hello, I have been playing the double seconds for close to two years now. I have been a pro drumset player for over 30 years. my question is in the past year I have developed finger pain on both of my first fingers on the side and first knukles. I know that I am practicing over two hrs a day on the pans and it is only when I play the pans that I develope the pain. What I want to know is if any pan players out there have had similar problems and what they have done to help the problem. Any answers I'm sure would help. Thanks Rick
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One of my personal concerns as a steel pan player in a city that honours Carnival with three major parades and more than a week of celebration and competitions --with people from all over the world attending-- is what's going on between city administrations all over North America and West Indian community Carnival organizers in terms of acknowledgement and funding. You've read the reports in the "Pan Times" and "When Steel Talks".
Clearly many US cities do not understand the value Carnival celebrations bring them. Recently, we've had problems organizing Carafiesta in Montreal. Whether they're called Panorama, Caribfest, Caribana, Carafiesta, or Carnival, the celebrations are an enormous source of wealth to any city so fortunate as to have a community active enough to organize this event. And fun? Where else can an entire city get involved in jumping up and celebration?
Toronto's difficulties with our own Caribana every August revolve mainly around funding. While every tourist venue (hotels, restaurants and night clubs, shops) benefits from the attending crowds in the downtown core where the festival is held, literally none of the extra millions of dollars in earnings gained by those businesses (except the individual vendors licenced by the city to sell knick-knacks, crafts, and West Indian foods) makes its way back to the festival treasury.
In Toronto, we have a King and Queen, Caribana, Junior Caribana, and Samba parades, and Pan Alive [our Panorama steel band play-off] along with a week of stage shows all over the city and liming together at a huge picnic on the Toronto Islands. We call it Toronto Caribana. [To paraphrase When Steel Talks, "When Toronto hosts Caribana, everybody comes out to celebrate!"]
I believe that the city should apply a special tax on tourist venues in the downtown core, with a clause that prevents them from raising their rates (any more than they have historically for large events) to cover the new tax, so that visitors don't get hit with it; and that the city set that money aside to support the mass bands and Caribana events from a city-managed fund as advised by the organizers.
(Ordinarily I would have thought that the fund should be directly administered by the Caribana organizers themselves, but in the past, there have been accounting irregularities associated with that type of arrangement. No point in leaving the city open for more hassles on this topic. This way, the festival still gets the money where it's needed.)
None of the other candidates for Mayor is a Pan man. None of them has a vested interest and part of their souls engaged in ensuring the healthy continuation of Toronto Caribana.
If you love Caribana; in fact, if you are from the West Indies and proud of this expression of your heritage in Toronto and want to see it placed somewhere it can continue to blossom and grow with the encouragement and active help of the city, please think seriously about voting for me, Mark State for Mayor this coming Monday.
In order to win the election, a candidate only needs about 100,000 votes. This is important to all of us. Please tell your friends to consider a Pan man nicknamed "Six" for Mayor, and to check out my websites to discover whether I'm really worthy of your vote as leader of this city.
My websites are www.letschangetoronto.com and www.mark-state.com.
In my website booklet, "The Human Factor: Social Actualization and Productivity", I propose active citizen participation across the board in Toronto life. A question that comes to mind around Caribana is, "Should we maintain the fenced-off parade route, or should onlookers have some access to jump up with the mass bands?" Let me know what you think by emailing me at vote.mark.state@cia.com.
Mark "Six" State
Thank you, Than You, Thank You!!
To When Steel Talks and the Steelband Fraternity. For all their kind works of condolences, words of support and encouragement to me and my family during our time of berievement. We are also strengthened by your words of encouragement and understanding. To my friends wit your phone calls and concern for me, I Thank Youfrom the bottome of my heart. To the members of Desperadoes Thanks, Yes S.M. I know once you heard you would understand. To the people of laventille Thank You very much for your Physical and Verbal supposrt. Seeing you all gave me strength and made me feel proud to be a Laventillian. On behalf of my family and myself I Thank everyone for what ever was said or done for us. But at the end of the day, their is a power that is mightier than us, and he knows best and never makes mistakes.
GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!!
I remember walkin up laventille road, an hearing somebody coasting on a pan in many a houses and no matter how tired I was I would speed up and sometimes pass a house only to hear another pan up the hill, as you get closer to the center you can hear the strains of more than one pan now although I was outa gas I would start running, pure sweetness the higher you go the sweeter the sound, you cyar miss the radoes it was allways like entering the gates of heaven as you get to the center, heading to woodford square or the Hollows, on many a Sunday was like being reborn, J'Ourvert was like a wonder of the world,especially by the Trinity Cathedral the acoustics made the pans sound like harps of gold, when Renegades palyed the statue as they reached Independance square a man say "Look the jam so sweet the real statue move"
as I listen tune after tune on you tube I remember the days when Panorama was about sweetness, the tunes told a story you did not need a skit like some bands present today, the music was the skit, even the surviving arrangers from those days today seem to have abandoned the story line,listen to Pandemonium Sailing you can get sea sick, they did not have to bring out a birthday cake in Phase II birthday party because the music feed yuh , pan today is exciting nice jam but no drama, everything all on one level, no design, no clear cut pattern, it is like a piece of quilt just various pieces of music stashed together
there was a time when the worst ban in panorama would leave you with some line or lines that you will hum for the rest of your life, gone are the days when one could identify band by its flavour, the way they roll or flick their notes
AFROPAN makes history yet again!
Find more photos like this on When Steel Talks
Afropan Steelband, the oldest and most successful steelband in Canada, is making history yet again this August, as the first Canadian steelband to travel to Gabon, Africa for the purpose of performing.
Gabon is one of the 18 African nations celebrating 50 years of independence in 2010, and are marking the occasion with their inaugural Carnival celebrating their vast multiculturalism. Afropan is honoured that the government of Gabon reached out to them to be part of the festivities, and is proud to represent Toronto, and Canada abroad.
The 24 players will leave on August 11th - August 18. This is Afropan's second trip abroad in as many years; in 2009 the Bermudian government invited Afropan also to help celebrate their anniversary of independence.
**Article thanks to www.toronto-lime.com
Find more photos like this on When Steel Talks
Afropan Steelband, the oldest and most successful steelband in Canada, is making history yet again this August, as the first Canadian steelband to travel to Gabon, Africa for the purpose of performing.
Gabon is one of the 18 African nations celebrating 50 years of independence in 2010, and are marking the occasion with their inaugural Carnival celebrating their vast multiculturalism. Afropan is honoured that the government of Gabon reached out to them to be part of the festivities, and is proud to represent Toronto, and Canada abroad.
The 24 players will leave on August 11th - August 18. This is Afropan's second trip abroad in as many years; in 2009 the Bermudian government invited Afropan also to help celebrate their anniversary of independence.
**Article thanks to www.toronto-lime.com
**Photos thanks to Tony "The Sniper" Pierre
The boston police department in Massachusetts now has underway an ongoing so-called "operation" - OPERATION STEEL DRUM, where they say they are rounding up and have arrested some, in advance, quote "as likely to commit violent acts at the festival." Interestingly, they claim this has connections with "the Dominican Festival." How did they get from "the Dominican Festival" to OPERATION STEEL DRUM?? What on earth does one have to with the other? The Steel drum or Steel pan is the national instrument of a sovereign country, Trinidad and Tobago. Here is the link to the boston article: www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/08/28/boston_police_arrest_34_before_festival/
It is extremely chilling that the boston police department with a past and very present virulent history of racial profiling and worse -is demonizing and denigrating the national instrument and culture of a sovereign country, by naming their so-called criminal clean-up activity after the steel drum, and also arrogantly displaying unfathomable disrespect and contempt in this manner.
The steelband people have strived throughout the years to overcome the stigmatization related to the steelband, which still goes on today. Now, the boston police dept, the same people who are sworn to "protect and serve" unfairly castigate and disrespect members of that same society they made that pledge to protect and serve - some of whom are steelpan players. Many people go to Boston for the Carnival (which is today, by the way) and steelpan people as well.
