field Marshall Popwell and his band saluted
the audience and judges - everyone exhaled and for
all intents and purposes - it was over. Goodnight! Sonatas owned New York for another year. And they also
owned the championship trophy and reported first prize
of $25,000.00.
General Mack Scott, the president of Sonatas and otherwise affectionately known as “Mr. Mack” and “Uncle
Mack” to his brilliant young musical army, with arms
crossed and a twinkle in his eye, appropriately seem
to call off the attack as the musical genius of Sonatas
shined through, victorious once again. For Panorama
2010 there were some great performances as they, the
challengers, endeavored to take the crown from the defending champion Sonatas. In this year’s “battle zone”
you were quickly exposed as a contender or pretender.
Ah, but let us review how we came to another classic
moment in the annals of New York steelband panorama
history. Yes - it was an epic event.
Earlier in the week after a scorching heatwave parched
the Big Apple for a number of days, the city that never
24
sleeps braced itself for Hurricane Earl. For a moment it
looked like this storm was going to collide smack into the
Empire State right before the New York panorama, and
wreck havoc on the “Battle Zone.” Un-phased by the elements - heat and/or impending hurricane, the New York
steelband generals who have a history of being NOT
afraid of anything when it comes to panorama music
wars, issued orders to their steelpan troops ‘all systems
go - man your posts’, (WST intercepted these coded
messages on Facebook).
Moreover, live music ammo in the form of sweet steelpan
music was continually handed out to shoot Hurricane Earl
out of the sky on sight. The pan folks relished the idea
of doing battle with Earl as a warm up to the impending
panorama war. In addition, to be caught not behind your
pan, was indeed a serious offense at this time of the year,
that could result in immediate banishment. Anyway, we
watched pan folks consisting of people and little people
arrive at their yards in SUV’s, on bicycles and feet. And
of course there were many who arrived on scooters with
backpacks carrying their pan sticks and water, ready to
practice and do battle with anyone, anything.
For whatever reason - you be the judge - Earl turned up
the east coast but essentially stayed out to sea and clear
of New York. Four bands (Sonatas, Pantonic, Dem Stars
and Harmony) entered this musical struggle with ‘Battle
Zone’ as their tune of choice. Three others (D’Radoes,
Sesame and Harmony) would choose ‘Pan Army’ as their
call to musical arms. Despers USA chose to go with the
‘De Last Band.’ While CASYM chose ‘Tell Dem’ as its musical declaration that the band would not go away quietly,
CrossFire heated things up with ‘Pan on Fire’, and Boston
Metro stayed patriotic all the way with ‘Ah Love Meh Pan’.
We warned everyone last year in our 2009 WST NY Panorama report that this could happen when Sonatas Steel
Orchestra revealed that they were a bunch of musical
marauding Bandoleros and took over the New York.
Remember?
A When Steel Talks Review
OPEN WINDOW
Liam Teague and Robert Chappell
and it
is quite appropriately so named. You, the listener, are afforded the
unique position as an interested, or possibly even originally dispassionate viewer - through this ‘open window’- to eavesdrop, snoop,
spy and are privy to the deepest thoughts and feelings of these musicians as they story-tell on numerous subjects.
This collection of music pieces is called “Open Window”
Their energy, musical vocabulary, joy, humor, fun, acrimony, pain,
sadness, glee and mood changes become your own as they convert
you, the listener, from passer-by or snooper outside the window - to
an insider, and then take you on a fanciful and memorable journey.
Indeed, the listener (now an insider) is sometimes even surrounded
and serenaded by the performers, as that act is a vital part of the
story.
The main voices in these eleven conversations are those of steel panist Liam Teague and Robert Chappell who
plays various instruments including the marimba and piano. The steelpan voice is the common thread through all
the pieces. Chappell and Teague support, contrast, overlap, cajole, call and respond to each other, while always
bringing a clarity and sensitivity that are hallmarks to a plethora of styles and genres featured in these chosen conversational pieces. The twosome are very comfortable with each other & their coming together on “Open Window”
illustrates a completeness that is exemplified in the music works performed.
Their judicious use of space, timing, tempo, dynamics, counterpoint and of course silence, expands the musical
vocabulary. In an era where much is done simply because one can and without thought or feeling - Chappell and
Teague bring what is needed to tell the story with passion and clarity without overkill, in terms of both performance
and production. Indeed, doing something both in terms of production and/or performance - just because you can
- never seems to enter the equation in this project. Liam’s control, command and touch on the steelpan instrument
are renowned. There are few who can articulate a musical conversation on pan like him. Moreover, there are few
panists in the world that can truly state a melody correctly. Such is the nature of the steelpan instrument - easy to get
a sound out of, but incredibly difficult to master.
When Steel Talks (WST) has tracked many great steel pan players from all over the world. There are less than six
that WST has met and/or seen who can actually leverage and execute the type of control displayed by Liam Teague.
Many can think it, but few can actually do it. Liam is one of the few who has the skill set and sensitivity to pull it off
flawlessly. WST has watched Liam’s development over the years - talent never in doubt - he is now bringing thoughtfulness and maturity to the table to match his talent.
The capturing of the pans and overall project production are good. The use of stereo imaging on the acoustical
instruments and the producers’ attention to depth perception, allow for a recording that breathes and is filled with
natural movement. Moreover, the producers have mastered the lost art of silence and space.
The title track “Open Window” opens this collection as Teague and Chappell immediately take listeners beyond possibilities as they step into the realm of actual conversation between the steelpan instrument, the marimba, bass and
cajun. The tone is set and we are off, with no turning back from this compelling musical narrative these musicians
are about to share with us about themselves through these eleven pieces. Along the journey listeners are even further tantalizingly stimulated into musical intellectual discourse as they are drawn into considering and experiencing
high points along the way.
The ultimate for any artist is to create, perform and to be captured in a manner that allows his/her story to be appreciated and heard by others in his/her own voice, for the ages. “Open Window” by Liam Teague and Robert Chappell
accomplishes this feat admirably.
To read these and many other exciting and interesting articles from the team at
When Steel Talks logon to: www.panonthenet.com
25
Steelhammers
'Steeling' your heart with pan music
by Alix Nicholson
The electric atmosphere is positively charged as the musicians jump, dance, sing and laugh as they play their steel
pans on stage. It is impossible not to join in as the toe-tapping, heart-jumping rhythms really heat up, and the band’s
exuberance starts to take over. Danish steelband, Steelhammers, just cannot hide the fun they have on stage; and
why would they want to, with a joyful, award-winning sound that captivates audiences around Europe.
Formed in 1997, at the municipal school in Allerød (a small town just outside of Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen),
Steelhammers is a group with a real gift for rhythm. Injecting their soul into every recording and performance, the
group of twelve (12) talented players, aged twenty plus, have a passion for steelpans and playing with good vibes
and positive energy. The result. A fun and fresh sound based on Caribbean cha-cha, calypso, mambo and soca
beats that makes audiences want to dance up a storm.
Allerød Music School has been a solid learning ground and starting point for many steel bands, and even more enthusiastic solo pan-players. Tutor, Kåre Videbæk, has been a driving force, educating many students and facilitating
the formation of other bands at the school. Steelhammers was the third band to be founded at Allerød, and is also
currently the longest-running band to come out of the school. The aim at Allerød is to develop their students’ musical capabilities through rhythm, beats and song. Steelhammers is testament to Allerød’s teachers and proof that the
school is achieving their aim.
Steelhammers has had two main areas of focus over the 13 years they have been playing together: to create and
maintain great friendships among the members and – of course – to play their steelpans with plenty of energy and
good vibes. Both of these become evident when the group performs, as the show is more than just a few party tunes.
The band’s members – Louise Krebs, Sisse Nielsen, Mads Ole Sander, Christoffer Hovaldt, Martin Herse, Carsten
Gates, Anders Vendrup, Christian Håkansson, Mathias Rangel Wulff, Stine Kristensen, Rasmus Bechshøft and Cecilie Jæger Leidersdorff – smile, laugh, jump, dance and sing as they bang out their beats… and no one leaves a
Steelhammers concert without a smile on their face and tired legs from dancing the night away.
28
Since its inception, the band has toured both in Denmark and around Europe almost every summer, hoping to extend the reach and expand the awareness
of steelband music to the general population. They
have played in major cities from Stavanger in Norway to Málaga in Spain and Firence in Italy, taking
their Caribbean sound and contagious party atmosphere with them wherever they go. In fact, so tight
and spectacular is their performance, Steelhammers
was awarded third place in the Danish Steelband
Championships during the 2007 Copenhagen Carnival. Most recently, Steelhammers participated in
a not-for-profit concert at Global Copenhagen – a
venue for world music.
As the fun-loving band members would tell you,
it has not been hard to keep their group going for
more than a decade – strong friendships have been
forged through a shared love for life, travel, music
and the joy of entertaining people with their captivating tunes. Although some of the band’s members
have joined along the way, the majority of Steehammers’ musicians have been there from the band’s beginnings in the ’90s, helping to develop both the direction of the band and the sound that they deliver to
create what is, today, an ever-evolving performance
that captivates audiences internationally.
Despite their busy performing schedule, Steelhammers has even found time to get into the recoding
studio and now has several CDs under their belt.
Their most recent recording, however, was taken live
at the Copenhagen Jazz House, where they played
to an enthusiastic 200-strong audience. The band really values the vibe it creates for its audiences – as
the members themselves have said, the music is only
one part of the whole experience; the atmosphere is
what really completes a night out with Steelhammers.
So where to next for this vivacious Danish group?
For the time being, Steelhammers limits their performances to concerts and parties. But the ‘Hammers’
say they will keep playing as long as their bodies will
let them, enjoying the happiness and excitement that
comes of playing their steel band music.
29
MARLON
HIBBERT
Overcoming barriers
with his musical prowess
“He is very grateful for the opportunities given to him by the people who
are willing to let him nurture and attain his goals, and has vowed his
commitment to support young people in fulfilling their dreams.”
By Rose Bartlett
Secretary of Endurance Steel Orchestra
Marlon first became interested in playing pan at age twelve; he was a frequent visitor
to the music department at Stanley Technical High School for Boys in South Norwood,
London often at the expense of other lessons such as Maths or English.
