Steelpan Musicians Honor the Ancestors of the Middle Passage at Tribute in Coney Island 

New York - Utopia Pan Soul - The Next Generation celebrated the ancestors through their performance with the musical instrument that more so than any other, represents the true mettle of the African people: their genius, survival, defiance and promise. The steelpan instrument is a gift to the world by the descendants of the millions of Africans who were lost in the Middle Passage as part of that “coming to America” experience.

Utopia Pan Soul’s performance unfolded amid a surreal setting as huge tankers carrying miscellaneous cargo could be seen in the distance coming in from the Atlantic Ocean, tracking through an eerily similar route at that point, as used by slave ships not so long ago - carrying as human cargo in their hulls - the very ancestors of all the performers at Saturday’s tribute to the Ancestors. It is not commonly known that Coney Island was one of the major drop-off points (disembarkment) for many of the African slaves in this hemisphere.

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 An Embarrassment of Riches
Classic Work by Phase II will Haunt me to my Grave

Trinidad - It was absolutely the best Panorama performance I’ve ever heard. It was music in B sharpe. Last Sunday, I found that new note just inside Pan Trinbago’s “village,” the organisation’s brand old drag, the one that was introduced to us at the western front of the Savannah Party in a getting-to-know-you moment. Here, under metal-gray skies, in the vicinity of 2.30 p.m., Boogsie Sharpe and his Phase II Pan Groovers cut loose a symphonic arrangement of Music in we Blood for a grap of villagers that circled the band’s cosquelle drums like a halo. So, it was divine, then? Hello? Let me explatiate.
   
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Australia - ‘What part of Jamaica is Trinidad?’ This was the question which was repeatedly being asked wherever and whenever Alvin Rostant played his steelpan in Australia.

This drove him to set the record straight. In so doing he established his own “Australian Academy of Steel Drums” wherein he scripted a story for Primary Schools entitled “Banana Joe,” and another for High Schools called “Calypso Drums.” He was subsequently contracted by the Queensland Arts Council in-schools touring programme which saw him taking the programme on the road to close to one thousand schools. Rostant, a former San Fernando Technical Institute soccer standout in Trinidad in the late 1960s and early ‘70s, was being interviewed ‘on air’ from Australia by Hollis Clifton - Pan Diaspora - Visionary and Kenny Phillips, CEO of WACK Radio 90.1FM in San Fernando, Trinidad & Tobago.   
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Maryland, USA - As part of DC CARNIVAL, DC Caribbean Carnival, Inc. [DCCC] invites one and all to join them in preserving the art form proudly referred to as PAN as they celebrate DC Carnival’s 7th Anniversary of Pan Jam at the Cross Roads Entertainment Complex parking lot in Bladensburg, Maryland on Saturday June 20, 2009 from 2:00 pm until 9:00 pm. The event is co-sponsored by Caribbean Cargo-DC.

This year’s Pan Jam will feature Pan Masters Steel Orchestra from North Brentwood, Positive Vibrations Youth Steel Orchestra from Hyattsville, DC Pan Jammers, Steel Orchestra from Washington, DC and more.
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United Kingdom - On a bright and warm summer’s evening on Saturday May 30th the premises of the UKCCA in Luton was filled with the sweet strains of steelband music emitted from the seven steelbands dotted around their grounds running their last practice sessions before entering the spacious auditorium to perform in front of a capacity audience. 
 
Joel ‘Tubbs’ Hamilton –Mills, the event’s MC reminded the audience of the concept of the event i.e. initiated by the British Association of Steelbands to encourage young people to compose, arrange and play musical pieces on the steelpan and how it has progressed from its humble beginnings in the Tabernacle, Powis Square, London from 1999 to date.   
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Global - Exactly one year ago the steelpan music community lost one its finest musicians. Frank “Crawl” Findley of Desperadoes in Trinidad and D'Radoes in New York was simply poetry in motion. When Steel Talks remembers and salutes Crawl - the great bassman now in heaven's stage-side.

