Blog 2.0

Kim Johnson tells us in his book, The Illustrated Story of Pan: Second Edition that,

"Anthony 'Muffman' Williams is arguably the most important panman in history, because of his brilliance as an inventor, tuner, arranger and captain. He introduced the use of oil drums for the background pans, the cellos and bass, and then he put them on wheels so the heavy oil drums could be played on the road. He discovered harmonic tuning, in which more than one tone could be hammered into a note; and from that insight he created the now-standard 'fourths and fifths' arrangement of notes on the tenor pan. He was the first to experiment with oversized pans. As an arranger, Williams set a standard for how a band should sound, how the sections should be voiced in an ensemble, that is unsurpassed. His arrangements for the first two Panorama competitions created a template still followed. As a captain, his band was one of the most well-organised welfare-oriented, progressive ensembles."

High accolades never to be surpassed as a pioneer.

His passing this morning leaves a major gap in the ongoing conversation on and contestation around the idea of steelpan as more than accompaniment for revelry. Pan is more than the cliché sound of the Caribbean, it is more than an iconic image of tropical fun so popular in island tourism adverts from the middle of the 20th century coming forward. It is the soul of a people, of a nation. The pan's symbolism as national instrument, born not by official fiat, but by a transcription of an excerpt of a former Prime Minister's 1992 Independence Day speech, is not to be taken for granted here in T&T. Anthony Williams, and his pioneer posse — you know the names. Buy Kim's book if you don't! — began all this conversation of what is our gift to the world, our opportunity to be a trailblazer in a world leaving behind "small places with simple people" (yuh done know who write that Nobel phrase). His passing today still leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of those who know that the "traditional knowledge for making a steelpan and its role in the music and festivals of T&T" should be on UNESCO's List of Intangible Cultural Heritage, an action still remarkably left wanting all these years after our country's ratification of the Treaty governing these matters, in 2010, I believe. (Wake up, Mr. Minister!) His innovation of the circle of fifths on a pan was unwisely patented in the US by a fresh water Yankee in 2004 and successfully challenged by the T&T government and revoked by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Anthony Williams, unfortunately, lived in a time when the "audacity of creole imagination" was looked down on. His genius was not the conversation of industry. His genius never made him a millionaire. His genius was not the asset that our country would try to tap into for inspiration and profit. Today, as we reflect on his life and contribution, let us remember his significance in shaping a modern T&T by the unintended consequence of his innovation with an oil drum and the idea of music, and how we have made it part of our intangible cultural heritage. Rest in Peace Anthony 'Muffman' Williams.

©2021, Nigel A. Campbell. All Rights Reserved.

Dearest Pan Women,
I read most of the interviews with you on ‘When Steel Talks’.
Pretty impressed by all of the stories, how you all came in contact with Pan.
What strikes me the most, is the dedication you all have towards this instrument.
It is exactly the way I feel about Pan. Although I came in contact with it when I was 5 years old, it took me about 45 years to find someone who could teach me to play.
In the sixties there were a lot of steel bands here, due to the Dutch Antilleans, who came to Holland to get an educating or work. But somehow the people in Holland became less interested and now there are only a few professionals left.
A shame, but what can you do…

As you all seem so dedicated to this instrument, I wondered if you read about my project on São Vicente, one of the Cape Verde islands.
Since the ‘boys’ on WST hardly react I thought I’ll give it a go and see if the ‘girls’ are more interested.
Last February I introduced the steelpan there, during carnival.
As there is hardly any money there I was only able to get a free stay and meals for whoever wanted to join me. Only one came!
But never the less I took a few pans with me and taught the inhabitants of São Vicente how to play, which resulted in playing the carnival tune during the parade. I must say, that I was very surprised and proud they picked it up so easily!
They loved the sound of it and want to learn everything there is to know about it.

Now I want to start part two of this project and I hope you can help me in this.
They need some pans to start a small band, but they can’t afford to buy them. Maybe one of you has a pan somewhere laying around, which you don’t need anymore. Doesn’t matter what pan it is, they are happy with any pan!!!

I got an offer from two people who want to build pans over there, which I really appreciate. But there are no oil drums with the right thickness on Cabo Verde, so they have to be imported as well, which will also cost money.

So my hope is that you can help them. Read my former post about it if you have the time. And if you have any other ideas, please tell me.
Hope to hear from all of you soon, even if you can’t help. Just to know that you care about spreading pan to this country.

Here are two links from the carnival. Hope you like!

https://youtu.be/IAfofR2bj_k

https://youtu.be/n6k1ceZ7-jY  ( from 2.30 min.)

Kind regards
Deanne Pijl, The Netherlands

I admit; I am no Christian, but then again neither was the thief who allegedly was offered "everlasting life". I admit; I am neither Jesus Christ, nor a thief, but I am able to recognize which "camps" people belong to ('scuse the grammar). How? BY THEIR WORKS! (Caps, for emphasis.) I know that some people have the ability and skills to serve two (or more) "masters" -- God, Devil, good, evil -- and, today becomes earmarked as the day some return to their "Christianity", having served the "King of Carnival" -- Bacchus.

So, I chose today, as I hope to speak to the "God" in you, and not yesterday's "Devil". Is that okay? (Rhetoric.) The Christian leader allegedly stated that "...it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven." Think about that extreme use of metaphorical reference for a moment...

Of course, being a (bona fide) leader, he didn't just talk the talk. As written, when offered the entire "World", he allegedly rejected the "Ruler" (you know, "Satan"), telling him that his "Father's Kingdom, is of no part of this World." Those who wanted to be in his presence had to leave ALL their "riches" behind. And, he allegedly asked, "WHAT DOES IT PROFIT A MAN TO GAIN THE WORLD AND LOSE HIS SOUL?" (Again, caps for emphasis only.)

Then, when the soulless "rich man" eventually dies (sorry; money can't buy you eternal life), the family buries them according to "Christian rites", thinking that their "rich" loved one prove Jesus Christ wrong, by getting into heaven, while we ALL know ain't NO camel getting through NO needle's eye! lol. Well; as Bob Marley sang, "...they crucified Jessus Christ..."

