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.
 |
|
Flyer sent out
by Abstract Entertainment, Inc.
(date, ticket info have been removed) |
One cannot defend
the indefensible. This was a deliberate move. It clearly
was not an oversight. How on earth do you forget the pan image or pan
performer on an Ad for PANjazz? You do not! Clearly, AEI, BET and Jazz at Lincoln Center
are sending a message. They are moving on - and they have exploited
the steelpan instrument, culture and people to the max from their
perspective. Pan and pan people got them through the door, and
established the show as a premier ‘Father’s Day event’ - and now
it is time to deep-six the pan. Who can not help but notice that
the “PanJazz” shows have been well patronized and made up almost exclusively
of pan fans since the show’s 2004 inception?
It is both ironic and troubling
that BET and Lincoln Center would be a part of this travesty.
Long before June became “Caribbean Heritage” month (which we suspect is the
real reason the steelpan instrument is being dissed - less or no public
promotion of the steelpan, but everything overall “Caribbean”) - it was officially
Black Music Month. Given the trials and tribulations black artists
went through in getting to the point where their images and likeness
could be associated with their music products - one would think that BET
and Lincoln Center would have had the graciousness - even if for ‘image-only’ sake - to not so clearly have themselves associated
with this blatant move.
A few months ago we thought we had seen the ultimate
disrespect and disregard when AIG officials, after receiving billions
from the US tax payers in bailout monies, turned around and paid
multimillion dollar bonuses to their failed
management. Additionally they were caught vacationing at a high-level resort, while
everyday Americans continued to suffer economically. Along an
identical path, chief executives of the automobile industry arrived in DC in their
private jets while the industry itself and its workers were in dire straits
and practically on fire. But this incredible and outrageous disregard
for the steelpan instrument and pan community illustrated by AEI, BET
and Jazz at Lincoln Center - is on par with the pain and insult inflicted by
this action of no image, and no mention of the PAN performers - no promotion
of them in this panjazz flyer.
There is a common belief held by event promoters and the like (and so
elegantly put by a
respected manager in the steelpan movement), that ‘pan
people only went to school in August.’ Nothing could be further from
the truth. Every now and then pan folks do get it right. The
blatant disrespect of the steelpan instrument, its supporters and
culture - not to mention one of the genuine all-time legends of the movement
(Ray Holman) reek of something we can’t print here (we will let your
imagination fill in the blanks). Furthermore, it speaks volumes of the
cultural vultures that have too often preyed on the naiveté,
vulnerability, supportive and overly-generous nature of the supporters and
community related to the steelpan instrument.
Our recommendation is that the steelpan community behave in a manner that
demonstrates that you have intelligence and did not ‘only go to school in
August.’ To the promoters: that promotional flyer should say
Pan-Phony - Pan Fraud or maybe even Pan-Invisible - instead of Pan-Jazz.
BET Entertainment, Lincoln Center: your execs should be flogged and somebody
should be fired. There is no doubt someone’s head should roll on this
one.
To the larger music community: the expectation would be that you would
step-up in solidarity of this dissing of the aggrieved pan culture -
particularly those who are performing on the show, or have been associated with the instrument
at all in the
past. Arturo Tappin, Etienne Charles and others - what say
you?
Ready what others have to say,
or enter into the discussion - here
