So much talk about PAN SONGS not using PAN!!! But if you are a PURE CALYPSO LISTENER, can you honestly say that a STEELBAND can authentically reproduce a CALYPSO?
FAR FROM IT!!!!
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Where there's a will, there bound to be a way, ent... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0DK3JrkUSw
Thanks for the post love the visual...
I think that it depends on the calypso.
There was almost a symbiotic relationship years ago , between the calypsonian and the steelband , where the calypsonians created music that was deliberately phrased in ways that the steelband would find appealing.
Remember , many of those calypsonians were also panmen , or at least familiar with the panyard of their preferred steelband.
The pan, after all was created for carnival ( though some seems to have forgotten this ) so the music genre that should mostly be identified with the pan is the calypso.
Which is also why the state of pan music today , relative to the music of the carnival is , well , odd.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohWO7RwutV0
This is ONE CALYPSO on PAN performance that meets my expectation. I was so glad when they reprised it. If anyone can find the CARNIVAL TUESDAY VHS of CARIB TOKYO moving OFF STAGE playing this song in the savannah -- that is the single greatest piece of CALYPSO ON PAN that I have ever heard.
Yes, Glenroy, it depends very much on the calypso. Mostly the RHYTMIC PATTERN of the CALYPSO.
I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "rhythmic pattern", Claude..... ever since I was a child , i could play certain tunes on a pan in my head , and these were tunes that seemed to be a natural fit for the pan.
And those tunes were not necessarily calypsos either but included other genres, which is why, in my writings, I started using the term "pan friendly" as a way of describing them.
The phrasing of the notes of the tune "Curry Tabanka" was obviously pan ( percussion)friendly , but I would never have thought that it was a suitable panorama tune, and if I were a pan player in a band and asked my opinion , I would probably have vetoed it.
Which is why , IMHO , Loen "Smooth" Edwards is a musical genius !.
And btw , of course my bias may be showing , but i loved All Stars version from day one , the original from 1987.
This is a fair question Claude. My experience says yes, but not every arranger or band can accomplish this feat. Skilled players and great instruments are a must. In this regard, tuner, arranger and players must be exceptional. Ray Holman, Clive Bradley, Jit Samaroo, Beverley Griffith, Robert Greenidge and Pelham Goddard have excelled in this arena.
What do you think of Trinidad All Stars version of Curry Tabanca?
Below are examples of steel orchestras doing just to the original calypsos...
Len "Boogsie" Sharpe with Moods Pan Groove -- Super Blue - Signal For Lara
Stranger -- Clive Bradley -- Pantonic
Sapna the Dream - Ray Holman arranger - Skiffle Steel Orchestra
CURRY TABANCA is one of my favorite calypsos of all time. And it just so happened that I was in Trinidad for that carnival so I had my fill of it. I always put lyrics first when I listen to calypso with my TRINIDAD EARS. And I thought that the lyrics in this song could not reach greater heights. I am not sure that I like the music accompanying the song that much but once I heard the rhythmic pattern I dismissed it as a song that I would want to listen to on PAN. I attended that panorama and fell asleep during the performance of that song. (What made things worse is that I was in the company of Dr. Simeon Sandiford (SANCH) and he loves PAN as much as anybody else in the world. We used to run down PAN together as teenagers so he must have thought that I went to America and came back weird.) Well imagine my consternation decades later when I heard every PAN LOVER in town and the internet praising that ALL STARS performance as HISTORIC.
Over the years, I went on YOUTUBE many times to find out what I was missing and never got past two minutes into the song. Of course the ICP came and I listened to the whole song for the first time. The PANS WERE CLEAN!!! That is all I could really say and the players did not BEAT THE PANS.
When ODW put up the video yesterday, I listened to the performance again and when the band finally dropped into the melody I felt like they made a mistake on the last note of the first couplet and I stopped listening after that. (And when I saw them spell the name of the sponsor wrong on the banner, their stock dropped even lower with me.)
Organic question from you because those were the circumstances which actually triggered the post along with Cecil's questioning the refusal of producers to put PAN in their PAN SONGS. Needless to say that I think I know why they don't!!!
Now, I have to go find time to listen to the posted recommendations from both odw and PAN TIMES and keep my fingers crossed that I DO NOT become a CONVERT!!!
A very interesting experience Claude. I will admit that I don't remember the song or the performance being as big as it is now. It has grown on the imagination of the pan community over the years.
I'm not trying to convert you unfairly - lol - but please note the vociferous and passionate comments at the end of Moods Pan Groove performance of "Signal for Lara" by an African American male who just happen to be walking by as Moods was performing. He was completely transfixed by what he heard. Musical performances that can jump cultural norms and connect on a human level should count for something.
Claude Boi, I just can't help it but yuh get in this Kitch mood and I had to add this one...
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