Point is; I "know who I am and where I stand in the struggle" (Marley) If those who claimed to be "Christian" are the very ones who crowned their own leader with thorns, I should (and do) expect similar or worse treatment by men, especially the "rich" and those who are all about "that money". Of course, karma catches up to them, as in Trump's case, but even if the laws of men don't get you, the Universal Law (i.e. karma) will. As I admitted; I am no "Christian", but I am no thief either. Just a simple man who continues to be honest to himself and others. ALL about choice! To my Christian peers, safe and happy Lenten season. Protect our women and girls!

George D. Goddard

Pan-Africanism And The Connecting Of The Steel Drum/Steelpan To Black History

Most people with a basic knowledge of the history of the steel drum/steelpan/pan, have no difficulty in connecting the percussive instrument to its Trinidad origins. However, few are able to make the connection between the instrument and “Black History”...

(Click the following link for the full article.) https://panicleusa.com/black-history-month-pan-africanism-and-the-connecting-of-the-steel-drum-steelpan-to-black-history)

NOTE TO WST MEMBERS: While some are unable to find the human decency to respect ALL people, regardless of "race", I have continued to assert that Black people are not inferior or deficient, but, simply different. Afro-Trinbagonian professionals in the social science fields may not know who I am, but I continue to earn the respect of doctorate holders in the field of psychology! I clearly understand that, in order to change behaviors, we MUST address the opinions and attitudes that fuel them. 

George D. Goddard

As I hope you all already know, I started a project about introducing pan on São Vicente, Cabo Verde Islands.

As this the site for developing pan all over the world, I hope to reach as much people as possible 

As a lot of bands in Trinidad/Tobago don't use mail, I hope you read this and help them to start a panyard.

My name is Deanne Pijl and I live in The Netherlands. And of course I play Pan.
Last February, during the Carnival, I was on São Vicente ( Cape Verde Islands) to do a small project, introducing Pan. They don’t know this instrument, never seen it, never heard it.

I had the opportunity to lend some pans from Nostalgia Steelband from London and took 5 pans with me.
My idea was to form a small band and play on the Carnival parade.
It was a great success!
They loved the sound and want to learn everything about playing pan.

Big problem.
Cape Verde is a poor country. Hardly any work there. So no money to buy instruments.

My colleague and me ( we are piano technicians) gave them 2 piano’s a couple of years ago, for almost nothing. This year I found a keyboard outside in the rain, dried it, worked fine and took it with me. The music teacher was very happy with it.

Well I think you know by now, why I sent you this letter.

Hope you can help them to set up a small pan yard, by donating a steelpan.
The music teacher Eddy Max,  asked the government for money for shipping the instruments, and they want to help him.

They also want to learn how to make one. Can’t do it myself, but I can teach them how to play. I don’t earn any money by teaching them, ( also tune there piano’s for free) I’m just doing it for the love of Pan and to help them in a musical way.

Really, really hope you are willing to help them and spread Pan to another part of the world.

Please reply, even if you don’t have the possibility to donate a Pan. Maybe you even have better ideas, how to start a steel band on São Vicente.
I know they will be very grateful. 

We had very little time ( only 8 days) and was very proud of them playing Pan as if they were born with it and could play the Carnival tune during the parade for 5 hours!!

Made a small compilation of it. Hope you have the time and enthusiasm to look at it and HELP THEM!!

https://youtu.be/IAfofR2bj_k

Kind regards
Deanne Pijl

CARNIVAL IS A RITUAL

They came from all over just as they did last year and for so many years before to this meeting place, to indulge in this Ritual that is Carnival. Their behavior was trance-like, as though possessed they gathered at Ports of departure, each one determined that nothing could stop them from worshiping their God, King Carnival. Their transit to the venues of worship was tense with anticipation as they were moved by the memory of last year's Ritual. Their arrival was met by fellow worshipers, greetings were exchanged, commitments made. The God must be served with more splendor and glory than was last year.

Food of the God was offered nightly at places called Calypso Tents;

The food:- the Music, the Rhythm, Calypso;

Food of the God:- The songs that bellowed from the hilltops, from ritualistic nooks and crannies called Pan Yards;

Food of the God:- The Fetes, the Panorama, exciting, captivating,

Food of the God:- Stimulating, appetizing, preparing for the Feasts of Feasts, God King Carnival.

Jourvert is the offering a million worshipers make;

Ah! the God is pleased because this offering is bigger and better than last year's.

God King Carnival opens his arms and embraces his subjects, "Let the Ritual Begin!"

Carnival is alive!

Oh! Oh! A! A! Mama Yo! It's Carnival!

Tambu Bamboo, It's Carnival!

Jab Malasie, It's Carnival!

A million hearts in majestic unison, Oh God Carnival!

A million faces in transfigurated countenances of ecstasy, Don't Stop the Carnival!

And so for forty-four hours two sister islands in the sun pulsate, vibrate;

Rhythmic voices chanting; Rhythmic bodies swaying, gyrating;

Shango drums, Steel Drums bellowing;

The children,  the fathers and the mothers, jumping, shouting;

Color, every color mixing, blending;

Tempo hot, Laughter loud, so much love, so much loving;

Somebody shout:- PLAY MAS!!!

The eyes of night smile with romance.

The sound of music in the moonlight, 

Sometimes soothing, sometimes exciting.

Vows made, some betrayed.

God King Carnival reigns.

The bowels of King Carnival is filled and so sleep calls, but the Ritual must be drained to the very end.

It's Las' Lap!

New acquaintances tightly embrace,

Music is softer, voices whisper,

Tired feet scuffle, over each other they stumble, 

A guitar pan strums,

A lone tenor responds,

A base pan dies,

Sleep has taken its life,

A lover whispers "Oh God I'm tired",

Collapses, energy expired.

It's Midnight!.

And there is the sound of silence,

As God King Carnival sleeps.

THE RITUAL IS OVER.

                                                                                                    Winston Andrews (a.k.a. Boots)

As I hope you all know, I started a small project on The Cape Verde Island, São Vicente.