He also played the drums and bass guitar, but soon started to investigate the various types of pan instruments on
offer, and spent the following two years being taught at Stanley Technical by Paul Dowie, but like all good things poor
old Stanley Tech came to an end when the school was taken over by the Harris Federation of Academies, and while
the school was unable to provide consistent lessons Marlon joined the Comets Steelband where he was taught by
Jason Butcher and latterly by David Wellcomme.
He made some good friends among his peers during his time with the band and is still in touch with many of them.
Although Marlon spent these formative years developing his skills as a double seconds player he is extremely competent on all the pan instruments and often leads his own musicians on tenor when playing as a smaller ensemble,
he actively encourages his musicians to try their hand at all the various pans in the orchestra and has had some
surprising results, finding several multi talented players among them.
Marlon had the opportunity to start a band at Harris as part of their enterprise scheme and soon had a reasonable
sized band that could commit to performing outside the school at community events which they began to do after
only four rehearsal sessions! However, as time went on Marlon felt that the band could go much further with the right
guidance and support and the day came when he was alerted to an advert for a reasonable amount of pans for sale,
So armed with a loan from his older brother he took the plunge and on the 1st July 2009, Endurance Steel Orchestra,
was born. He has found inspiration from the many people who have supported him and given him fantastic op30
portunities, over the last year, such as
being invited along with other members
of Endurance to play with Mangrove for
the last two national UK Panoramas, and in 2010 being
given the honour of being invited to play with Adlib for
New York Panorama, he was blown away by the generosity and hospitality of Andre White’s family, and came
back to England with a new sense of purpose and the
inspiration to develop a variety of arranging techniques
in order to take Endurance to the next stage of the orchestra’s development.
As a young man trying to gain experience as a pan
tutor, Marlon had found obstacles from some professionals working in the field of education, but he strived
to be accepted and taken seriously as a confident and
thorough teacher, happily he is currently teaching the
art of playing the steel pan at Kingsdale Foundation
School in Dulwich where he was given the chance to
prove himself by their forward thinking head of music,
Marlon also works at Lewisham College (where he is
studying music performance) where he assists with the
provision for teaching music composition and performance to the students who have learning difficulties.
He is very grateful for the opportunities given to him by
the people who are willing to let him nurture and attain
his goals, and has vowed his commitment to support
young people in fulfilling their dreams.
He would like to see the steel pan artform grow much
more in the UK and believes that those
involved in the pan world should push
for more to be done to try and bring
pan to the fore across the various educational establishments and would love to see the day when all young
people could utilize the art of pan playing in national
exams as this provision is very limited at the moment,
only being offered at very few secondary schools.
The future is looking very positive for Marlon and Endurance Steel Orchestra. He hopes to continue his quest
of bringing pan music to as many people as possible in
the future and tutoring lots more young people to play
this beautiful instrument. Marlon celebrated his nineteenth birthday in 2010 and accepts that he still has a
lot to learn, but has achieved quite a lot in a very short
space of time, with his musical hunger crying out for
more. He joined the British Association of Steelbands
Future Development forum (BASFDF) which represents
the youth in steel pan in the UK. BASFDF helps to organise events such as the 2010 Pan Explosion Competition.
There are lots more to come from this hard working and
courageous young man. Marlon hopes to perform at the
London, New York and Trinidad National Steelband Panorama competitions for 2011.
Pan Podium continues to support young, enterprising
and talented pan musicians like Marlon Hibbert to keep
their music flowing.
31
JOUVERT
COMPETITION
2010
The 2010 celebration started with the procession
leaving the Sainsbury’s car park at the top end
of Ladbroke Grove at 6:00 a.m. promptly.
The History of J’ouvert
For than a century J’ouvert (pronounced ‘Jouvay’ meaning ‘day
break’) processions have marked the opening of the famous
Trinidad Carnival. Held in the wee hours of Carnival Monday,
J’ouvert evolved from 19th century Canboulay festivals, these
night time celebrations saw ex-slaves gather to masquerade,
sing, and dance in commemoration of their emancipation. When
this tradition was incorporated into Trinidad’s pre-lent Carnival, it
became an arena for African-derived percussion, sardonic costuming, and, more recently, lively steel band music with revellers
jumping, dancing and shouting – fuelled by copious amounts of
alcohol and the ambience of the occasion.
The 2004 Notting Hill Carnival saw the revival of London’s Jouvert when Stardust, London All Stars and Ebony steel orchestras
took to the road at 6.a.m filling the air with the sweet sounds of
steel. In contrast to the bright, fancy pageantry of Sunday afternoon and Monday Carnival, J’ouvert’s gruesome devils and
32
mud-covered revellers manifest Carnival’s deepest
challenge to order and authority, and fully depict the
essence of the Emancipation spirit. In keeping with
J’ouvert traditions of humour and macabre, numerous individuals play mud mas (covering their bodies
with mud), dress in old rags, paint their faces, bodies
and costumes, and cover themselves with white powder and flour. Many masquerade in satanic costumes,
while others don satirical outfits and carry signs with
humorous political commentary. Tubs of mud on make
shift trolleys wheeled down Ladbroke Grove, with revellers stopping every so often to smear each other or
innocent bystanders.
The London J’ouvert
Seven years since its revival, London Jouvert celebrations saw Ladbroke Grove invaded by revellers adorning themselves in mud, powder or brightly coloured
paint depicting the celebration of emancipation. The
pre-dawn tranquility was broken by the sweet strains
of steel band music in West London and saw masses
of people chipping down ‘the Grove’ in true Trini style.
This all steelband event provides lively steel band music which is well received by the public and is growing in popularity. The British Association of Steelbands
(BAS) continue to work laboriously to ensure its growth
is sustained through the inclusion of more steelbands
and masqueraders and become an important ingredient of the fabric of Notting Hill Carnival. The 2010
celebration started with the procession leaving the
Sainsbury’s car park at the top end of Ladbroke Grove
at 6:00 a.m. promptly. CSI, Ebony, London All Stars,
Real Steel, Metronomes and the regular Rhythm Section were in attendance.
The procession snaked its way along Ladbroke Grove
with revellers swelling to great numbers filling the air
with a mist of powder. London All Stars were victorious in the ‘Bomb’ competition (tune of choice) in 2004,
2005 and 2006 with Real Steel being victorious with
their Leroy Clarke’s rendition of ‘Love Me Tender’ in
2009. In 2010, London All Stars – the all family band
led by Frank Rollock once again captured the coveted
title with their rendition of ‘Leibestraum’.
The Future of London Jouvert
BAS is planning to host more steel bands for the 2011
Jouvert to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the arrival of Pan in the UK. This action will ensure continuity
and a well contested competition. Everyone is looking
forward to an even more successful Jouvert in 2011
and BAS will continue to develop stronger operational
interactions with the various Carnival authorities to
continue its improvement and further expansion.
BAS J’OUVERT BOMB COMPETITION RESULTS
PLACING
BAND
TUNE
POINTS
1ST
London All Stars
Leibestraum
248
2ND
Real Steel
Ain’t Nobody
246
3RD
CSI Steelband Trust
New York
242
4TH
Ebony Steel Band
Old You
241
5TH
Metronomes Steel Orchestra
I Got A Feeling
236
33
PanGanG
From Pan-Kultur to Calypsonic
by Werner M. Weidensdorfer
In 1999,
the managing board of the steel pan association, Pan-Kultur e.V.
from Dortmund asked music pedagogue, Werner. M. Weidensdorfer, if he
could offer courses for children on their premises. Being an absolute pan
novice, he was confronted with the sound of steel pans for the very first time
and was “assimilated” immediately. Within one week, his experience as a
musician and teacher combined with the craftsmanship of tuner Eckhard
C. Schulz led to the creation of the, TeacherSteelPan, an elementary instrument for learning the language of music.
Thus equipped, the Pan Kids – as they were previously called – embarked on their journey into the steel pan cosmos
of sounds, a journey which has lasted for the past 11 years. With their Teacher Pans which in the course of the early
years were extended by the ranges soprano, alto, tenor and bass to form a quartet, they quickly made a name for
themselves as a children’s steel band. 2004 saw the change to traditional steel pan instruments, and the Pan Kids
became the youth steel orchestra ‘PanGanG’.
As early as in 2006, they won the 1st prize at the Folk & World Music 2006 competition organized by the LandesVerband der Musikschulen in NRW [Regional association of music schools in North Rhine-Westphalia]. Numerous
concerts and intensive rehearsals made sure that the PanGanG consistently developed to become a professional
steel orchestra. In January of 2009 they won the 1st prize at the regional competition, ‘JugendJazztNRW’, thus bringing the Caribbean calypso sound into the domain of jazz big bands. On the 20th June 2009, PanGanG played at the
1st International Steel Band Festival in De Kwakel, Netherlands.
34
At this point, there was the break-up with Pan-Kultur as the managing board parted with W. M. Weidensdorfer directly
after the prize-winning concert in January. This would have been the end of the successful youth orchestra if it had
not been for a group of committed parents who were willing to carry on this successful concept. In late April of 2010,
PanGanG left the orchestra room in Güntherstrasse to move into their Pan Loft of the newly founded association,
‘Calypsonic E.V. - Institut für SteelPan und Calypso’ only a few hundred yards away.
Apart from the soprano pans owned by each of the musicians, they had no orchestra instruments and they had two
important gigs scheduled for two weeks later. In this stressful situation, the tuner Toussaint Clarke proved to be a real
saviour. The parents advanced funds, and a basic ensemble set was brought back to Dortmund from a weekend trip
to Bath, England. This, however, led to another challenge: On account of the Caribbean-style layout of the pans, the
experienced musicians had to start again from scratch! After only one week and despite all the undesirable conditions, PanGanG played on the Saturday and Sunday of the anniversary celebrations of the Cologne Zoo – and the
audience was enthusiastic.