Imagine you are living in Boston, and your child is a member of a steelband down there, and you are pulled over by the cops for a random check, and you inform said officers you were on your way to a steel drum practice with your child? Imagine the officers' "pre-disposition" with OPERATION STEEL DRUM ongoing?
I wonder where the president of Pantrinbago Keith Diaz on this issue? Will he officially call-out boston Police Chief Dan Linskey on this matter? What says former Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Patrick Manning? And steelpan lover and avid supporter himself, the President of Trinidad and Tobago (the land of the steel pan/drum) His Excellency Maxwell Richards? And newly-minted Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar?
What say we as steelband people?
Keep your shirt on, The year was 1971 and you can get the facts here:
under the nomination heading "Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording"
E
Nine times Panorama Champions Bp Renegades Steel Orchestra left Trinidad on August 23 for a tour of Japan. The group, led by Captain Candice Andrews, comprises of tenor players Levi Ettienne, Kain Cox, and Kershiff Perry; Double-tenor player Cleveland King, and Double-guitar player Jessica Bentick. The Bassist are Kayesha Ollivierre, Ayesha Moses and and Rudolph Grant. Also making the trip are cellist Anthony Crichlow and Aaron Franklin; percussionist Andrew Brumant, Vance Romain and Juma Simmons, together with Double-second players Ishmael Wharton and Candice herself.
During the eight days in the ‘Land of the Rising sun’, Renegades will present four concerts, the first at Okayama General Cultural Theatre in Okayama on August 26th; the second on August 28th at the Mitaka City Arts Foundation. The third on August 29 will be held at the Yokosuka Arts Theatre in Yokosuka Kanagawa and the fourth on August 30 at the Shinjuku Cultural Theatre in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo. The band will perform a mix of classical, pop, R & B, jazz and Caribbean music. They will also hold two workshops in Okayama on August 26, and Mitaka on August 28.
This is Renegades tenth visit to Japan. They first toured there in 1992 and have been invited back repeatedly to perform and carry on workshops. In 1993, they performed at the Sukiyaki Meets the World Festival in Helios and at the Earth Celebration on Sado Island, during which they were featured in a command performance with the famous Kodo Drummers of Japan and the Kangsadan Orchestra of Thailand.
Renegades were also instrumental in the formation of the Sukiyaki Steel Orchestra (SSO) of Nanto city, Toyama, Japan. Tenor pannist Brian Brumant, who is currently in the USA furthering his studies in music, spent a total of eight months there between 1995 and 1998, training the Japanese to play the instrument. His brother, Renegades current drummer and former captain, Andrew Brumant also had two, two-month stints in 1997 and 1998, working with the SSO.
NOSTALGIA PAN ROUND NECK PEOPLE & SUPPORTERS
This week, we are practising on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday
at Maxilla Social Club.
On Saturday 28th August (Panorama Day) -
We are practising at Maxilla from 12 noon to 4pm.
It will be the last practise and everyone needs to be there.
Lionel
I asked Pan Trinbago this question in 2009. They responsed that it was more profitable to hold the semi finals the way it is at the moment. I cannot dispute their claim, because I do not have access to their books.
However, as one who do not reside in T&T, I cannot accept that, because most of the visitors at T&T's carnival are there for two weeks, which means that none of them will be in T&T for the Panorama semi finals. Maybe the date is mandated by the powers that be, so more visitors will come to T&T earlier and pump more money in the economy of T&T. Nah, I don't think so. Pan Trinbago should realize that the more people are in T&T on the date of the semis, the more people will come to the Savannah. I have no problem with Pan Trinbago asking all of us who take in the "free music" on the drag to donate something at a specific security point at the Savannah. No fences on the drag in 2011, would not that be nice!
No! No! do not ask about crime or who is accoutable for monies donated, let's think above that.
Check out this link about a Steelband in Arizona
http://www.dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=84018
The Ultimate Love