First part is done successfully, which was introducing and teaching pan. They never heard, saw or played a steelpan before. I was lucky that Nostalgia Steelband from London, lend me some pans, and took them with me, payed my own ticket to get there, and taught them how to play. 

The goal was to form a small steelband together with the inhabitants of São Vicente and play on their carnival parade.

And it worked! ( look at the video Cruzeiros Do Norte) They love the sound and want to learn everything there is to learn about pan.

So now I have to start the Second part of this project.

AND I NEED ALL OF YOU TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN!

Cape Verde is a poor country, hardly any work available.

How can we get pans over there, with them not having the possibility to pay for the instruments.

The local music teacher Eddy Max, is looking for ways, by talking to the council, to see if they are willing to contribute.

My question to all of you, and especially the big steelbands, is if there is a possibility to donate a pan.

Then they can start a panyard. They would be so grateful if this works.

The Third part of the project will be to learn them how to make their own pans. I can't do that myself, don't have the skills. But as I got in contact with Bowie Bowei from Nigeria, he is willing to help me in this.

PLEASE HELP FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF PAN!! and sent them some pans.

If you have any other ideas, please tell me and respond to this letter.

Hope we can succeed in spreading pan to another part of the world!

Regards

Deanne Pijl

The Netherlands

(Part 1 of a T&T Guardian series on Panorama)

The annual ritual of the steelband Panorama competition has begun in Trinidad and Tobago, and continues apace through the stages culminating on Carnival Saturday with the finals. With the financial cutbacks across the board in all areas of the economy including Carnival, there is a recognition that the sum of the parts have to be efficient and excellent to make the whole better. The holistic view of Panorama being in need of “fixing” taken by some commentators and pundits has raised the question of why has this analysis not been done and implemented before this recession, and why, even in these times, does the state still pump money, in the millions into Carnival and its events such as Panorama

A simple answer could be that Panorama represents the apotheosis of the national instrument. That reasoning was supplied by steelpan researcher Dr Kim Johnson, who spoke to the T&T Guardian about the idea of the continuation of the state funded event within the context of moribund standards for the industry of steelpan throughout the year. Johnson noted the history of Panorama: “Panorama was the PNM government of the 1960s taking control of the steelband movement, what they saw as national culture. The strategy included making it more lucrative to play in Panorama because of prize money and appearance fees than to play in parties and fêtes.”

The intrigue continues with the assertion that the early Panorama became the antithesis of the existing Bomb competition with opposing class and racial groups challenging for control and influence—the new governing elite insisting that calypso be played versus the working class playing classical music—and critically voter support. Johnson: “PNM had no organised masses like a union, so panmen represented a structured link to the voting masses.” The link between political fate and culture control is observed in countries in the region like Cuba, and even here when calypso lyrics were subject to censors speaks of a kind of continued control.

In these modern times, the State, spends millions on the continuation of Carnival both as catharsis and economic input via tourism and the economic multiplier effect of trade at that time. In 2016, $270 M is allocated to the National Carnival Commission (NCC), which effectively runs Carnival, of which Pan Trinbago got $30 M. Keith Diaz says that his organisation requested $45 M from the government, but Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly said that “the current economic conditions have forced the Government to cut back.” Efforts to get a statement from the minister in relation to the question of the rationale and policy for state funding of steelpan proved futile. What is clear from government statements is the need to increase revenues from diversified sources outside of oil and gas.

The people's representatives in the Parliament, during Joint Select Committee (JSC) hearings in 2012 looking into the management of the NCC reported their findings in a report that spoke about financial and management matters at the organisation, and conclusions from this report provide some answers to questions of the viability of the Panorama event and the spin-off projects like the disputed Greens area. The report specifically noted congestion of the masquerade on Carnival Tuesday, and only touched on the stalled construction of the Pan Trinbago headquarters—at least $5.8 M spent and unfinished since 2002—and the movement away from T&T of the steelpan industry. Any notions of a long Panorama event—an assertion made by some to recommend fixing—were not concluded as a problem!

When challenged by former senator Emmanuel George to justify the Greens space as a simultaneous “fête” when the focus should be on pan at Panorama, Clarence Moe, then NCC CEO responded that, “there is a push at present to tell the interest groups [Pan Trinbago in this case], your events and activities must be viable. That you must be able to at least increase the levels of revenue, because the shows and the events that you put on have the potential for raising higher revenues...this year has generated the greatest level of revenue that we have ever seen, indeed it was almost doubled.” Economics trumped all other considerations. Despite some pull out from party organisers and promotions companies, companies are organising their posses for the Savannah Party on Sunday.

Vice president of Pan Trinbago Bryon Serrette, in 2014, justified the existence of the Greens by noting that “while a lot of the younger generation members are playing with the steelbands, their peers have not been supporting the event...they would prefer not to sit in one spot for hours listening to the bands....Pan Trinbago, therefore, took the decision to accommodate these patrons by giving them a space in which they would be comfortable, and at the same time contribute to the revenues we are expected to generate from the event.” Keith Diaz, Pan Trinbago president reiterates, “Pan Trinbago is not the Pan Trinbago of yesteryear. We are now a business-driven enterprise.” Yet the call for increased subventions continues.

It must be noted that nearly 90% of the NCC's budget comes via government subvention. Pan Trinbago's money is a mix of public and private funding with a very small portion of revenue coming from gate receipts and rentals. But Panorama is not only about money, it is about performance and increasingly about broadcast and intellectual property exploitation.

The recent example of the marathon International Soca Monarch has shone a new spotlight on the idea of broadcasting and live streaming of Carnival events and the production values expected of such an enterprises. The idea of broadcasting festival type events has precedence in the BBC broadcasts of Glastonbury and state television stations in Europe broadcasting jazz festivals like Estival in Lugano, Switzerland, and Jazzaldia in San Sebastián, Spain, as international examples. Snapshots or even sets by acts support a television broadcast that is distributed worldwide. The local preference to position a camera or a bank of cameras on unprepared singers or eight minute bursts of steelpan performance sandwiched between 20 minutes of transition time between bands creates a bad television experience, as noted by many on social media, and an unsupported product for live international broadcast where the economic exploitation make sense.