After a number of local concerts, the band achieved something which they would not have thought of in their wildest
dreams. Musical arranger, Leroy Clarke, and Joe Friend, of Real Steel Orchestra from Plymouth, invited them to join
their band for the 2010 UK Panorama competition in London. The time frame was tight. One week of preparation, then
off to Plymouth on the Saturday before the Notting Hill Carnival. Following another 5 days of extremely intensive work
in the Sound House, Estover, Real Steel’s entire orchestra met for the final rehearsal in Bath.
That event alone went beyond the imagination of the German teenagers. And then the absolute highlight of their
journey – the 2010 UK National Panorama competition in Kensal Road, a musical wonder of the world with PanGanG
right in the middle! Since then, the sound at Calypsonic e.V. has changed fundamentally. It sounds as if the band has
been turbocharged, and everyone knows for sure that Pan is for Life and PanGanG will play on.
For further info go to: www.calypsonic.de, www.pangang.de or www.teachersteelpan.de
35
U K N AT I O N A L PA N O R A M A ‘ C H A M P I O N S O F S T E E L’ 2 0 1 0
UK NATIONAL PANORAMA
‘CHAMPIONS OF STEEL’
2010 marked the 33rd anniversary of this esteemed competition.
Paddington Youth Steel Orchestra led by Zac Herbert was victorious in the initial competition held in 1978. Since that
time this prestigious event which acts as a precursor to the main Notting Hill on the road celebrations has grown in
distinction from the wealth of steel band music and adept musicality of the musicians on offer.
Ebony Steel Band Trust, acclaimed Europe’s finest and classed as the European juggernaut steelband, has dominated this competition over the years winning eighteen times; capturing second place eight times and third place
twice. This is a phenomenal achievement and sees them rank as the only steel band in the world to achieve this
incomparable feat. They are certainly a global icon for the art form.
2010 saw seven of the UK top steel bands in the finals held on Saturday 28th August 2010 at Horniman’s Pleasance,
Kensal Road, London W10. The competition has returned to this venue after being hosted in the iconic Hyde Park for
the past three years owing to a lack of funding. The aura that this venue generates for Panorama exemplifies the true
spirit of the event. The Pan Jumbie must be resident in Horniman’s Pleasance.
Croydon Steel Orchestra, Ebony, London All Stars, Mangrove, Metronomes, RASPO and Real Steel all competed for
the coveted title of, Champions of Steel’ and to dethrone Ebony who has won the last three panoramas held in Hyde
Park. The Judges for Panorama 2010 were Robert Bailey, June Bacchus- Ifill and Mary Frank with David Waddell as
the adjudicator. Croydon Steel Orchestra was first to perform. Their Paul Dowie’s arrangement of ‘Tell Dem’ saw them
make effective use of orchestration with an interesting chorded approach. An enthusiastic performance thoroughly
enjoyed by all their players. They captured fifth position place with 238 points. Mangrove Steelband who played an
Andre White’s musical arrangement of Len ‘Boogsie’ Sharpe’s, ‘Pan Army’ saw them capture 2nd place with 269
points. Mangrove’s confident, cohesive and spirited performance saw them take the audience through a huge variety
of melodies and counter melodies filled with good balance and excellent dynamics.
Metronomes Steel Orchestra followed with the gifted Kyron Akal’s rendition of ‘Pan Army’, a creatively structured
arrangement coupled with consistent rhythm. Good swapping of melodies with excellent use of the bass. The unified and concerted efforts of their players saw them attain 4th place with 245 points. Reading All Steel Percussion
Orchestra (RASPO) appeared for the first time in this competition. Michael ‘Bubbles’ Oliverre’s musical arrangement
of ‘Pan on Fire’ was filled with a lot of imaginative ideas. It was a brave and enthusiastic performance by a group of
young players. One to watch in the future. RASPO achieved 7th place with 213 points.
36
U K N AT I O N A L PA N O R A M A ‘ C H A M P I O N S O F S T E E L’ 2 0 1 0
Frank Rollock’s family band, London All Stars, was next to perform. They played Frank’s arrangements of ‘Battle
Zone’. A truly wonderful delivery with Frank employing his vast knowledge of orchestral arrangements capturing
the true carnival spirit. Good harmonic balance using all the voices of the orchestra. London All Stars attained 238
points to tie with Croydon Steel Orchestra in 5th place. ‘Hardcase’ Real Steel who played a proficient Leroy Clarke’s
musically arranged ‘Pan Army’ was the penultimate band to play. Their vibrant introduction led to a much spirited
performance. A confident and well executed piece that saw them awarded third place with 260 points. The final band
to perform was Ebony Steel Band Trust who played Samuel Du Bois’ musically arranged ‘Musical Fire’.
As the old adage goes the last shall be first and Ebony certainly personified it. A lovely syncopated attack in the
introduction and excellent dynamics throughout the rendition coupled with a hugely confident and highly charged
performance saw Ebony capture the coveted title of the UK National Panorama ‘Champions of Steel’ 2010 with 270
points. This brought their tally to nineteen victories in this competition. In the 33 years of this competition Ebony has
an unassailable record of achieving a placing 29 times. What an achievement!
Horniman’s Pleasance, Kensal Road was a hub of musical activity on Saturday 28th August 2010 from 5p.m. –
11p.m. The event was free and everyone who attended was treated to a musical explosion of a wealth of steelband
music. The British Association of Steelbands and the UK steelband fraternity are now looking forward to next year’s
event and a very successful 2011 when we will be celebrating the 60th anniversary of steel bands in the UK following
the arrival of TASPO at the Festival of Britain on the 26th July 1951.
Pan 4 Life
BAS/LNHC UK NATIONAL PANORAMA 2010
PLACING
BAND
TUNE
POINTS
Ebony Steelband Trust
Musical Fire
270
2nd.
Mangrove Steelband
Pan Army
269
3rd.
Real Steel
Pan Army
260
4th.
Pan Army
245
Croydon Steel Orchestra
Tell Dem
238
London All Stars
Battle Zone
238
Reading All Steel Percussion Orchestra
Pan On Fire
213
1st.
Tie for 5th.
7th.
37
2010
As Caribbean events go in the capital it must be said
that the 2010 Pan Jazz UK has to go down on record
as being one of the best shows ever held in London
and the UK.
This phenomenal show has become an annual event
on the Afro-Caribbean social calendar. The show this
year entitled “Folklore – Anansy Stories” was billed
as a ‘Jazz Meets Theatre’ Production with the theatre
elements of the show designed by none other than
the great Brian MacFarlane, one of the few short
listed as a finalist to direct the opening ceremony of
the 2012 Olympics here in London.
This year’s Pan Jazz UK was held at the 1920’s Art
Deco styled ‘Troxy’, only two Light Rail stops away
from Tower Hill on the East side of London. This is a
venue that I’ve always admired from the outside but
absolutely loved once inside.
Pan Podium understands that compared to the 2009
show that featured Andy Narell and Lord Relator this
year’s show was definitely a development on the festival concept. The evening started with a taste of the
Caribbean food and merchandise mini-fair. We can
see where PanJazzUK was going with this as both
patrons and exhibitors got a first hand opportunity to
interact in a more festive and enjoyable atmosphere.
The food stalls included chefs from Trinidad and Tobago, Guadeloupe, and Jamaica. Books from AfroCaribbean writers both from the regions UK and North
America were on display in addition to the selling of
Caribbean books entitled ‘Promoting our Heritage’. The Trinidad and Tobago Tourist Board was on hand
to provide patrons with first-hand information about
the attractions and festivals in the twin Republic.
38
I must say my favourite stall was the Coconut Vendor,
this I found rather original and unexpected for a London
November evening event. However, the most popular
stall by far was that of the famous Caribbean Chef Hassan. It appeared as though his food ran out just before
the show started, luckily he was able to replenish it in
time for the interval, only to be sold out again way before the show ended.
Musically, Len ‘Boogsie’ Sharpe was the star of the evening. We have seen Mr. Sharpe on many stages over
the years but I have to say that this was one of the most
riveting performances that I have ever experienced
from the master. You didn’t have to know much about
pan to figure out that you were witnessing a genius at
work. This was Boogsie’s first featured concert appearances in London for over a decade. It’s almost as if he
was releasing years of music all in a 30 minute session.
His performance kicked off with an upbeat Jazzed up
version of Summertime. The only thing missing was
a camera on his hands to prove to everyone that he
was actually playing what we were hearing. Boogsie
has always had a unique style of vibrant and heavy
strokes of the note. Its as if this was his way of conveying his music directly into the hearts of each and every
one present at this event. His rendition of Yesterday
included a synchronised pan and vocal session very
likened to that of George Benson. His own composition
of Magic Drum played in an almost Panorama style,
included solo highlights by Jazz Trumpeter Etienne
Charles, Drummer Richard Bailey and others making
up this A-class band. All in all a master performance
from one of the greatest on steel.
Despite the special guest appearance by Boogsie,
most of the musical element of the show was written
and directed by one of the hardest working Pan Jazz
musicians on the circuit Mr. Etienne Charles. The Trinidadian born and Juilliard-trained trumpeter artfully and
organically blended Afro-Caribbean folkloric music and
jazz improvisation to create a fascinating, fully realized
hybrid. Many of the songs came from his 2009 CD of
the same name ‘Folklore’. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the performance was the link between the
theatrical characters and the music. Each of the traditional Folklore characters was introduced to the audience in conjunction with pieces from the album matching their names. Characters such as London based
Papa Bois portrayed by KCY Jackson and Mama D’glo
played by Appelonia Wilson was two of the Characters
strutting across the stage in line with music that was
written specifically for them. Also featured were Soucouyant, La Diablesse and a host of Bele Dancers to
top off the musically accompanied performances on
the evening. But where was Anansy (or Anansi depending on where
you are from)? Well speaking to
one of the organisers, Anansi was
the narrator who was introducing
each of the characters on stage
providing a historical synopsis of
their characteristics. Hmm, Interesting concept!.
Another notable musical feature of
the evening was the MOBO award
winning UK based Jazz Saxophonist Yolanda Browne. Normally a
star on stage, but this time her role
was more one of supporting musician. Nonetheless, she definitely
starred on the evening integrating
that smooth European Jazz with
the high energy Caribbean Pan
Jazz. Somewhat of a complimentary blend of two worlds. Pan Podium caught up with the little lady
after the show and she stated,
“This has been a new and interesting experience for me to play with
some of the best Pan Jazz players in the world”. “Although it was
the first time that I had played with
these guys we synched up almost
immediately at the rehearsal session” said Ms Browne.
