Trinidad Newsday - JANELLE DE SOUZA ;
Kim Johnson's Illustrated Story celebrates power, glory of steelpan in Trinidad and Tobago
Dr Kim Johnson says although there are more steelbands abroad, the power and glory of the steelpan can only be experienced in Trinidad and Tobago. Photo by Ayanna Kinsale -
While it may not be an academic textbook, The Illustrated Story of Pan is possibly the most comprehensive and accessible history of the steelpan.
Written by the former director of the Carnival Institute of TT, Dr Kim Johnson, the book is a collection of hundreds of pictures as well as interviews with pan pioneers, many of whom have died, conducted by Johnson over the decades.
First published by UTT in 2011, The Illustrated Story of Pan gained good reviews and sold out fairly quickly. Johnson explained to Sunday Newsday he got requests for copies from booksellers all over the world every year, so he decided to produce a second edition.
“The majority of people who love pan are from late middle age and onward. The majority of people who play are young, but they are doing it for the money.
"That means what is supporting all these steelbands is government subventions and sponsorship by companies. Effectively, steelpan is on life support. If that money is taken away, the patient would be terminally ill.
"It is important to accept that reality before it can be addressed.”
Replies
Thank You! Dr. Kim Johnson.
Received my two copies of your book " The Illustrated Story of Pan" Second Edition.
The level of professionalism from the fundraising campaign's start, the notifications {updates} and final distributions exceed expectations.
An invaluable addition to my collection.
NB
Powerful image on page 180 of the late George Goddard welcoming Dr. Eric Williams to the 1962 Steelband Music Festival at Queens Hall.
Support the second edition of the Illustrated Story of Pan
This beautiful and informative resource for the pan community sold out in months after it was first published in 2011. A decade later, it is a treasured item, and many people are still searching for a copy. Now you have a chance to support and get the revised second edition.
Know Yourself
What is the meaning of "Eagles don't fly with chickens"?
Robert Grant
It’s similar to the idiom,” birds of a feather flock together”.
The idiom you mentioned is an analogy between birds and two types of human beings. It should be obvious.
Eagles fly high and soar solo. Eagles are equivalent to the concept of individualism. They are alert, intelligent, self-reliant, self-starting people who have big goals and aspirations. They value freedom, are adventurous, go far, see many things, have many experiences, and strive to reach great heights.
Chickens represent the idea of the collective. Their freedom is non-existent. They go nowhere, stay in one place, and have given up their ability to fly, They meander around in groups, walk in their own poop, stare at the ground while pecking at minutia. They repeat the exact same experience over and over again. They don't seem to be aware that there is a world around them. Even their safety is a sham for, in reality, they are the victims of the whims of any predictor that comes along. They are in a constant state of simply waiting to be eaten.
An eagle is not going to waste a moment of its short precious life on earth hanging around with chickens.
Winners do not spend their time with losers.
Does the ego make the person completely blind?
"Ego Blindness"
Shri Immaneul
How to control ego and jealousy?
Shri Swami Replied: The only impossible point in spiritual knowledge is to see or even to imagine the unimaginable God directly. Except for this one point, all other points are possible only. The Gita says that you can achieve success at any point by constant practice. First, you must identify the ego and jealousy when you are attacked by this joint virus. Diagnosis is a pre-requisite for the treatment in medical education. If you recognize that you are attacked by the specific virus, half of the treatment is over because you have to just take the specific drug to kill the virus.
This virus decreases since it gets frightened by your recognition itself. The physical virus can be killed only by physical and materialized medicine. But, this virus (ego and jealousy) is only psychological and not materialized. Therefore, the psychological virus can be killed only by psychological concepts called spiritual knowledge, which is an antidote for it. Edging God Out.
Kim Johnson comes across as a self-seeking egoist, and dared admit (to me) that he was in the process of republishing my dad's book without the permission of the book's copyright owner, my mom. If he was really serious about addressing the fact that "about 2,000 steelbands in the US, made up mostly of Caucasian students in high school, and universities, and they did not know the history of the instrument', there is NO way he would not recommend Forty Years In The Steelbands, 1939-1979. Johnson is more concerned with his assumed place in "pan history" than of the history of the instrument or of its culture. A "culture vulture" with a pHD, is ALL he has proven to be. Like the P.H.I. doctorate holder, these men feel that their degrees entitle them to move to the front of the class, when neither of them have the qualifications, experiance, or "education" that Goddard possessed, even with post-primary being his highest formal educational level. BUSTED!
This needs repeating...
“The majority of people who love pan are from late middle age and onward. The majority of people who play are young, but they are doing it for the money.
"That means what is supporting all these steelbands is government subventions and sponsorship by companies. Effectively, steelpan is on life support. If that money is taken away, the patient would be terminally ill.
"It is important to accept that reality before it can be addressed.”
The time has come for steelbands to seek NEW revenue streams...
A review/analysis is needed of Act 1986
Recommendations needed for the changes in the DIGITAL age.
BE IT ENACTED by the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago as
1. This Act may be cited as the Pan Trinbago (Incorporation) Act? 1986.
2. Pan Trinbago is hereby created a body corporate and has a common seal
3. The aims and objects of Pan Trinbago are as follows:
(a) to promote the development of the steel band movement;
(b) to promote the steel pan as an indigenous cultural art form;
(c) to purchase, take on lease, or otherwise acquire lands, buildings, easements or property real and personal which may be requisite for the purpose of or capable of being conveniently used in connection with any of the objects of Pan Trinbago;
(d) to present, manage, conduct, arrange and organize concerts, competitions, festivals of music and tours and to offer, grant, or contribute towards the provision of prizes, awards, and distinctions;
{e) to subscribe to, become a member of and to affiliate or co-operate with any other association, incorporated or not, whose objects are altogether or in part similar to those of Pan Trinbago;
(f) to advance and protect the welfare and interest of members of steelbands;
(g) to encourage and to conduct research programs on the steelpan;
"He said the way music was taught in TT was the European standard music approach, which usually used classical music to teach people how to read music ...."
... and then the ARRANGERS bring that CLASSICAL ARRANGEMENT into a CARNIVAL SATURDAY NIGHT PANORAMA in the middle of THE TRINIDAD CARNIVAL (BACCHANAL TIME) ... and PAN LOVERS -- who should KNOW BETTER -- marvel at that NONSENSE.
That is the HEIGHT OF ABSURDITY!!!