At the 2012 JSC hearings, the NCC admitted failure to further exploit broadcast rights citing “the lack of proper technology” and noting their inability to collect accreditation fees from international photographers. What becomes clearer in 2016, is how far we as a nation is behind the learning curve of modern technology and trends, and the slow buy-in to the notion that local audiences' expectations have increased with the burgeoning of cable television and internet providing example of standards not seen often in these islands.

Kim Johnson posits another idea based on his research, “Pan is not a consumer thing. Capitalist music systems are about consumption, pan is about participation.” This idea turns the standard business model for the exploitation of pan via a Panorama or the broadcast of Panorama on its head. At the funeral of calypso jazz pioneer Raf Robertson, Fr Clyde Harvey suggested that pan should take a page from the jazz book: “jazz is about festivals, not a contest. Eight “winners” at semis, share the prize money equally, and a festival on 'finals night' for all of us to celebrate the music and the instrument.” Aside from the argument of picking eight “winners” constituting a competition, Harvey's suggestion was roundly rebutted by Johnson: “That can't work. We need the competition. Black music is about immediacy. Jazz achieves that by improvisation, pan by competition.”

SIDEBAR: Who's winning this...again?

Kim Johnson says that “Panorama is a competition for arrangers.” However, there is a kind of stasis in the growth of prize winning arrangers. Despite the embargo on one arranger arranging for multiple bands many years ago, in the last 35 years only eight arrangers have “won” in the large band category, the late Jit Samaroo winning nine times, Leon “Smooth” Edwards winning eight times, Len “Boogsie” Sharpe winning seven times among the leaders.

His thesis hinges on the notion that in New World African music, the spontaneity of jazz is removed in our pre-composed context of arranged carnival music at Panorama. To that, is the “who go win” factor that insists only a competition will decide. The immediacy of improvisation is replicated in our context by competition.

Panorama continues because it satisfies that ageing demographic, which can not sustain it as a popular music. Panorama continues because the state seeks to maintain support, financially and otherwise for a “national” culture. Panorama continues because it owner, Pan Trinbago, has made it the acme of the instrument and the industry. Nestor Sullivan, an expert, suggests that “Panorama seems to be the 'definition of steelpan' but as a catalyst for annual music practising and development, it is not doing that.” The world is moving on with creative industry exploitation T&T has begun with differing results thus far. Kim Johnson posits, finally, that “steelband is modern instrument that preserves the ancient idea that music is participation.” These two ideas from learned folk suggest that the annual rite of passage that is Panorama may be in need of fixing, but only when the society at large, get on board the idea that fix anything in this island is to shift paradigms away from the familiar.

1. A version of this article appears in the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian newspapers published as, "Fixing Panorama"

© 2016, Nigel A. Campbell. All Rights Reserved.

American pannist and composer Andy Narell is an iconoclast who fearlessly challenges the narrow definitions of acceptable pan music. He is global, and his usefulness as an ambassador for Trinidad and Tobago's national instrument is tainted by suspicion long held by panmen and the steel pan fraternity in general here. It may be an attitude of his own making. Long held beliefs are hard to dispel with logic. Pan pioneer Rudolf "Fish Eye" Ollivierre welcomed itinerant writer Patrick Leigh Fermor back in the late 1940s to Hell Yard, as described in his travel book The Traveller's Tree—"The ease of his manner was admirable"—implying a sense of awe and acceptance we have nurtured over the years in this region for "tourists." Narell has long ago stopped being a tourist. The cri de coeur of a Trinidad-resident critic sums up the native posture towards Narell:

He is one of us and thus, prone to the same criticisms and praise as the rest of us. He is critical of our music, our Panorama and we react without obsequiousness. And rightly so, for that is the Caribbean posture, effectively practised by the panman forever; never back down from a challenge.

Andy Narell belongs to a pantheon of expatriate creatives who "belong" here in Trinidad and at the same time are aware of their difficulty of so belonging. Important regional authors were temporary immigrants to these shores in the mid- 20th century—Edgar Mittelholzer in 1941-48, George Lamming in 1946-50, Derek Walcott in 1959-76—and their presence and experiences added to the canon of great West Indian literature. Trinidad's capital, Port of Spain, and by extension, the island is a place frequented by those wanderers in search of inspiration and succour. It still is a moving place designed to shape memory and ways of feeling.

George Gershwin's symphonic tone poem, An American in Paris is the impression of a visitor—probably Gershwin himself recounting an earlier visit—moving through the city of lights. Andy Narell is an ideal template of An American in Paradise! The idea of an expatriate musician in a foreign land and his potential influence on the music industry formed a question in the writer's head: "would an American in Trinidad energise a jazz (pan jazz?) renaissance in Trinidad, or would it foster competitive jealousy?" The answer could be gleaned from the Narell narrative.

Narell's initial visit was as a 12 year old child to perform at the 1966 Trinidad Music Festival. That life-changing experience introduced him to the panyards and the pioneers, especially Ellie Mannette, and served as the education of this lifelong student of the steel pan and the steelband movement. His annual pilgrimage to the source has been unceasing since 1985. His encyclopaedic knowledge of panmen, the music and the environment of pan suggests that he has done his work, and his global journeys in the service of spreading the sound of pan and his music are not matched by many.

Trinidad-born Nobel laureate in literature, VS Naipaul posits poetically in A Writer's People: "small places with simple economies bred small people with simple destinies." Narell, the American, sees the world differently. He recounted that when he first did a concert in Trinidad in 1985, it was billed as a shoot-out, a competition. The promoters thought that would pique interest. The implication of race and nationality was an unspoken catalyst. That idea was whispered loudly!

The apprehension by Trinidad and Tobago to fully adopt this ambassador of steel pan jazz has been noticeably clear. French film maker Laurent Lichtenstein, in his portrait of Narell filmed in Trinidad in 2009, Andy and the Jumbies, asserts that his presence and concert "may help him to be accepted as a real Trinidadian." Narell himself has noted to writer Asha Brodie in 2007 that he wasn't everybody's cup of tea: "I guess I also have a reputation for being 'avant-garde' and for not caring about who wins [Panorama], which is why my phone isn't ringing." That isolation could either be the result of xenophobia or artificial rage. "Small people with simple destinies."