Rapso pioneers 3Canal (Wendell Manwaring, Roger Roberts
and Stanton ) provided the vocal element of the evening.
Many people complained that
they did not get enough of 3Canal as they were only scheduled
to perform their hit songs Blue
and Good morning neighbour.
But I guess that’s why they call it
Pan Jazz as the steel pan definitely leads.
Other highlights of the evening
included Life-time achievement
awards presented to Sterlin Betancourt and Russel
Henderson. Both of these UK
based pan pioneers have been
featured in previous editions of
Pan Podium and have been instrumental in promoting the instrument and its music through
several decades of dedicated
performances worldwide. Pan
Jazz UK Organiser and Director of PoisonUK Events Limited,
Wendel Clement, presented
awards to them.
In an interview with Pan Podium
we asked Mr Clement if there were
any plans to host similar shows of
its kind in London. This is what he
said…”Definitely! As a matter of fact,
we have been organising a monthly
Pan Jazz evening entitled Caribbean
Dinner Jazz at the Tabernacle in Notting Hill in conjunction with Carnival
Village. These shows are designed
to develop and expose the soloist
and feature performance skills of UK
based panist. The aim is to use these
monthly events to act as feeders for
future Pan Jazz festivals and road
shows in the UK and Europe”.
Pan Podium has learnt that the
theme for the 2012 show will be
“Jahagi Bai – Brotherhood on the
Boat” If this is in line with the song
of the same name by calypsonian
Brother Marvin then we can only expect a fusion of Indo and Afro Caribbean Jazz to be a feature, but who
are we to say….
39
10th
Anniversary
of the British Association of Steelbands
and Greater London Area
TRAFALGAR SQUARE
PAN JAMBOREE 2010
BAS celebrated its tenth anniversary of
hosting their BAS/GLA Steelband Jamboree in Trafalgar
Square this year. Over the past ten years BAS has fully
supported the Mayors of London in taking this iconic location (Trafalgar Square) to another level to be fully appreciated and enjoyed by local and national communities as
well as global tourists.
The sweet strains of
sweet steelband music filled
the air around Trafalgar Square
with renditions from all genres.
Fuelled by the warm weather, the ambience of the Square
and crowd appreciation, the Square was transformed into
a stimulating steel band village with people dancing everywhere. Six top UK steel bands appeared at this year’s
Jamboree. The orchestras were dotted around the lower
level of the Square and it was not unfamiliar to see the
crowds drifting from orchestra to orchestra as they played
alternatively.
Sunday 02nd August 2010 saw the sky covered in dark
clouds with a threat of rain showers but this did not deter
the pan musicians The sweet strains of sweet steelband
music filled the air around Trafalgar Square with renditions from all genres. Endurance, Harlow, Sounds of Steel,
Ebony, CSI and London All Stars entertained the crowds of
visitors, tourists and supporters at this global land mark.
40
Endurance Steel Band led by their founder and musical
arranger, Marlon Hibbert, certainly entertained their audiences with their repertoire. This ‘young’ steel band is
one to watch as they were only formed in 2009. Harlow
Steel Orchestra positioned at the south east section of
the Square to the left of Endurance certainly had the
audience dancing to the sweet sounds of steel. Samuel
Dubois has done some inspiring work with these young
pannists.
Sounds of Steel positioned at the foot of the stairs
which provided an amphitheatre setting, treated their
audience to a varied repertoire. Dan Sadler and Pete
Beadell continue to inspire this young band of musicians. Their young pannists dished out some catchy
renditions which received lots of compliments.
Ebony Steel Band Trust, acclaimed to be Europe’s finest, positioned at the foot of Nelson column and between the two magnificent lions which after all is Ebony’s trademark, certainly entertained their audience
with their varied repertoire. Their captain, Albert Faustine, certainly knows how to motivate his members to
deliver pristine performances.
CSI Steel Band Trust positioned to the right of Nelson’s
Column certainly treated the crowds to some lively and
melodic music. Pan virtuoso, Brent Holder, has certainly administered large doses of musicality to his young
musicians and his invigorating solos on the tenor pan
bore witness to this. Their submission to the public‘s
request for more saw their performance surpass the
scheduled time.
To the right of CSI was London All Stars led by the legendary, Frank Rollock, this all family band delivered
some nostalgic and heart rendering tunes and had the
crowd fully entertained. Frank continues his musical
journey to mould and develop his young, skilful and capable children and grandchildren into a musical force for
the future.
As is traditional, Liz, the event flag woman, could be seen
proudly waving her Trinidadian flag in front of each band
throughout their performances. BAS/GLA has hosted
yet another successful Steelband Jamboree filled with a
wealth of steel pan music.
Don’t miss the 2011 BAS/GLA Trafalgar
Square Pan Jamboree!!
41
pan podium special feature
FROM THE
LAVENTILLE HILLS
OF PORT OF SPAIN
Tripoli to Nostalgia...
By Sterling Betancourt MBE
Don’t break up my band
If you break up my band
Its war and rebellion
Don’t break up my band
If you break up my band
I’ll live in the station
I can remember this melody sang by my family
Tamboo bamboo band, it was early 1930 in the
Laventille hills of Port of Spain Trinidad. I was 5
years old and at carnival time I used to sneak out of the
house to join the band, barefooted of course, with just a
vest and no pants. Gin bottles half filled with water were
beaten with a spoon; they were later on replaced by the
steel hub. This song was aimed at the police and rival
bands as, in those days there were many clashes between bands and other bands and the police. Stick fighting was also very popular. Alexander Rag Time Tamboo
Bamboo band was the first to integrate paint and biscuit
tin pans with the bamboo; the band was from New Town,
Trinidad. I was about 9 years old when I saw and heard
the band in a barrack yard in Prince Street, Port of Spain
playing for a Bamboo band competition, singing:
Run you run Kaiser William
Run you run (repeat)
Hear what Chamberlain say
Cheer boys cheer
With charity and prosperity
We’ll conquer Germany
42
I stood there in awe, looking, admiring the band master
standing tall and grand in his scissors tail coat and top
hat, conducting the band, a baton in his hand. It was
also the first time a Band Master was conducting a bamboo band. A year later, bamboos were removed from all
the bands. Gradually notes were discovered on the tin
pans, from 1 tone to 2 to 3….it eventually became possible to play a melody, and the ping pong drum was born
then in the 50s named the Tenor pan.
As I am not here to write an historical article on the evolution of steel drums but only my personal musical history. At 10 years of age, I played with the Tripoli steel
band. Joe Crick nicknamed the Fuhrer was the captain,
as he always dressed up as a Nazi during carnival. I
played the ping pong and also tuned with the official
tuner Granville Sealey. At the same time I also played
in a children band, ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ from St James, with
Hugh Borde, his brothers and friends like Irwin Clement. At the end of the war, 1945 VE day, we were the
first sponsored steel band to play on a truck advertising
Robinson Crusoe rum cruising all over Port of Spain.
With Tripoli we played at steel band competitions usually held in cinemas, like the Empire, the Globe and the
Roxy. At one of our gigs we played for John Wayne in
a beautiful colonial house around the Savannah, he
danced to our mambo music. Joe Crick known to be
an amazing fighter once challenged any two Invaders
members that he could fight them without weapons.
Funnily enough Invaders declined. During my last 2
years with Tripoli, my pan tuning skills improved greatly.
Granville Sealey, at ‘the after’ carnival thank you party
was slightly drunk and became really offensive to me as
rumours stated that I had become a better tuner than
him which greatly displeased him. As a result I with my
friends, decided to leave Tripoli and form our own band.
During this period there
was a film, ‘Crossfire’
showing at the Rialto
cinema, starring Robert
Mitchum, we decided
that it will be the name
of our band. Gradually
more players left Tripoli
to join Crossfire, Mcfield was one of them,
he worked at the Shell
Company and organized to purchase a
dozen oil drums for our
new band, and through him we got a very good deal. We
established our pan yard in Hyderbad Street, St James,
in Cyril Jackman’s yard, a quarter of a mile from Tripoli.
Cyril Jackman‘s house had enough space underneath to
store the drums that I had made for our members: Eman
and Roger Thorpe, Sam and Rudolph Boodoo, Eric
Drayton (who lived opposite), Rubin Sammy, Rudolph
Heswick, Coya Menard, Cynthia Davis, Roy Hunt, Buncans St Claire, Red Mike, Tolo, Duggy, Egbert and Kelvin
St Rose (Zusie), I know that my list is far from being complete but I am unable to name them all.
Cyril Jackman was the captain of the band it was a responsibility that not many members wanted to take on,
as often fights flared up amongst bands and police interference was inevitable. When I left Crossfire, Eman
Thorpe became the pan tuner with Zusie St Rose. He
was undisciplined and well known for causing havoc
wherever he went. He was a talented musician with a
promising future who was also good at throwing missiles
at the authorities, needless to say he swiftly managed to
leave Trinidad on a ship and emigrated to England.
Steel bands were evolving rapidly due to the intense
experimenting with the drums; also evolving was the rivalry between bands. Riots were frequent all over Port
of Spain and in early 1950 a steel band association was
established to protect the national art form from bad publicity and to give it some dignity. Bands were asked to join
the association to avoid the rivalry between themselves
which was rampant. Sydney Gallop, the first president
of the steel band association, riding his bicycle one
day bumped into Albert Gomes, a politician, who talked
about the idea of sending a steel band to the centennial
Festival of Britain.
