When Steel Talks - Reboot
Ken Philmore and Lord Kitchener
Lord Kitchener and Pan Music Have A Thing Going
by Les Slater
Panorama reviewer: “Almost everything else was some version of the simple chord structure abundant in the music of Lord Kitchener... Kitchener's unwillingness or inability to provide the panmen with something new and different... no alternatives to Kitchener’s recyclable melodies...
”Panist Ken “Professor” Philmore: “The types of chords that Kitchener plays—and I think any arranger would agree with me on this—Kitchener plays the kinds of chords that you can explore and use your own imagination...
"In one fell swoop the aforementioned magazine reviewer bared his neophyte’s status and called into question all other commentary in a presumably well-intentioned critique. Say that Lord Kitchener can’t dance, say that his lyrics don’t grab you, say he’s too tall, say anything except that his musical concoctions custom-made for the pan feature an abundance of “simple chord structures” and/or “recyclable melodies.” Such a fundamental misstatement of musical fact is unpardonable in anyone who would offer judgments for mass consumption.
Ken Philmore, on the other hand, who has adorned Kitchener’s “pan tune” performances the past four years with his talented presence, knows what everyone else knows who is even slightly of musical bent. Namely, that the pan product outflow from Kitchener bears the unmistakable stamp of a consummate pro who meticulously goes about the business of keeping his commitment to furnish material that best appeals to the panist’s basic instincts.
Replies