His presence has not swayed the minds of dyed-in-the-wool traditionalists. The years-long struggle for the privilege to compose for Panorama was an exercise in the fleshing out of de facto prejudices that disallowed foreigners from composing or even arranging for the competition, much less a tune without lyrics. Triumphant in 1999 in breaching the divide, Narell was once again in Trinidad arranging his composition "The Last Word" for Birdsong Steel Orchestra for the 2013 Panorama competition. This is his third competition, and controversial to the end, judges and commentators noted that the tune doesn't "reflect Trinidad's energy or language!" Champion steelband Despers' arranger Beverley Griffith noted in a conversation with ethnomusicologist Shannon Dudley: "Excitement is one of the key things in today's Panorama; you hear that on every judge's score sheet: 'It could do with a little more excitement.' They wouldn't tell you exactly what it is..." De facto prejudices and de jure standards are continuing challenges to Narell.

A narrow focus on ensemble music for pan can limit the Trinidadian's need to accommodate him. He is more than an arranger. It is not without trying that he succeeded to place the instrument in the context of global music industry via prolific recorded output, sales and performances. According to his bio:

He's one of only a small handful of steel pan players in the world who are playing jazz, and perhaps the only one among that coterie to commit an entire career "live and in the studio" to creating new music for the pan in that context.

The intersection of location and presence can yield surprising results on music output. Narell was categorized by the music industry in the US—sheet music publishers and reviewers of his initial Heads Up recordings—as a Latin Jazz artist, even if not so self-described, thus negating the growing influence that the music of the Caribbean isles had on his growing canon of music. His effortless movement and adaptation of Latin American melodies and rhythms including his work with Caribbean Jazz Project and on the album Behind The Bridge in the mid-to- late 1990s signalled new directions in music.

In 1999, he reaped the benefit of post-apartheid South Africa's adulation of him and his music at the Arts Alive Festival, with 60,000 fans "singing" his lyric-less steel pan melodies. The juxtaposition of an Afro-Caribbean bred instrument in Africa led to recordings there. Later relocation to Paris and meeting with exiled French-Antillean jazzmen there led to the formation of Sakesho and the resultant two CDs. The corpus of Trinidadian steel pan music allows space for this maverick.

Narell, the frequent visitor—in 2013, he performed at the annual Jazz Artists on the Greens in Trinidad in March, Jazz in the South in St Lucia in May, and St Kitts Music Festival in June—if not the fortunate traveller has created music that to the local ear resonates with the sound and energy of calypso and the harmonic and melodic sentiments of the Panorama compositions of calypso legend Lord Kitchener, and steel pan players/arrangers Ray Holman, Len "Boogsie" Sharpe, Robert Greenidge, among others. This town—Port of Spain, paradise—has rubbed off on him. He belongs to Trinidad.

Photo Credit
Ari Rossner

SONS OF STEEL ROCKS TORONTO! UP NEXT... TRINIDAD & CAYMAN ISLANDS !!

The Armenian centre was blown away Saturday July 14th, 2012 with the performance of three brothers in the ‘Sons of Steel’ concert featuring Noel, Earl Jr. and Olujimi La Pierre. 'Sons of Steel' kicked off in Toronto with a grand opening performance, which left the audience clapping and singing to each song played by the talented and skillful brothers.

The show opened with Earl La Pierre Jr. the extraordinary steel pannist , also known as Eman for his Mc and promotional skills. He played selections from I Will Always Love You, The Lady In My Life, I Wanna Rock With You, Goat Mouth and others. After warming up the crowd, the stage was graced with one of the pioneers of steelpan music in Canada and the Cayman Island, Mr. Earl La Pierre Senior, who demonstrated his years of aptitude.

Ending the first half was the Boy Wonder himself all the way from the Cayman Island, Olujimi La Pierre, offering his versatility and skill on the steelpan, as he played songs like Wings Breath My Wings, Just The Two Of Us , High Mas and more.

After a rocking first half, the show continued to thrill the audience as Noel La Pierre, COTT award recipient bought his ‘Trini’ flavor to the stage with his wonderful artistry on the steelpan in his selections Inspiration, Morning, Between The Sheets and My Passion.

The show climaxed with a grand finale performance which made history placing both father and sons on the same stage, for the first time ever, ringing out the the soca hit ‘Bacannalist’.

The steelpan soloists were all backed by the multitalented Liamuiga Project featuring Bruce Skerritt, Andrew Stewart, Tony Pierre, Larnell Lewis, and chorus Ralph Robinson and Onika Coar.

The ‘Sons Of Steel’ concert was a concept created to bring together three unique style. The annual show was dedicated to the living memory of Norma Adele Peter, their grandmother, who the family described as the foundation and pillar that held everything together.

The Sons Of Steel will be travelling to Trinidad and Tobago in January 2013 to perform at the Cascadia Hotel and Conference Centre, followed by a final concert in April in the Cayman Islands.

The brother’s wish to thank their family and friends as well as their sponsors Pan Arts Network (P.A.N), AfroPan Steelpan, Cascadia Hotel and Conference Centre, Proman Ag Trinidad and Tobago and Pantrinibago for all the support.

For more information on Sons of Steel please contact 1-416-953-0905 / 1-868-484-3923.

A review, including USVI pannist Victor Provost's new CD, Her Favorite Shade of Yellow

Trombonist Reginald Cyntje (pronounced sin-chee) and pannist Victor Provost represent, to me, an opportunity to understand the connection between Caribbean jazz and the USVI as a locus of the New World African music from a social and critical perspective. Both these musicians were raised in the US Virgin Islands, before migrating to the mainland US for music training and careers in jazz. That early influence, without the distance of "independence" that other Caribbean jazzists have, marks a point of reference to understand the recent output of these two Washington, DC based musicians.