I met Gallop a few years ago and he told me that the
brainchild of TASPO was in fact Albert Gomes. TASPO,
(Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra) was formed by
the Association. Eleven top pan musicians were chosen
from leading bands in Trinidad, affiliated to the association. Lieutenant Joseph Griffith from Barbados was chosen to be TASPO musical director; the eleven musicians
were selected by the members of each band. I was one
of them. The steel drums then, were just raw material,
rusty and unpainted. New instruments were developed
for TASPO. Anthony Williams made 2 drums called tenor
bass; Ellie Mannette made 3 bass drums. Most of the
members were able to tune their own drums. After many
intense rehearsals, concerts were given by TASPO to
raise money for the journey to Europe and for the first
time audiences were hearing orchestrated steel band
music. Three months later, in July 1951, we all left Port
of Spain on a banana boat, the San Mateo, collecting
on the way bananas, in Martinique and Guadeloupe
where we gave concerts and radio performances. After a
couple of weeks at sea, leaving one man behind, Sonny
Roach, in Martinique with tonsillitis, we finally docked at
Bordeaux in France playing on the deck.
At windows, we could see faces with binoculars looking
at us. I must say that we must have been a strange sight,
all these black men with sweet music coming out of old
rusty oil drums! The same evening we got on an overnight
train to Paris. On arrival at the station we were horrified
at the way the porters threw our drums out of the luggage compartment onto the platform, they thought they
were dustbins!!! When we told them that they were mu-
43
sical instruments they quickly apologised. The following morning we took
a boat/train to London. We gave our
first performance at the South Bank,
outside the Festival Hall. There was
a crowd around us, people laughing
as we were setting up our drums. After the first tune laughter turned into
applause, with people saying that it
must be black magic.
Amongst the West Indians in the
crowd, there were a couple of famous faces from Trinidad, Mc Donald Bailey, the runner, Ulric Cross a
famous pilot during the war, the actor
Edric Connor and his wife who were
in charge of us in London. We played
at the Savoy with Lord Kitchener, the
Roaring Lions and Boscoe Holder
Dance Troupe, at the Lyceum and at
the St Pancras Town Hall.
We did a BBC television show at
Alexandra Palace and toured England, Scotland and Wales.We arrived
in Paris in November to play for a
couple of weeks at the Medrano Circus and also recorded an album with
the Vogue label. When it was time to
leave for Trinidad I made the decision to go back to London, alone with
my drum. I think the cold weather
had taken away some of the member’s good spirit to remain in Europe,
but the words that my brother had
whispered in my ear when I left Trinidad echoed in my head: “You’d be a
damned ass if you come back”..
I had been in London a couple of
months when I met with Russell Henderson who was studying piano tuning and playing the piano in a night
club at the time. We decided to form
a band, I asked my brother in Trinidad to send me two steel drums, a
second pan and a guitar pan. At the
44
time, Mervyn Constantine, a school
friend who was coming up to England, brought the drums made by
Anthony Williams. I already had my
ping pong drum with me. We did
not know that Mervyn would eventually be part of our trio for a while. I
started to teach Mervyn and Russell.
As a talented pianist Russell quickly
caught on. The Russell Henderson
steel band was born. Our first gig
was at the Sunset Club in Carnaby
Street, we played there every Sunday for a while. When Mervyn left,
Max Cherrie, a solo pianist and
also a double bass and steel drum
player, joined us. I then took drum
lessons with Tony Kinsey, a famous
drummer. We were a jazz band and
a steel band. When Max decided
to go solo again, his brother, Ralph
joined us.
The Russ Henderson steel band performed at many prestigious events,
for the Queen, the Queen’s mother
and most members of the Royal family, for Princess Margaret’s wedding,
(she loved steel band), the Oxford &
Cambridge May balls and the debutant parties etc. In 1965, Russell and
I were living in Bassett Road W11,
everyone in the area knew about us
having a steel band.
Rhaune Laslett, a social worker living in Acklam Road W11, asked us
to play for a children’s carnival that
she organised for the neighbourhood in June. It was a gesture to
bring the different ethnic groups together. The children dressed up in
fancy costumes and rode on donkey carts. We played at the corner
of Portobello and Acklam road when
Russell suggested taking a road
march (we always played with our
steel pans around the neck). This
road march took us all over Notting
Hill gathering a crowd along the way,
some enjoyed the music and others
thought we were demonstrating,
shouted that we should go back to
our country. This was the birth of the
Notting Hill Carnival.
Staying together during 1953-1976
proved musically beneficial to both
Russell and I as we learnt a lot from
each other, it was a very creative and
interesting relationship. We made a
few records, our first one in 1953,
‘Ping Pong Samba’ composed by
Russell. Together we introduced
steel band to schools, the first school
where Russell taught and I tuned and
made drums for was Elmwood Junior
school in Croydon, followed by Latchmere in Battersea and Christopher
Wren in White City to name a few.
In 1976, Errol Philip, Nelson Huggins
and I went to Zurich, Switzerland,
on a 3 months contract that lasted
3 years. I eventually made drums
for people who got captivated by the
sound and was asked to make some
for a music store, my action proved
to be an opening for many steel band
men. I played for many events all over
Switzerland, although I never learnt
to speak the language. Witnessing
the incredible speed with which the
art form spread over Switzerland, I
wrote a calypso, ‘More Steel Band
than Snow’, sang by Crazy.
Over the years other contracts took
me too many other parts of the
world spreading the steel band culture. One afternoon, in 1985, at
Selwyn Baptiste’s in Powis square,
liming with few friends and mentioning how I had been searching for a
suitable name for our carnival band,
Philmore ‘Boots’ Davidson (TASPO
player) looked at me tapping his feet
on the ground and came up with the
name Nostalgia. It sounded perfect
to me and suited our traditional pan
around the neck steel band.
In 2005 with some sadness, I left
Nostalgia behind, not only the band
but the name as well. In 1993, the
New York Folk Art institute invited the
TASPO players to receive an award,
Philmore was so looking forward to
that event but unfortunately died just
a few days before the trip.
SforzatA
Steel Orchestra
A bastion for Pan Transition.
by Trullio Gill
From
the tamboo bamboo and the riotous hotbed of
the early pan yard has emerged a crucible of reharmonised sounds and musical fusion- the pan theatre. Undoubtedly, transition is a key word in the developmental
journey of the steelpan. The steel pan’s global presence
continues to be upgraded by innovators and entrepreneurs, both local and foreign.
Many steelbands, including the Sforzata Steelband Orchestra, are playing a decisive role in the pan’s journey
from a thunder clap of rebellion to an instrument now with
a refined and socialized sound and patronage. Sforzata,
a band formed in 1975 in the Curepe area of Trinidad,
has continued this process through its collaboration with
three individuals who have adopted the instrument as
any Trinidadian born to its inheritance.
In apparent answer to the pan paradigm shift predicted
by Len ‘Boogsie’ Sharpe’s, ‘Woman is Boss’ and Scrunter’s, ‘Woman on the Bass’ comes UWI Professor, Dr.
Jeanine Remy. Using non-classical modulation, brash
cadence and programmatic tonal colour, Dr. Remy intends to pioneer a new sound for the instrument. She is
aided by young generals like Khan Kordice and Marcus
Ash. With, ‘Burst your Windows’, a song chosen for its
harmonic interest, baseline, minor key and orchestral
possibilities, Dr. Remy and Sforzata stormed away with
the Pan in the 21st Century title in 2010.
borders of pan’s influence and lend his talents to its elevation. An instrument he started playing since the age of six,
he refers to pan as his liberator. This fresh face promises
dynamic focus, playful fire and uninhibited sound.
Indeed the song’s title seems to characterise the bold
steps taken by Sforzata. These windows have invited
in even more talented musicians, ready to give that bellowing push towards changing the face of people in pan,
widening social involvement locally and internationally
and exciting interest from new corners.
Sforzata, led by its committee members Trevor Reid, Jocelyn Earle, Jean Charles, Mazzini Gill and Roy Jones, is
also opening its doors to the students of Ellie Mannette
Drum Ltd. Steel pan tuner, William ‘Billy’ Sheeder, apprenticed since 1996 to Ellie Mannette was formally introduced to pan at Chambers High School. He has skilfully
and dexterously begun a change in tuning technique. His
style and ability are a source of emulation to local tuners
and has helped to elevate the standard for the sound of
the instrument.
Sforzata’s new Panorama arranger is Andre White, a 19
year old Berkeley student and an arranger for Adlib Steel
Orchestra, New York. He too has a desire to widen the
Indeed, Sforzata Steel Orchestra has taken its place
amongst the best. Not only is it a breeding ground for symphonic originals but also a bastion for pan transition.
45
BASFDF
PAN EXPLOSION 2010
COMPETITION
BASFDF celebrated the 11th anniversary of their Pan
Explosion competition at the Bernie Grant Centre in
Tottenham, North London on Saturday 30th October
2010.
Pan Nation Steel Orchestra who appeared at the Music for Youth
Schools Proms on the 10th November at the Royal Albert Hall opened
the evening’s entertainment as the guest band with a scintillating rendition of Len ‘Boogsie’ Sharpe’s, ‘Mind Yuh Business’. Their musicality
was superb filled with good rhythm throughout their performance.
The MC for the evening was Joel ‘Tubbs’ Hamilton-Mills. A very quick
opening speech was given by Pepe Francis, Chair of the British Association of Steelbands before the start of the competitions. The judges
were Paul Dowie of Croydon Steel Orchestra, Justin Russell of Mangrove Steelband and Leroy Clarke of Real Steel.
Douglas ‘Dougie’ Dallaway of CSI Steelband Trust played first in the
soloist’s competition. His composition, ‘Pan Monsoon’ played on tenor
was a great combination of nice harmonies filled with varying colour in
his dynamics. When Pan Podium spoke to him he said, ‘I wanted my
music to characterize a rain forest Monsoon filled with all the sounds
that accompany one’. He certainly achieved his goal.
His colleague twelve year old Christopher Junior ’CJ’ De-Gallerie Cox
also of CSI Steelband Trust was the other competitor in the soloist
category. CJ’s composition was ‘Moonlight’, a piece filled with musical
passion and well executed by its composer on a tenor pan. His music
flowed like the four phases of the Moon changing, adapting and revealing his musicality. CJ confirmed, ‘I just want to continue composing,
arranging and playing musical pieces on my favourite instrument, the
46
steelpan. CJ was victorious with 262 points with Dougie
in second place with 258 points.
