Lord Kitchener and Pan Music Have A Thing Going

[Pan Times]

Lord Kitchener and Pan Music Have A Thing Going
by Les Slater

Brooklyn, New York

“I made the steel band a real study. I know the runs and the notes that mean something to the sound of the band. I can hear the sound of the tenor pan.”

It is to our eternal good fortune that there developed very early a symbiotic relationship between Lord Kitchener and the steel band milieu, and that despite spending a goodly portion of his early career in England, that bond with the pan culture only grew stronger after he relocated to Trinidad and steel band haven.

In that opening quote from Kitch, from the Pan magazine Fall 1987 issue, he is of course conveying a sense of what gave him such facility in composing music for the steel band. Many others would doubtless lay claim to similar familiarity with the pan idiom. Whether this is in fact so is ultimately a moot point. Suffice to say that the Kitchener connection to pan proved to be literally in a class by itself, well beyond the contact point attained by lesser mortals and considered by them to be special. Pan magazine summed up in these words the serendipitous circumstance of Kitch’s return to share space once again with those whose lot it was to secure pan’s place as a spellbinding new addition to musical culture: “For the steel bands, the ranks of the music suppliers now included someone who had a real feel for what embodied the quintessential panist’s turn-on.”

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[odw]

Lord Kitchener speaks...http://youtu.be/t8GTbL1Im5o

[Raffique Shah]

Kitch was the consummate pan-music writer/singer. His songs--too many to name them--gave steelbands some of the richest performances in their repertoires. They also gave generations of pan-fans fond memories of scintillating music, most times with great, jump-up music to accompany them. It's not that today's pan music is inferior. It's just that Kitch was such a genius, his was a tough act for others to follow. This year, for example, De Fosto's "In she Rainorama" was a clever compilation of some of Kitch's great melodies. 

   Who, having been there (in de Savannah) can ever forget bands performing "67", "Toco Band", "Pan in A Minor"....shall I go on? I should think not. He was the ultimate pan musician who added lyrics (oh gawd, "My Pussin"!!  "Flag Woman") that sent us crazy!

[pancarib]

I remember back in 1965, while in third standard, the teacher asked what does M.P. stand for. I thought I was just sharing with my partner so I whispered," My Pussin." He burst out laughing and of course, our teacher wanted to know what was so funny. When he was told even he was laughing. Growing up with Kitch and sweet pan was the best.

[Bugs]

This is what's missing. Songs for pan that can also appeal to the masses.

bugs