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Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - Pan Trinbago, Inc. commiserates with its President, Mr. Patrick Arnold, on the passing of his mother Marie Arnold.

Marie Arnold of Scarborough, Tobago, quietly left this life at the age of 103 at approximately 9:00 pm on Tuesday, June 2, 2009.
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New York  - It was the power of Praise, right alongside the Power of Pan at the Premier Baptist Church (PBC) in Brooklyn last Saturday. Music director and arranger Khuent Rose on steelpans joined with a couple other musicians to give those already comfortably seated in plush red “pews” just a taste of what was to come, setting the tone, even as proceedings were almost an hour behind the 7:00 p.m. scheduled start time.

A two-tiered stage was set with glistening pans and other conventional instruments, awaiting the moment to spring to life in musical synchronicity; the pan players from Crossfire Steel Orchestra (led by Martin “Dougie” Douglas) were also present - anxious and ready to sound off with works arranged by Rose. Douglas himself was crisply attired in a white shirt with black pants, the former emblazoned with black print in full support of the steelpan art form. Earlier on in the evening, last-minute details were being seen to, with the steel orchestra having a brief sound check, and Khuent Rose in his capacity of music director overseeing particulars, ensuring that all was in place and would go according to plan.
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New York  - It appears that the future of Steelpan music at Lincoln Center may be nothing more than “Dead Man Walking.” In what has to be one of the most glaring acts of total disregard and one of the ugliest insults the instrument has suffered in its 50-plus year history - Abstract Entertainment, Inc. (AEI) along with its partners BET and Lincoln Center pull off a scallywag move in broad daylight that is both traitorous and deceitful.

Back in the sixties and fifties it was common practice for album covers and promotional material to leave the pictures of Black recording artists off. It was a racist and shameful practice that was part of an era in the music business that has been put behind us.  Now, fast forward to 2009. On Friday morning an irate, well-known and respected panman wrote When Steel Talks about an Ad he received promoting the upcoming “PanJazz” to be held at Lincoln Center in New York. This pan person who is very level-headed and not prone to emotional and un-intellectual outbursts called what he saw “malicious.” We at When Steel Talks most certainly agree.
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Global  - Neville Jules turned 82 last week.  At the Duke Street panyard, even the young players call him Cap. They see him around Hell Yard, a shrine to pan, but can’t fully fathom his weight. Founder of Trinidad All Stars, Jules led the band and arranged its music for 25 years or so. In either capacity, Cap wasn’t easy. If he were alive, badjohn Big Sarge would tell you he owed his failed confrontations with his nemesis to band discipline. And Invaders, the Harps of Woodbrook, can testify, though begrudgingly, to his groovy road music.  As sweet as a lickin’.

Cap migrated to the States in ’71, and many a band was glad, not for him, but for that.
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Maryland, USA  - Holiday weekend - check; great weather - check; spacious venue - check; dedicated steelband event organizers - check; eager and talented groups of steelpan musicians, anxious to unveil their repertoire - check; delicious and irresistible Caribbean-style cuisine for purchase - check; enticing carnival costumes for the upcoming Carnival on display - check; overall well-produced event, chock full of steelband music - check; enthusiastic crowd of steelband music lovers - check!!  And so it was that all was in place for the 11th annual Steelband Jamboree unveiled by the committed organizers and hosts of the show - Pan Masters Steelband Organization (PMSO).

As timely as one thirty in the afternoon early-bird patrons, some with their own chairs slung over their shoulders, could be seen making a beeline for the best spots in anticipation for the jamboree performances to come. PMSO members scurried about putting final touches on everything that would go in to the staging of what would overall be a great show.
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Maryland, USA - When Steel Talks (WST) departed Brooklyn at 5:40 a.m. to catch the 8:05 Washington-bound Amtrak train stopping off at 11:04 a.m. in Maryland - the site of the 2009 Pan Masters Steelband Jamboree.