Music scholar Warren R. Pinckney Jr. investigated the interrelationship between the mainland and the Virgin Islands jazz scenes in his 1992 essay "Jazz in The U.S. Virgin Islands", and he observed that:

After purchasing the islands in 1917, the United States set out to "Americanize the people of the Virgin Islands," primarily by introducing American-style public education. An indirect outcome of this Americanization, coupled with influences from various Caribbean islands such as Cuba, Trinidad, and Puerto Rico, was the discouragement of native Virgin Islands culture...The Virgin Islands and mainland United States jazz scenes have a fundamental mutual relationship: the American jazz scene provides the models upon which local players base their performance styles,and the Virgin Islands jazz scene provides new performance venues for American players.
Pinkney Jr., Warren R. "Jazz in the U.S. Virgin Islands." American Music, Vol. 10, No. 4 (Winter, 1992), pp. 441-467. Web. 9 Sep. 2010

These two Virgin islanders, one using a western canonical instrument, the trombone to create island inspired jazz whilst the other, using an "island instrument" to interpret bebop make for an interesting comparison. Reginald and Victor were reared in Saint Thomas and Saint John  respectively (Reginald was born in Dominica and moved to St.
Thomas at 2 months), and the institutions and educational influences there in the 1970s may have played a part in their decision to play jazz as opposed to say soca, calypso or other imported pan-Caribbean music style. The social environment in the USVI with its heavy emphasis on American tourism relegates jazz in America's Caribbean Paradise as accompaniment for "Caribbean warmth, both the weather and the people" as one blurb states. As Warren Pinckney said elsewhere,"In the U.S. Virgin Islands, jazz has historically been an economic component of the considerable tourist industry upon which to a large extent the country's economy depends." This combination of education and economic influences, plus the unique relationship between St. Thomas and St. John, as opposed to St. Croix piqued my interest, and allows me to combine the reviews of these fine musicians.

Reginald Cyntje. © eddywestveer.com

Reginald describes his album "Freedom's Children"thus: "This CD will paint a colorful musical landscape that will take you from drinking your favorite wine at an elegant jazz club to enjoying a refreshing daiquiri on a beautiful Caribbean beach." This blurb coincides with the research of Pinckney, and foretells the mindset of this trombonist, and his marketing strategy. The metaphor of the Caribbean, "as a place to flee...seriousness" as so eloquently described by Derek Walcott is mirrored in Reginald's self-description of this CD. Elsewhere, Reginald elucidates on the CD's theme: "After the parade of innocence passes, the roller coaster of life begins." That juxtaposition of carefree whimsy with deep analysis and substance can be a theme of the overall effect of this CD on this listener. This CD has music for dancing, for celebrating, for remembering elegance and pride in our Caribbean glory.

Trinidadian trumpeter Etienne Charles once told me, "Calypso is one of the ways we celebrate freedom, Jazz is another...and my one rule is that there are no rules...that's freedom."Freedom's Children is Caribbean Jazz! Reginald incorporates Virgin Island melodies, traditions and rhythms and weaves a musical statement closer to his expanded thesis than his marketing cliché. Rather than being a pastiche of anything-goes island vibes, the musicianship and sonic ideas by Reginald and his band of USVI expat musicians feed into a trend of re-charting the ruins of lost cultural
memories. World fusion experiments have had a storied history in the jazz canon and industry, but listeners with ears turned toward the tropical latitudes would not be indifferent at the trombone's rise as a musical voice in the Caribbean, jazz precedence notwithstanding.

Victor Provost

Victor's website posits that, "[he] is one of a handful of pan players in the world who have incorporated a Bebop foundation into his playing, and arguably, the only one who has expounded on that vocabulary
with a modern sensibility and style." We may beg to differ on the hyperbole, and I am sure Annise Hadeed and Rudy Smith may have something to say about that. I can attest that he does understand the bebop fundamentals and the sound of the pan in the milieu of a swinging bebop band is refreshing in the current landscape of post-bop, pseudo-jazz dominance.

"Her Favorite Shade of Yellow" wanders through the field of jazz standards, placing the steelpan in the centre of a conversation heretofore reserved for other instruments of the jazz big band. Once a jazzman gets his hands on a traditional instrument, it is forever changed; the trumpet, saxophone, and piano will never be narrowly assessed as instruments of the western classical canon. His technique is strong, the improvisation interesting and informed, and the assuredness of the self-composed title tune, places Victor immediately into the upper echelons of the pannist's pantheon both in the Caribbean, specifically Trinidad and Tobago, and in the US. This is a worthy purchase that highlights the evolution of the steel drum from jangly rhythm maker in post WWII Trinidad to lead instrument on a growing number of CDs produced here in the Caribbean and importantly, in the US, both as a signifier of a Caribbean ethos and as melodic charmer with range and tone to embrace varied musical styles.

This CD, however, illustrates frustratingly to me that our Trinidadian pannists are not recording music, of quality and with frequency, to make the sound of the steelpan more universal. A sad fact, for this listener is that the most prolific steelpan recording artist is an American. Victor and other US pannists like Jonathan Scales are challenging the sound of the pan in "non-traditional styles", and in so doing creating new ears which will have a critical commercial role in identifying the steelpan sound in the marketplace. The Panorama tune, while effectively composed for orchestra, is never treated as a piece for interpretation by ensembles smaller than large orchestras.

This pair of musicians should be rewarded by commercial validation for their respective appreciation of Caribbean-ness despite the cynicism of the regional politician or metropolitan critic. Their journeys, though similar in one sense, have taken the idea of Caribbean Jazz from different perspectives by instrument choice and jazz sensibility to this point. Andre Tanker's "Forward Home" has lyrics that speak to his sojourn in the US thus:

I went away
I leave and I come back home
I come back to stay
I must see meh way.

The spiritual return to "come back to stay" is a commonality of Caribbean artists who have made it in the metropole. Fellow USVI ex-pats on the US mainland such as Dion Parson, Ron Blake and Reuben Rogers attest to the need to have their footprint in both locales; the US for enhanced education and financial opportunity, and the Caribbean for
influence and cultural validation. Like fellow USVI expat, Sonny Rollins a generation or two before, the mainstream serves as a platform for Caribbean innovation within limits offered by an influencing audience. These two Saints have really come marching in. Reginald and Victor continue the tradition of the many music merchants from the islands before. We look for wider availability of their product in CD form here as we celebrate.