The soloist competition was followed by guest soloist
Dan Sadler of Sounds of Steel who has also performed
with Pantasia and Ebony Steel Bands. He treated the
audience to his well arranged and executed composition entitled, ‘Two Tone’. He was followed by Samuel Du
Bois, current champion UK panorama arranger. Samuel
just blew the audience away with his musical dexterity;
his selections included ‘Favourite Things’ and ‘A Kiss for
a Rose’.
The Ensembles competition followed with Endurance,
CSI Steel Band Trust and Metronomes vying for the title
of BASFDF Pan Explosion Champions 2010.
Endurance Steel Orchestra formed on the 1st July 2009
by eighteen year old Marlon Hibbert led his young and
enthusiastic pan musicians to third place with 375 points.
Their tune of choice was ‘Surrender’ by Ken ‘Professor’
Philmore musically arranged by Marlon. Endurance’s own
composition, ‘Tribute to Michel Camilo’ was arranged by
seventeen year old Adam Quissellat. These aspiring musicians are filled with drive and determination to go the
distance typifying their name – Endurance. This was
Endurance’s first appearance at this competition.
CSI Steel Band Trust led by the talented Joelle Gardner musically arranged both their tune of choice, ‘Pan for
Carnival’, sung by Shanaqua and their own composition,
‘From the Top’ filled with solid arrangements, great dynamics and well executed. They had ood tempo and flu-
ency in their renditions with all players giving their best.
They attained second place with 478 points. The band
fourteen year old twins Marcus and Marvin on three pan
and bass really showed their agility on their instruments.
Joelle continues to compose, arrange and inspire her
players with her musical ability.
This was Metronomes third appearance at this competition and their tune of choice, ‘Musical Fire’ by Anselm
Douglas/Ativa Sherwood was musically arranged by
nineteen year old Vivian Miller. Vivian also arranged
their own composition, ‘Past Times’ which was dedicated to his mother. Their deliveries were clear, clean,
and melodic, filled with heaps of musicality. Metronomes
brought to life Vivian arrangements; personifying the
titles; creating a fiercely burning Musical Fire followed
by a nostalgic Past Times which saw them awarded a
grand 503.5 points to capture the coveted title of Pan
Explosion Champions 2010
After the competition all three participating bands had a
jam session where each band played random selections
for about 10 minutes. Their performances were followed
by Four Seasons with Vanya Reid on tenor accompanied by a bass guitarist, drummer and keyboardist. This
group offered a nice fusion of music to bring the curtains
down on yet another successful Pan Explosion competition.
Congrats to all members of the BAS Future Development Forum for hosting the 12th annual Pan Explosion
filled with a wealth of steelband music and new steelband compositions.
Soloists Results
1st.
Christopher Junior ‘CJ’ De-Gallerie Cox
262 points
2nd.
Douglas ‘Dougie’ Dallaway
258 points
Ensembles Results
1st.
503.5 points
2nd.
CSI Steel Band Trust
478 points
3rd.
Endurance Steel Orchestra
375 points
47
UKCCA
gets down to the
business of music
UK Centre for Carnival Arts launched the UK’s only car-
nival arts centre last May. With an aim to raise the status of
Carnival Arts through education, events and community work
CEO Paul Anderson talks with Pan Podium about the UKCCA’s vision to work with the British Association of Steelbands
and the steelband fraternity to assist raising their status.
Over the years the UK has seen a rapid growth of quite an
eclectic, diverse and a vibrant mix of steelbands across the
country. These bands demonstrate excellence in both artistic
and business development which go relatively unsung; given
the foundation that has been laid by the greats such as Les
Flambeu, Taspo, Mangrove, Ebony, Glissando, Metronomes
and London All Stars to name a few.
But with this growth and development we have noticed
there is a growing divide between Mas bands and steelpan
highlighted through much reduced participation in carnivals
around the country. ‘’From our many visits to national carnivals, the steelpan is a rare sight and sound to behold. If you
are lucky you may hear Nostalgia with their ‘pan ‘round de
neck’ or see an orchestra on stage some where in an event
foot print. But most certainly there is growing concern that
Caribbean Carnival is struggling with the notion of divorcing
its left eye from its right eye - Mas without Steel,’’ says Paul.
When asked how this concept can change he describes the
fantastic plans in the pipeline and how UKCCA can work with
BAS to bring about almost a pan renaissance.
48
‘’In Luton we have noticed this Mas without Steel
and with our vision to take over the artistic production of the Luton Carnival in 2012 we hope to begin
to address this through the creation of a Pan Podium
special area in the carnival route that enables the
ongoing showcasing of Britain’s best steelbands.
We also hope to work closely with other national bands
and arrangers and bring these to fruition with the work of
the centre and ultimately to the wider public.
As a nationally developing agency for Carnival Arts we
are keen to be that facilitator of change with BAS to ensure that the steelpan is clearly represented at carnivals
and other events both nationally and internationally. We
aim to promote steelpans through UKCCA’s ever growing international profile and involvement in WOMEX,
European partnerships and hopefully the Cultural
Olympiad.”
UKCCA is also aware that there are major developmental
steps that are being led by the steelpan fraternity itself
such as accredited courses, the development of steelpan standards in teaching as well as the development
of guilds and various associations championing the artform.
UKCCA aims to support this momentum of development through giving steelbands a chance to develop
at the centre through the development of:
• Master classes which will encourage arrangers to take
teaching into formal establishments.
• Creative and professional developmental programmes
to build their business and marketing needs as well as
promotion of UK based steelbands to European
markets.
• A strong and increased presence in Luton International
Carnival hosting showcases and school based competitions at the Centre, forming strategic links with BAS to
develop national preliminaries to the Panorama.
Paul also mentioned that their aim is “to champion
these developments of steelpan through a national
fora for Carnival Arts that we hope to have up and
running in 2011 so as to explore the strands in more
detail.”
In order for us to ensure that the pilot can be built upon
and shared with others, we are working and continue to
work with our in house resident band – UKCCA Revellers - to create a case study that can be used as a model
of good practice who we aim to empower to host steelpan arrangers, school and community based bands in
Luton over the next few years. Pan aficionado and tutor
Ian Beckles and his members have been keen to take
pan playing to new heights through their work at the
UKCCA new building and will work closely with us to
ensure UKCCA Revellers grows both artistically and as
an independent business.
‘’We are keen to extend our hand of partnership to all
steelbands thereby enabling us to be of further service
to the steelpan community and we look forward to ongoing dialogue.’’
49
'Calypsociation has been dedicated to spreading an
awareness of and appreciation for the steel pan'
Calypsociation was officially formed on January
1996 as a result of the efforts of Barthelemy Fougea,
Guillaume Kervel, Emmanuel Masselot and Daniel Verba. Since it’s inception in 1993, Calypsociation has been
dedicated to spreading an awareness of, and appreciation for, the steel pan, an instrument previously unknown
to most people in France. The result was that a pan
school was born, and steel pan classes were made available to individuals of all ages and abilities. One unique
and gratifying aspect of these classes is that each course
becomes a steelband in the process of learning.
Today, the association is located near Paris in Romainville and boasts more than 80 students and members. At
the moment they host four (4) classes, each with twenty
(20) students of varied proficiency levels. Every class
is taught by a different teacher who creates original arrangements of Calypso, Jazz and World Music. On some
occasions, all Calypsociation’s classes perform as one
50
band. Their classes are taught Sunday through to Friday of each week by Mathieu Borgne, Laurent Laslingué,
Clément Bazin and Xavier Mertian.
They also have a small library containing information
which documents Calypsociation’s creation and development as well as information on the steel pan. Every
year they host numerous steel pan workshops for individuals of all ages and have started classes for children
of school age. They also run free workshops in a social
centre during the school’s holiday in collaboration with
their local schools.
So Calypsociation is developing the steelpan artform for
everyone including amateur and professional musicians.
They have also hosted art therapy classes for people
with disabilities which were directed by Julie Goldstein
for three (3) years.
In addition to class fees, the school earns their revenue through concert performances by the different classes. Among
these steelbands is a renowned 15-player group led by Mathieu Borgne and Laurent Lalsingué. Their Caribbean-jazz
repertoire includes original compositions and traditional soca and calypso music. Under the direction of Borgne and
Lalsingué the group has been working together since 2000 and the dynamic relationship within the band has resulted
in nothing other than beautiful pan music. Their musical talent led to collaboration with Andy Narell, musician, composer and pioneer in the development of steelpan in contemporary music. The result of their wonderful chemistry was
the genre stretching CD entitled, ‘The Passage’ in 2001, which showcases the potential of the pan.
In addition to recording, the Calypsociation Steelband have performed at multiple
venues including ‘New Morning’ and ‘Le Petit Journal Monparnasse’ and participated in many events including, ‘Le Carnaval Tropical de Paris’ in addition to numerous jazz festivals. In 2006, Calypsociation recorded their first album, ‘Made it’.
It includes original compositions written by Mathieu Borgne and Laurent Lalsingué.
The tracks include varying musical genres, including compa, salsa and afro-beat in
addition to arrangements of traditional calypso music. In 2010, they recorded their
second album, ‘Pan People’ which was released at the end of 2010. Calypsociation
continues to grow and hope to assist in spreading pan music throughout France,
Europe and the world.
Other Noteable Performances
1998: Antiracism Day, Parade of the Little Giants at Anvers. “Les Nuits de Champagne” (France).
1999: Concert in Istanbul 50 Years of Emmaüs (Turkey). Festival de Métisságe at the Maroquinerie - Paris, France.
2000: Radio Nova. Organization of the 1st European Steelpan Festival at La Villette - Paris, France.
Concert in Dortmund (Germany). 1st World Steelband Festival in Trinidad.
2001: Mannedörf Steelpan Festival (Switzerland)
2002: Second European Steelband Festival in Sète (France). 1st Music and Garden Festival - Paris, France.
2003: 700 years of Genevilliers (France). Paris Barbès Tour (France).
Drome Tropical Festival in Marsanne (France).
2004: Concert at New-Morning - Paris, France. Toulon Jazz Festival (France).
Concert at Studio de l’Ermitage - Paris, France. Paris Carnival 2004 (France).
