How the BIG5 panned out and breathed new life into the culture
Global - How about that.
Pan’s new focus. Love it.
It’s easy to see why.
Innovation is always key.
Since the long absence and death of J’Ouvert pan — and the contemporary child-rearing practices of a bulky, muscled Panorama — the newly-minted International Steelband Foundation (ISF), a movement that’s been seven years in the making, seems to have changed the course of Pan in one fell swoop (Cue the BIG5).
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The BIG 5 has EVERYTHING GOING FOR THEM as far as FUNDAMENTALS are concerned. But their POINT OF VIEW is going to render them ORDINARY and FUNCTIONALLY LIMITED!!!
As I have commented before on this forum; there are two distinct conceptions when we speak about "Pan". There is pan the instrument(s) and there is pan the music of the steel orchestra. So that when we talk about the global promotion and acceptance of "Pan", we must be honest enough to recognize that while the instrument(s) can be marketed around the world; the global selling of steel orchestra music is a different ball of wax. It is that latter aspect which gives rise to all these years of frustration as to why steelband music is not a global economic success.
First of all, there can be no denying that steel orchestra music (sound) is most unique (rubber on tempered steel). Even some people with indigenous identity to the music sometimes have difficulty processing steelband music. The challenge faced by the creators of the music is developing that international consumer market, vital to economic success. Technology notwithstanding; the deepest penetration into the global market will have to be achieved through collaboration with conventional musical instruments.
To real panheads (and there are many) there is no music sweeter than Despers, Phase 2 or All Stars in full cry. As an afterthought; how about every musical band coming out of T&T find a way to incorporate a least one pan instrument. We love de culture,ent?
ISF is a start in the right direction regardless of the time it took to eventually materialize. Claude you must understand it is not an easy penetration to make. I have been chanting this kind of mantra for over seven years myself and very little understanding in what I write and say is evident in this Forum and others. It is a revolution breaking fanaticism of the pan movement. This is especially so for Trinidadians. The pan movement is virtually a closed circuit movement because of this fanaticism. You hear constantly from pan players "What do you know" "No one knows you in the pan movement." What band did you ever played with" "Who do you know in the pan movement" Those are questions coming from illiterate persons. These are persons who have become fanatics. Once a human being becomes fanatical about any thing, his actual intelligence is lost. Such people become useless within their spheres of life. This accounts for 90% why the pan movement took so long to move forward. I am glad that that word "fanatic" appeared in Narine's article. The ISF simply must continue on this path and it would have broken the blockage of the pan and the pan movement worldwide. The more they allow other people to be part of the Foundation, the more succes will come to them. There shoud be Pan TV Stations and Radio Stations dedicated to promoting and playing pan music from across the globe. There should be dedicated pan clubs outfited enough to hold a 25 piece orchestra. There should be pan estates of land where retreat centres can be established that will hold a 5000 plus crowd. If not owned can be rented. I can go on and on. For this the pan movement needs more people from outside the movement than inside it. People of various talents of profesionalism and of knowhow and wealth in all its different forms. Then and only then, the pan movement will be ready for the main stream music industry. Sandiford has also pointed out the fact that as the time goes on more and more technology should be used by the movement. I say its 20 years late but at the same time it could not have started before now. So let us not put the blame on time. Time is God Himself in that form. It is up to man to be wise and smart, then Time will become a servant of such people. It works that way. From this one move by the Big5, time will reciprocate. Actually the steelband movement only took off when people outside the movement and especially professional and educated people made suggestions and help led the movement out from the small crevices where they practised.
What I want to know is how an ORGANIZATION that was formed SEVEN YEARS AGO and produced ONE SHOW could become the BIGGEST MONUMENT on STEELBAND AVENUE, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad?
That's is because that is all it took to be better than that gangsta Rolly Polly and his band of thugs. There is great potential for the Steelband Foundation. The only chapter left for Rolly Polly is an orange jump suit and a room in Club Jail.
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