By
--Wanda McCrae
Let me be clear about something right from the start: Pantonic is not my
favorite Brooklyn-based steelband. Furthermore, Clive Bradley is not
my favorite Panorama arranger. That said, I also need to be very
clear about something else: "Pantonic Live!" is one of my favorite pan
CDs. The reason is simple: I like good music, and that CD is full of
good music, from the first track to the last.
This CD covers four years of the Pantonic/Bradley combination for New York
Panorama. The first two tracks are radio edits (something I had been
told could "never" be done with a panorama arrangement) of Ben Lion and
Stranger . They fade out at just the right moment, leaving the
listener wondering what came next.
"Picture On My Wall" is my favorite track out of the six. I particularly
like Bradley's minor-key interpretation of the tune (including the phrases
leading into that section) and the way the background pans carry a version
of the melody after the chromatic walk-up near the end. That is
usually my cue to begin humming along, if I am somehow not doing so well
before then.
Other than a slight glitch seven minutes and 42 seconds into "Stranger",
the CD is flawless, both in the band's execution and in the recording
engineering. I give it a 9.98 out of a perfect "10".
More Info On Pantonic Live CD