I have been LISTENING TO PAN since 1954 when PAN was only SEVEN YEARS old and I was seven years old. And in dem days -- THE INSTRUMENT was REAL CRUDE. And DECADES later in FOREIGN when I supported dem little 3-piece and 4-piece and 5-piece with LOW LEVEL players hustling a dollar with out-of-tune PANS -- I learn to live with all that and APPRECIATE IT.
Because when you are CULTURALLY STARVED -- ANY PAN does SOUND GOOD.
So I hear all THE NOISE dem SINGLE PANS was making and it really did not bother me that much -- because for the most part PAN IS NOISE with me.
But what does REALLY BOTHER ME is the ARRANGERS.
Now, if they say that they are playing CLASSICAL or SAMBA or SALSA or POP or JAZZ -- that doh bother me how they sound. Because that is AH NEXT DISCUSSION.
But when they take a CALYPSO and they cannot (or choose not to) even REPRESENT THE FUNDAMENTAL MELODY of the CALYPSO and reproduce IT to please MY EAR -- that does break meh CULTURAL SPIRIT. Especially when they are going in all kinda musical directions that have NOTHING to do with THE CALYPSO IDIOM -- to show how much they know ABOUT MUSIC.
But they CANNOT IMPRESS ME WITH THAT.
SO THAT DOES DRIVE ME MAD. Because if they know so much about music OUTSIDE OF CALYPSO -- how come all they could do is sit down in TRINIDAD waiting for the next PANORAMA while real arrangers and musicians like ANDY and JONATHAN and VICTOR flying all over the world FIRST CLASS showcasing THE PAN. Or how come they still cannot go in a studio and make a DECENT PAN RECORDING.
Now ah still going and listen to this SINGLE PAN PANORAMA on SUNDAY (CONGRATULATIONS BEVERLEY -- yuh make ah good move ... and yuh know how hard it is for you to dig a compliment out of me) -- but I doubt that I will hear ONE STEELBAND that even vaguely RENDERS a CALYPSO to MY SATISFACTION.
Yet, at the heart of it all, I am a REAL TRINI -- so ah go enjoy THE NOVEMBER PANORAMA ... one way or another. The best part of these PANORAMAS for me does be meeting all these PAN LOVING TRINIS from ALL OVER THE WORLD and hearing them express their LOVE and LONGING for THE PAN MUSIC --and THE ISLAND.
And, of course, THE TRINI BANTER -- it eh have nothing sweeter than that in the world TO ME!!!
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Yuh know what ah does like about you, Claude? Yuh like topic, and like trini say 'talk does bring talk', so keep the ting alive. Ah like dat. Leh dem do dey ting, nuh? The thing is I hafta stop painting and picking sorrel, I hafta stop power washing and lose 12 hours. At my age, ah cyar afford it.