New York Times
By Nichole M. Christian July 19, 2001
By the calendar, it is pan time in Brooklyn, the annual rite of summer when hundreds of Caribbean immigrants and their American-born children turn sidewalks, vacant lots -- any sliver of concrete they can find -- into late-night practice yards for Panorama, the popular steel band showdown that begins the West Indian American Labor Day weekend carnival.
But as this year's season gets under way, the bands are producing as much controversy as they are good music. The group that represents 22 of Brooklyn's best-known pan, or steel drum, orchestras says it will boycott Panorama and stage its own competition on Sept. 1. It has accused the parade's organizers, the West Indian American Day Carnival Association (Wiadca for short), of ignoring its pleas for a larger venue, a professional sound system and a share of the profits from the event, which typically draws crowds into the thousands, usually at $20 a person.
''Every year, we are losing money left to right, for the love of this music,'' said Keith Marcelle, president of the group, the United States Steel Band Association. ''And every year we ask them to sit down with us, to give us a voice in helping to make the show better.''
The top prize in Panorama is $9,000, but band leaders say they spend a year trying to come up with the $10,000 to $30,000 per band it takes to pay for ornate costumes, the handmade oil drums and the travel expenses of music arrangers who have to be flown in from Trinidad. Some bands have as many as 100 players.
''The organizers are not interested in our concerns,'' said Mr. Marcelle, whose group has been lobbying for changes for the last two years. ''And we are no longer interested in being ignored.''
...Peter Abraham, chairman of the Panorama committee for the carnival, dismissed the boycott as merely talk by troublemakers. ''I don't understand what they want,'' he said. ''We are a nonprofit organization. The money that Wiadca gets from sponsors is for all of carnival, not just Panorama. It's ludicrous for them to think we could pay the amount of money that is required for a steel band to come together. We give the best we can.''
Mr. Abraham insisted that the carnival would also play host to a Panorama on Sept. 1. He said his committee had recruited seven bands from Boston, Connecticut and Washington, as well as eight local groups not represented by the United States Steel Band Association. Mr. Abraham added that the competition's top prize this year would increase to $10,000, and that a $1,000 appearance fee would be given to each band that competes. ''If there has to be two Panoramas this year, let it be two,'' he said. ''This group is not going to disrupt our record.''
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