Olympic Flame at the Eiffel Tower - Paris, France.
2005: Tour with Andy Narell in California and the Portland Jazz Festival.
(“Jazz set with DD Bridgewater” broadcasted in 100 cities in the United States.
Music Festival in Amsterdam at the Tropentheater (Netherlands).
2006-2010: A Night of Carnaval at Canal Opus - Paris, France. Concert at Le Petit Journal Montparnasse - Paris,
France. “The Night of Steeldrum and Calypso” at Bateau Ivre -Tours (France). Paris Tropical Carnival - (France).
Soliday’s Festival - Paris, France. Music Fest (Montmartre).
Fire festival in Fécamp. Caribbean Festival à Dortmund (Germany).
Participation with Andy Narell for the 30th year anniversary of Kassav (Stade de France).
Steelband Festival of Cudrefin (Switzerland).
Contact: CALYPSOCIATION 62,
Avenue de Metz 93230 Romainville - France.
Tel: 0033 6 08 93 32 70 • Email: [email protected] • Website: www.calypsociation.com
51
12th
Anniversary
Awards
BAS Awards Dinner
event celebrated its 12th year
in existence on Saturday 4th December 2010 since its
instigation in 1999 in the humble surroundings of the
Tabernacle which now houses the refurbished Carnival
Village. The event continues to develop in leaps and
bounds setting the standards for similar events organized by the other UK Carnival arenas.
The Association celebrated their annual awards ceremony at the Holiday Inn in Bloomsbury, London which was
established to celebrate the successes of bands and individuals and, in recognising excellence, to honour the
wider and more sustained contributions of individuals,
groups and organisations to the promotion of steel pan
music, culture and heritage throughout the United Kingdom. The Association congratulates all recipients on
their outstanding achievements. In celebrating achievements BAS are raising the profile of carnival arts.
It is a fact that BAS is the UK’s only carnival arts based
organisation whose membership and network extends
throughout the UK. On the night they had members and
representatives not only from London and the Home
Counties but also from Bath, Birmingham, High Wycombe, Leicester, Newcastle, Reading and Plymouth.
Distinguished guests included Samenua Sesher – Head
of Culture at Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea,
Rudolph Walker – Actor, Frank Rollock - member of the
BAS Hall of Fame, Toussaint Clarke, Dudley Dickson,
Aubrey Bryan, Robbie Joseph, Grafton Yearwood and
Cordelia Johnney of the UK Pan Tuners Guild, Tony Isles
- Chair of the UK Carnival Arts Centre, Angela Thompson, Ricky Belgrave and Lyndon Lacrette – Chairs of the
Notting Hill Carnival Arts Arena and Shabaka Thompson
– CEO of Carnival Village.
52
Pepe Francis, Chair of BAS noted in his speech the effect that the current economic climate is having on the
steelband community, highlighting the support and involvement needed from everyone involved in the art form
to ensure its continuity particularly as the Association’s
funding is to be reduced by 33% over the following three
years.
Struggle is nothing new to the steelband fraternity but as
a unified body they can use that strength to overcome
current and future barriers and ensure that the steelband
music continues to grow stronger on the global music
platform.
Master of Ceremonies on the night was Martin Jay of
Choice FM 96.9 who has officiated at this event for a
number of years. After having the truly delicious West Indian cuisine and witnessing the Awards, Rudolph Walker gave a nostalgic speech highlighting the journey of
Pepe’s life who was celebrating his 30th anniversary of
being at the helm of the steelband movement in the UK,
which was inundated with amusing wittiness.
Kayleigh ‘Loudmouth’ Lewis, the live act of the evening,
filled the hall with laughter from her overwhelming humour with Pepe being her subject matter. She had everyone in stitches with her ten minute delivery. Samenua
Sesher also presented him with a ‘Book of his Life’. Patrons were treated to some lively and captivating music
by DJ, Mike Forbes who had them dancing until the wee
hours of the morning. Everyone is now looking forward
to next year’s event with great enthusiasm. Visit the Pan
Podium photo Gallery to view all the photos of the BAS
2010 Awards ceremony.
On the night BAS gave birthday gifts to Elma Betancourt who is an ardent supporter of BAS and the steelband movement and celebrated her 80th birthday, Paul
Dowie of Croydon Steel Orchestra and Cordelia Johnney
of the UK Pan Tuners Guild. BAS continues to work with
all interested commercial entities to encourage investment in steelbands highlighting the many and varied
benefits of – social and community cohesion, regeneration, education, preventative and diversionary engagement strategies, employment opportunities as well as
brand awareness and promotion, marketing.
The British Association of Steelbands extends their thanks for your support of their 12th Annual Awards Presentation. They thank the following for their support for without whom they would have found their journey so much
more challenging: Greater London Authority, Mayor’s Office, Royal Parks, Trinidad & Tobago Hig Commission
(London), BAS Members, Future Development Forum, Pan Podium, Pan Trinbago (Trinidad), Executive Committee of Carnival Arts, Westminster City Council, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Metropolitan,
Parks and British Transport police services, St John’s and London ambulance services, Children and Parents’ Carnival Association, Fink Unlimited, Cadecan, Pan Jazz UK, London Notting Hill Carnival Ltd, Guests,
friends, colleagues, artists and supporters.
****DUDLEY DICKSON****
2010 Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award
Celebrating a lifetime of personal achievement and dedication
to the promotion of steel pan music, art and culture
Award presented by Pepe Francis - British Association of Steelbands
***CROYDON STEEL ORCHESTRA***
2010 Celebrating 10 years of steel pan music, art and culture
Award presented by Robbie Joseph - British Association of Steelbands
***LOXFORD PAN ULTIMATE STEEL BAND***
Award presented by Joel Tubbs Hamilton - British Association of Steelbands
***MANGROVE STEEL BAND***
Award presented by Eversley Mills - British Association of Steelbands
***READING ALL STEEL PERCUSSION ORCHESTRA***
Randolph Baptiste Inspirational Award 2010
Award presented by Tara Baptiste - Stardust Steel Orchestra and BAS
***CHRISTOPHER ‘CJ’ DE GALLERIE***
Winner Pan Explosion Soloist Competition 2010
Award presented by Leroy Clarke - British Association of Steelbands
***METRONOMES STEEL ORCHESTRA***
Winners Pan Explosion Ensembles Competition (25 and under)
Award presented by Shabaka Thompson - Carnival Village
***CSI STEELBAND TRUST***
2010 Junior Panorama Champions
Award presented by Justin Thomas - Cadecan
***LONDON ALL STARS
Winners 2010 J’Ouvert Bomb Competition
Award presented Aubrey Bryon – UK Pan Tuners Guild
CROYDON STEEL ORCHESTRA***
Best Steelband on the Road 2010 ( Conventional)
Award presented Angela Thompson – Notting Hill Mas Bands Association
***EBONY STEELBAND***
2010 UK National Panorama Champions
Award presented by Lyndon Lacrette – Caribbean Music Association
***PAUL DOWIE***
2010 Ezekiel ‘Biggs’ Yearwood Outstanding Achievement Award
Award presented by Helen Yearwood - the Pan Tuners Guild
***PAN NECTAR***
Winners 2010 Best Steel Band on the Road (Traditional)
Award presented Ricky Belgrave - British Association of Static Sounds
53
PAN VILLAGE
steel orchestrav
By Yuuki Murakami
'...serenading Japan with steelband music...'
In 2003, Pan Village Steel Orchestra started as one of the classes at the Pan Village Steel Pan School in
Yokohama, Japan. Musical director, Yuuki Murakami, founded the Pan Village Steel Pan School in 2000. He started
playing the steel pan instrument after attending a performance by Andy Narell at University of North Texas, where
Murakami studied percussion. In 2001, he had the great opportunity of spending a month in Trinidad where he played
with the Harmonites Steel Orchestra in the National Steelband Panorama competition.
Murakami formed the Pan Village Steel Orchestra with the aim of giving his students the opportunity to play various
steel pan instruments and to introduce them to steel orchestra literature by great arrangers and composers such as
54
Ray Holman, Len Boogsie Sharpe, Clive Bradley and Jit Samaroo. At the beginning, the orchestra practiced with
instruments and a panyard rented from Panland Steel Orchestra, which is sponsored by Nonaka Boeki Co. Ltd, the
only company in Japan importing steel pan instruments from Trinidad and Tobago at that time. With a steady annual
growth of students, Pan Village finally started running its own panyard in Yokohama in 2007.
Pan Village currently consists of forty (40) pan players whose ages range between twenty (20) and sixty (60), they
attend their two hour rehearsal sessions held in the evenings on every other Sunday at their pan yard located at the
nearby Yokohama Bay. Their annual Pan Village concert held in December is their final performance. All their players
work on four to five calypso and soca tunes in addition to a panorama piece which is the main focus of their thirty
(30) to forty (40) minutes performance at the concert. Their past selections included, ‘This Feeling’ Nice’, ‘Fire Down
Below’ and ‘Woman Is Boss’, all were composed by Len ‘Boogsie’ Sharpe.
In addition to their annual school concerts, Pan Village Steel Orchestra performs at the Yokohama Steel Pan Festival
every August and the Kobe Steel Pan Carnival in September, which are the two largest steel pan festivals in Japan.
Pan Village’s 2010 concert held on the 26th December at Differ Ariake in Koto-ku, Tokyo, marked their tenth anniversary celebrations. They performed with more than eighty (80) pan players collaborating with Panland Steel Orchestra
and other school members. They played, Lord Kitchener’s ‘Medley’ musically arranged by Yuuki Murakami and ‘My
Band’ composed by Ray Holman.
Pan Village is constantly developing, expanding and spreading the pan gospel under the skilful watch of Yuuki Murakami. Their dedication and determination will see them achieve their many goals and continue to take the steelpan
instrument to its rightful podium in Japan.