I was recently re-animated about the possibilities of programming 24 hours of steelpan jazz and its variants for online radio, when I had to do a little research into the output of this sub-genre of our Caribbean jazz fusion experiment. Some hard realities; we had a proliferation of CDs during the1990s, both in Trinidad and Tobago and abroad, mainly North America. A smattering of offerings out of the UK and Europe did not hold much sway as we entered the 21st century. As a programming niche, there is a thin line between repitition and redundancy.

There is a sort of renaissance in music recording now from the US, by non-Trinidadians as well as diasporic citizens, but the quality varies with level of music academic qualifications. Two names stick out, Phil Hawkins and Gary Gibson, both offering two and four CDs respectively in the 2000s, leaning to what Andy Narell, among others, has termed "progressive steelpan jazz": jazz-based, harmonically intricate music. To quote a review for one of Gibson's CDs: "Speaking a language of harmonic depth not previously explored within the steelpan community in recorded music, Gibson's compositions provide an excellent springboard for improvisations." Both these West-coast musicians attempt to be innovators of music for steelpan. On the east coast of the US, ex-pats Liam Teague and Leon Foster Thomas are creating variety, Victor Provost recently premiered with bebop stylings, while JAOTG alumnus Jonathan Scales released his third CD of musically complex and outside the box compositions. One critic noted, "the music on Jonathan Scales' [three CDs] defies the conventional parameters of jazz or even "pan-jazz" and pushes composition to unprecedented levels of complexity and sophistication."

Local steelpan recordings seem to revolve around ensemble performance by a whole band, with few offerings by our greats: Boogsie, Professor, Ray. Robbie Greenidge, with his collaborations with Michael Utley of Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefers Band, has about over a half-dozen CDs, now and then veering towards his boss' carefree tropical blend devoid of the native rhythms that inform Caribbean jazz. I look and listen with keen interest at young Kyle Noel's upcoming offerings. This Trinidad southerner, far from the madding crowd has interesting musical and sonic ideas, and it would be an excellent fillip for the inventors of the PHI to get that instrument into his hands.

Hoping and believing that quantity and quality are what drive a music industry, I look, and wait with bated breath for the day when we get our act together here in the Caribbean, to make that statement that we made years ago when Caribbean people challenged the idea that there was music other than rock 'n' roll that was chart-worthy in the US. Belafonte was a catalyst then, but not a sustainer. It is said that Andy Narell is the equivalent catalyst for the steelpan. Only excellent output will sustain. [Listen to the exfm stream of some collected music here.]

Phil Hawkins Livin Right

Jason Baptiste 546

Victor Provost Her Favorite Shade of Yellow

Annise Hadeed Over-Time

Jaco Pastorius Good Morning Annya

Kalabash From Whence We Came

Richard Bailey Sande Grande Plains

Kyle Noel The Black Whole

WDR Big Band Köln Pan Woman

Phil Hawkins The Big Idea

The Breakfast Band Jazzabel

Hugh Huggins Jr. Carenage

Leon "Foster" Thomas No Looking Back

Ken Professor Philmore Hibiscus Drive

Gary Gibson A Little Poem For You

Canefire Little Bell

Garvin Blake Belle Eau Road Blues

Ron Reid's Sunsteel Dis J'ouvert

Othello Molineaux Hannibal's Return

Lennard Jack What's On Your Mind

Andy Narell Stickman

Greenidge/Utley Trini Style

Ralph MacDonald Samba 4-2

Ray Holman Charlotte Street

Global

PAN BUZZ AWARDS  2011

After much deliberation by our judges’ panel, and endless gulps of black coffee, it is my pleasure to present the Pan Buzz Awards 2011.  First let me thank all those who sent in nominations.

The judges’ decisions are final, and no injunction, cussing or bottle-pelting, will be entertained.

Pan Song of the Year:  It’s Showtime
Arranger of the Year:   Leon “Smooth” Edwards 

Top Ten Pan Songs

1. It’s Showtime -  Edwin Pouchet/Alvin Daniell

2. Pan For Peace -  Kygel Benjamin/Sheldon Reid

3. How We Coming -  Brian “Bean” Griffith/Alvin Daniel

4. Momentum -  Don Clarke/Alvin Daniell

5. Calling Meh - Mark Loquan/Ken Philmore

6. Zhess - Dexter Keane

7. Pan Badjohn - Earl Brooks/Kurt Allen

8. Alien Steelband - Dunstan “Carwash” Lawrence

9. Bamboo Man -  Alston Jack/Chris and Samantha Jack

10. Ruction -  Jason “Peanuts” Isaac

Allan Gervais Pan Heroes Award

No tribute is too great to pay to the Dixielanders, who this year celebrated 60 years of their ground-breaking trip to England. These defenders of the Pan went up against family and friends, putting their college education on the line for pan. They won acceptance for Pan... and panmen.  They are: Hady Lee, Curtis Pierre, Billy Carpenter, Joey Ng Wai, Mervyn Telfer, Miguel Barradas, Trevor Cumberbatch, Alfred Toussaint, Lennox Totesaut, Lennox Langton, Russel Valdez, Michael “Natsi” Constant, Angela Christopher and Sonny Blacks.
 

Other awardees are: Thunderbolt Williams, Sterling Betancourt, Barrie Nanton, Elton “Smokey” John, Cyril “Nick” Boxhill and Zigilee.

International Pan Heroes Award

Terry Noel, Pepe Francis and Andy Narell

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BEST OF LUCK, SEION

Like Duvone Stewart (bptt Renegades), Señor Seion Gomez (pictured) has stepped into the big league on Pan. Seion campaigned in the Second Division of pan (Medium category), but has now been given the tough assignment with the Solo Harmonites.  Yohan Popwell has been given two bites of the cherry, but failed to deliver.  Pan arranging is becoming like football coaching, you either stand, or fall, on your results.

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“BOOGSIE” TO EAT AH FOOD

Len “Boogsie” Sharpe will eat ah food in three categories of Pan next year. He has just been given the assignment with single pan band Carib Woodbrook Playboyz.
 