WST left with a lot of anticipation, in terms of expecting much from what this year’s line up of steelbands would present. In addition to many of the Maryland-area steelbands, this year Long Island-based ADLIB Steel Orchestra - the 2008 New York panorama champions - would be participating. And based on past performances, the expectations were high for a very entertaining event. After all this was the 11th annual steelband jamboree. Simply put: if you don’t know what you are doing by now, you will never know.
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Global - The time period is whenever - the setting and place is wherever - and the agenda is good music. That’s pretty much all you need to know about producer, performer, composer and recording artist Andy Narell's latest project called the “University of Calypso” - soon to be released on the Heads-up label. This time Narell teams up with noted Calypso singer “Relator” (real name Willard Harris) to produce another musical nugget that showcases the steelpan instrument and it's often associated sidekick, Calypso music, in a major way.

According to the Heads-Up promotional material, ‘Relator, a major known talent of the Calypso music genre brings his special brand of storytelling, humor and musicality to the project. What’s more, 15 unforgettable compositions by legends of calypso such as Lord Kitchener, Lord Melody, Mighty Terror, Roaring Lion, Spider, and Relator himself - are presented by the Narell/Relator tandem.’ We indeed concur.

In an exclusive interview with When Steel Talks (WST) Andy shares his thoughts on this, his latest musical venture, and a host of other steelpan music matters.
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Hamilton, Bermuda, W.I. - Very much in the belief that “you have to know where you come from in order to know where you are going,” as Bermuda celebrates its 400th Anniversary, they have chosen to include African traditions during the Bermuda Day Parade on Monday May 25, according to the Ministry of Culture and Social Rehabilitation and the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs.  In this vein, the island welcomes stilt-walkers/Mocko Jumbies from Africa and St. Kitts, and Toronto’s very own Afropan Steelband as the country seeks the fabled advantage to “look into the future.”

....Bermuda welcomes both the Mocko Jumbies and Afropan Steelband for Bermuda Day 2009 - the latter upon their arrival on May 21.  Joining other celebrants, the steelband plays on the road for Bermuda’s Heritage Day on Monday, before returning to Toronto, Canada on May 26.
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New York, USA - In a couple of days the legendary Mr. Neville Jules will celebrate his 82nd birthday.

There are a collective few who bear the distinction of being universally recognized as members of that unique, and special fraternity we at When Steel Talks refer to as Giants and Titans of “Pan and the Steelpan Movement.” Through their intellect, talents, genius, innovativeness, sacrifices, foresight and leadership they forged a path to greatness for a marvelous invention known as ‘Pan’ - all the while showcasing the genius and indomitable spirit of man.

Mr. Neville Jules is without doubt one of these Titans.
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New York, New York - The NYU Steel Pan Ensemble, under the direction of Josh Quillen, recently took the stage of New York University’s Loewe Theatre to present an evening full of music for steel band. In addition to his work with So Percussion, Quillen has performed with numerous steel drumming ensembles all over the country, and brings his diverse knowledge of the instrument to the ensemble.
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Denmark - His bio states that the sound of Trinidadian steel drums are reinvented and combined with contemporary pop music to create the global fusion that is the outcome of his approach - and that he is an accomplished steel panist, singer and songwriter who continues to push the boundaries of modern music with his very own brand of global music, which is “steel drum textured, vocal layered and steeped in the traditions of American Rock, Funk, R&B, and Jazz.”

All of the above is very true - but there is much more to Gregory Boyd - the artist. He has that intangible and unquantifiable quality that makes one go “wow.”
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Massachusetts, USA - Over the most recent decade Boston has experienced fluctuations in steelpan musicianship. In the last year there have been two heartening developments which manifest themselves at the 7th Annual Spring Concert of Steelbands. There is an increase in the number of ensembles and a movement to change the pan teaching paradigm.

As a pan music enthusiast, I have observed other conditions that impact the sound of Boston pan, and Sunday’s concert also presented the differences in various dimensions. Pan Xpressions is the smallest group and most recently formed. One recalls Panazz Players at an Xpressions performance and its presentation maintained that perception.
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