For more information contact:
Email: [email protected] • Website: www.panvillage.com
55
FLAMINGOES
Steel Band
by Salah Wilson
& Bob Theroulde
St John’s Village is a quiet little community nestled at
the foothills of the Mount Saint Benedict monastery
about eight miles from both Port of Spain and Arima in
east Trinidad. 63 St John’s Road, ‘Ma Mena Yard’ is a
landmark where Mas and Music has become a tradition. Since the 1930’s bands like Morning Bell, The Iron
Band and Moonlight Serenaders have emerged from
St John’s.
In 1957, the desire to carry on Carnival and Pan in the
village once again became evident. This time a new
group of young musicians led by founder, Bob ‘Crazy’
Theroulde, formed the Flamingoes steel band. Their
colours were red and silver and other founding members were Peter ‘Joll Bass’ Theroulde, David ‘Rau’
Ramdehal, George ‘Crime’ Theroulde, Sylvester ‘Bull’
Theroulde and Edmund ‘Squares’ Dolabaille. After a
few weeks of planning and fund raising they agreed to
purchase a few used pans from the Starlift Steel Band
in Woodbrook. Their tuning genius at the time was Michael ‘Nazi’ Contant who blended the pans purchased
after the 1957 Carnival. Their pan yard was based in
Ma Mena’s Yard and the founders were joined by Oslyn
‘Pudden’ Rodney, Euramus ‘Rod’ Hernandez, Gabriel
Rose, Winston ‘Kumquat’ DeSouza, Harold ‘Nip’ Venus,
Cecil Godzilla’ Harewood, John ‘Tisane’ Theroulde,
Felix Marine, Earl Andrew, Paul Sammy and Neville
Thomas.
Their first captain was Gabriel Rose and their first assistance in teaching and coaching came from Nello
Mitchell, a good friend and neighbour. Flamingoes
lasted from 1957 to Carnival 1961when an unfortunate
incident on Carnival Tuesday at the corner of Auzonville
Road and the Eastern Main Road caused the disbandment of yet another steel band in the village. There
was a dispute between a well known strong man called
‘Foots’ who had hired Flamingoes to provide music for
his Carnival band on that day with the end result of the
dispute resulting in ‘Foots’ destroying all their pans and
throwing them on a parcel of land on the north western section of the river bank between St Augustine and
Tunapuna on the Easter Main Road that became Exodus’s third home in 1986.
56
During the first five years of Flamingoes existence a
number of new members joined the band, Ken ‘Robby’
Wilson, Joe ‘Witch’ Mascal, Vernon ‘Lamp’ Langton, Michael ‘Hog’ Garib, Peter ‘The Vamp’ Balroop, Melbourne
DeSouza and Stephen Pereira. Besides having an outstanding stage side, the band also played Mas on the
road in Tunapuna, their themes included CBs in 1958,
Mexican Rebels in 1959, Sailors Ashore in Hawaii in
1960 followed by Gestapo in 1961 when the ‘Foots’ incident caused them to fold. Flamingoes was also a participant in a major steel band festival in 1958 organised
by the ruling body for steelbands, the National Association of Trinidad and Tobago Steelbandsmen with George
Goddard as President. They also performed at the Trinidad Trade Fair on Wrightson Road, Port of Spain in that
same year.
An interesting occurrence during the 1960 Carnival season was when a youngster tried to join Flamingoes to
play but the captain at the time, Oslyn ’Pudden’ Rodney
a serious character, refused. That youngster was Amin
Mohammed who later became the manager of Flamingoes and Exodus Steel Orchestra.
Flamingoes’ pan tuner was Carl Greenidge who also did
most of the band’s arrangements. After their incident in
1961, three bands emerged during 1962-63, Volewyckers, Hot Spots and Harmonettes so much so that the
bands all performed at the Independence Day celebration on the 31st August 1962 in the St John’s Savannah.
Volewyckers was led by Carl Greenidge with his nephew,
Robert Greenidge as a member. They were based at the
Community Centre and lasted for about six years. Hot
Spots was led by Lawrence ‘Mantovani’ Melville and were
located in the sub-village of ‘Japan’. They also lasted for
about six years.
Harmonettes was led by Peter ‘Bass’ Theroulde with
many previous members of Flamingoes. They bought
pans from Symphonettes Steel Orchestra of St James
whose captain, Rupert ‘Shadow’ Nathaniel, was instrumental in some of the band’s early arrangements. The
band’s pan yard was now located a little higher up the village at Mrs Iris Wilson’s (daughter of Ma Mena) yard. In
1964, Tyrone Noriega suggested that the band changed
its name owing to distinct similarities with Harmonites
from Morvant. It was then agreed to re-name the band,
The Gay Flamingoes, in line with a lot of other bands that
carried the ‘Gay’ prefix at that time.
Gay Flamingoes success story started with the making
of their first wax recording, ‘A Spoonful of Sugar’, on 45
rpm disc with the reverse side carrying, ‘The St Lucian’,
a song written by Frisco Torrealba of Radio Station 610,
suffice to say they got their frequent share of air time.
They went on to produce another 45RPM disc with Kitchener’s, ‘Don’t Come Back Again Nigger Man’ and seven long
playing albums, the best known of these was titled, ‘Secrets of the Pan’. In 1967/68 Flamingoes made their first appearance at Queen’s Hall in the National Steelbands Festival in the unsponsored category. They placed third behind
the winners, Sangre Grande Cordettes. Flamingoes tunes were ‘Tobago Lollipop’, ‘Wine Women and Song’ arranged
by Tyrone Noreiga and the test piece, ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’ was musically arranged by Neville Forde. They
also made several appearances on Sunday Serenade and local television.
In 1968, Orvis Noel brokered a deal with Amral Travel Service which saw the band being sponsored for a short period of time and completed a brief tour of Venezuela. In 1969, the band moved pan yard again to Dennis Robinson’s
yard, which was next door to Ma Mena’s yard. In November 1970, the band took part in a mini steelband competition
and won the Championship and several other trophies. In December 1970, the band gained sponsorship from Lever
Brothers and in 1971 the Lever Brothers Gay Flamingoes entered the National Panorama competition for the first
time and placed sixth with their rendition of Kitchener’s, ‘PP99’ arranged by Tyrone Noreiga. Over the years many
individuals contributed to the band’s success, including the maintenance crew and their two flag men, Sonny Salina
and Claude ‘Crappo’ Ford.
Panorama 1972 saw them play the Mighty Shadow’s, ‘Country Girl’ and they believe that they were the first to play
a Shadow’s composition at Panorama. The band also had a very active stage side who were the resident steelband
at the Trinidad Hilton Poolside and played at other venues which included the Trinidad Guardian Sports Club and the
Tourist Bureau alongside big name bands like Joey Lewis, Mano Marcellin, Silver Strings and Esquires Combo. The
band also performed on the Mount at the College Refectory, the Seminary and at the Centennial Celebration (1972)
to name a few. They were also involved in community events like the community cricket and soccer matches which
included their popular married men versus the bachelors match. Their strong sense of camaraderie saw them twin
with the Arima Melodians steelband.
In 1973, key members of the band masterminded a major blockorama in the village with Melodians and All Stars
amongst the attending bands. It was deemed to be a very successful event for the village as a whole. However
the next few years that followed proved to be very frustrating for the band owing to changes in management, tuners, arrangers and eventually losing their Lever Brothers sponsorship. These elements led to the decision for a reconstruction of the band in March 1981. Two meetings were called after Carnival to no avail which led to the birth of
the Exodus Steel Orchestra – whose name was given by one of their founders, Bob Theroulde. It must be mentioned
that Carlos Rose was the leader of the band from around 1967 until its eventual demise in the formation of Exodus. In
the mid seventies his son Tony ‘Juggie’ Rose was instrumental in keeping it going. Carlos Rose went on to become a
member of Pan Trinbago and Tony ‘Juggie’ Rose moved on to become a prominent member of Exodus. Flamingoes
now a shell of its former self, continued its struggle right through the 80’s and 90’s, held together in particular by two
former members Russel De Souza and Ian Timothy.
Today, the Flamingoes once a force to be reckoned with are still playing music and taking part in competitions. In
2010, Anthony ‘Salah’ Wilson and his family all of whom are pan musicians made a concerted effort in the re-birth of
Flamingoes to attend the National Panorama competition. Salah who is the nephew of founder Bob Theroulde was
finally ‘allowed’ to join the band at the ripe old age of 16 in 1968. This is because Salah was attending the Abbey
School at Mt. St. Benedict ( a school of affluent “white boys’ and ran by the priests). However Salah admits to jumping
through the window of the Pan Tent during the holiday seasons, accompanied by a couple of cousins and friends ofF
his age. to ‘take a knock’ two years before joining up with the band. By the time he was allowed to officially join the
band Salah already knew some of the band’s repertoire. The Pan Tent was in his mothers home, the land belonging
to his grandmother. By 1970 Salah was the section leader of the double seconds, a year which saw the coming of
‘Bendix’ and his crew from Chaguanas including Jimi Phillip. Salah physically left Flamingoes in 1973 when he migrated to Montreal Canada, but it always remained his band and in his heart as a special part of his Pan experience.
Salah Wilson arranged the music for Flamingoes in 2010 and took the band to the semi-final round in POS missing
the Finals by one in placing 11th ( 10 bands were chosen). He admitted that playing in the number one position was a
tough call but that was the drawn position to play. However, the band did exceedingly well by winning the competition
in Tunapuna beating out bands like Birdsong and Sforzata and also placing second in Arouca. Salah was supported
by his family and students of his Montreal Steelpan Academy. Salah confirmed that Flamingoes will be building on
this experience and hopes to see the band return to its former glory days.
57

Newcastle All Stars STEEL ORCHESTRA

Transcription

Similar documents

Safe motherhood the Cauca Pacific coast: the road

Madcap Conv head.indd - MadCap Racing Engines

Pan Maestro Creates Fantastic Music on Brooklyn Sidewalk

Cheesecake Petit Fours

March ing Band Photograph - Spirit of Waxahachie Indian Band

TRANS PAN HOW-TO Installing a Mag-Hytec Transmission Pan

Stuffed Manicotti with Homemade Crepe Shell and Filling

social raquet - ALEXANDER PARK TENNIS CLUB

The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0

NARSTCO Steel Ties Give Short Lines Longer Life.