In Tobago, he will eat some curry crab and dumplings with medium band Our Boys, and his biggest plate will come from his beloved Phase II Pan Groove.

My spies tell me that “Boogsie” has stopped his foolish excursion, and pitbull behaviour with Pan Trinbago, and is getting down to what he does best... music.
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Wherever you are in Pan’s world, keep loving up The Pan.

Global

“GYPSY” MUST ACCOUNT

I hope Pan people are looking at what the Trinidad & Tobago Minister of Culture, Winston “Gypsy” Peters, is doing with taxpayers’ money. Is he giving it away to friends and family?

Winston “Gypsy” Peters must tell John and Jane Public why he is getting down on Pan people, while financing - to the tune of $1.2 million dollars - his son Colin Jackman’s misadventures with soca. The recent International Soca (substitute ‘Comedy’) Awards was a disaster. “Gypsy” must account. HE MUST TELL THE PUBLIC WHY he keep pelting taxpayers’ money behind this event, but on the other hand, pressuring Pan people. My spies tell me he is on a collision course with Panmen over cut-backs in the assistance to small steelbands and single-pan bands.

Over to you, Madame Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
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MUSICAL EARTHQUAKE TO SHAKE T&T

A musical earthquake is about to grip Trinidad and Tobago as over twenty pan songs have fallen from the various studios.  There is a lot of lacourey surrounding Alvin Daniell’s collaboration with Edwin Pouchet. Word is that they are coming with ‘Tempo’ [Gie Dem Tempo].  Pan Buzz is anxious to hear this one, as I rate Maestro’s ‘Tempo’ as the bar. After such a sizzling song, ‘It’s Showtime,’ this year, it will be tough to climb that Everest.

Earl “The Loveman” Brooks is yet to release his bomb. When he last spoke to The Buzz, he promised something special.

Spoke to the brilliant Natasha Joseph of ‘Something Different’ fame; she sits on the sidelines this year. What a disappointment! Natasha rose to stardom with the Panazz Players, and has gone off the boil. However she is back after flying under the radar.

The bogey man, Len “Boogsie” Sharpe has returned to his old self, after waging a venomous, but foolish, campaign against Pan Trinbago honchos.  His tribute to his mentor Pat Bishop should improve his stocks in the Pan fraternity.  My spies tell me he is focused like a laser light, with eyes on the top prize.  I tell you Panorama 2012 is going to be hot, hot, hot.
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“BOLT” loses a leg

Thunderbolt Williams is under the weather these days. The popular Despers Pan personality is stricken with diabetes, and has lost a leg. However the spirit of this indomitable Pan soldier is high, as he looks to make a comeback on the world wrestling stage. Pan Buzz spoke to the pan icon of The Hill (Laventille) and Despers elder - who promised to be in the thick of things for Panorama 2012...with Despers of course.

With a contribution that spans some 50 years to Desperadoes, Thunderbolt is determined not to roll over and die.  “I intend to go as long as the Master says,” he signed off.
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ANNUAL PAN BUZZ AWARDS

Nominations have closed for the Annual Pan Buzz Awards and pretty soon judges will deliberate. Results for all the categories will be given within the first week of December. The judges’ decision is final, and anyone toting feelings will be ignored. The categories are:

• Arranger of the Year

• Pan Song of the Year

• Top Ten Pan Songs

• Allan Gervais Pan Heroes Award

• The International Pan hero Award.
  

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Wherever you are in Pan’s world, keep loving up The Pan.

The steel pan still fascinates me as an industrial musical instrument that has the potential to be as commonplace as the electric guitar or portable electronic keyboard. Portability, short learning curve relative to traditional music learning experience, and ease of manufacture seem to be the factors that make the two aforementioend so popular. Some recent innovations by local entrepreneurs are intersting: The P.H.I.® by UWI-based engineers and the e-Pan™ by Toronto-based Salmon Cupid. Both are controllers for synthesizers as opposed to organic instruments, but innovation like this should be encouraged as the music instrument manufacturing industry in the US alone was worth at least US$2 billion in total domestic demand. Globally, the numbers can rival our budget, and the sky's the limit. Smarter persons than I would be needed to advise and move the process of exploitation further along.

Some other innovations of the pan harken back to the original instrument, then a small instrument moulded out of a kerosene drum with a playing surface on a convex shape, and played with the hands. According to the chronnology, the rudimentary pan was played with the hands then the raw stick then padded stick. The European innovaters Felix Rohner and Sabina Schärer (PANArt Hangbau AG), started a "re-evolution", to coin a 3CANAL phrase, back to the future. Their instrument, the Hang was followed by The Halo, as well as the Hank, and its derivatives, the HAPI drum, the TurtlePan and the Zen Tambour. All are American innovations. There exists a community of "handpan" players, enthusiasts and innovators.

What has struck me about these new organic instruments is the size. Compact and portable are two features that seem to factor into the popularity of musical instruments. The size of violin versus a double bass may tell of its popularity as an instrument of learning and practice for a number of students outside the music school or auditorium space. So too, the trumpet, saxophone and many reed and horn instruments. I looked at pannist Mikhail Salcedo playing a G-pan family member instrument at Ibiza once, and was struck by its larger size relative to the conventional tenor pan that he normally plays; 26.5 inches for the G-pan compared with 23 inches in the conventional pan. Granted there was a wider range of pitches in the instruments even if there were some pitch problems on the lower notes. That evolution in pan does not seem to be moving in the direction of recent innovations in musical instrument design.

What's the phrase: "It's not the size of the instrument, but how you use it." Electronics manufacturers are churning out tablets and smart phones with 4 - 7 inch screens to view streaming movies on the go. In the right environment and space, one can view a movie on 65 inch LED screens in 3D. The same can be said of the G-pan family, as an orchestral instruments it may be apt, but the new innovations in design point to these compact "handpans", all of which are being created overseas. There is as yet no mass movement towards this class of instruments, but as the home of the steelpan, our vision should be on a horizon where anyone and everyone can buy and play a pan because it's easy to play, easy to handle, relatively inexpensive and readily available online and elsewhere.

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