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North Brentwood, 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. The tempting mixture of
culinary aromas that is uniquely Caribbean wafted through
the air, inexorably drawing patrons who arrived with their
appetites in hand, ready to be sated by the variety of
welcoming and familiar variety of West Indian favorites
available from the menus of vendors on site for the
evening’s activities.
 There is nothing
comparable when things move
like well-oiled machinery, and that includes a tightly-run
event that is on time. Roland Barnes, Master of
Ceremonies, and Angela van Niel (pictured
together) were the faces out front in
this complex undertaking, but be in no doubt there were many movers and
shakers behind the scenes, such as Elizabeth Caesar and
Marcus Adams - in fact the majority of the PMSO membership. They all
pulled together earlier on in the day, and indeed, for weeks
beforehand to make this steelband jamboree the success that
it was this past Sunday.
Several familiar faces were present at
the jamboree including brothers Sherwin and Sheldon
Thwaites, with pan elder and their Dad “Father Thwaites” as
he laughingly dubbed himself for WST. Roger Greenidge
was not going to miss the action, and was happily present.
Relocated Virgin Islands native who now makes the
continental US his home - Victor Provost - performed with
Positive Vibrations Youth Steel Orchestra. It was good
to see one of the people involved with
 the
original
steelpan scene in
Maryland - pan elder Keith Preddie - behind the pans, and
playing. So often such trail blazers are mired in
assisting behind-the-scenes, and the audience does not get
the joy of seeing them do what they enjoy best: playing the
instrument. And then there is the family element -
solid social infrastructure at its best, when generations
and families come out together and in support of the younger
pan talent and art form - such as proud and sassy grandma
Maureen, with grandson - ADLIB’s ace and champion arranger André
White (pictured together),
along with mom Colleen.
Throughout the afternoon and into the
evening, six bands in all took the stage to deliver their
respective performance sets and thrilled the crowds.
What was especially cool to notice was the level of comfort
and camaraderie among several of the young pan musicians
themselves, as they moved and played easily in as many as
three groups for the evening - for example in DC Pan
Jammers, Positive Vibrations and Pan Masters.
 So
several pan players would have delivered on a personal level
- as much as two hours of playing time for the audience’s
benefit. Talk about practice hours to get into tight
musical shape for this show!!
The invitational Rhythm competition made
a return this year at the jamboree, and consisted of eight
band members who threw it down in the “engine room” for a
short and snappy session immediately after their respective steelband’s music sets. Not all six bands participated
however; the two which did -
 Positive Vibrations
(pictured in orange) and ADLIB,
heated up the arena, with the latter having the edge, when
good-naturedly the all-round performance was vetted, and
which also took into account the enthusiasm of the “crowd reaction.”
A beaming Lisa Mayers from ADLIB would receive the trophy
from Pan Masters’ Marcus Adams later in the evening
(pictured together).
While organizers and audience kept an
anxious eye on the clouds which gathered periodically
overhead (forecasts had predicted a 60% chance of rain in
the afternoon), the weather held up its end of the bargain,
with lots of periodic sunshine. And the steelbands -
five from the North Brentwood/Baltimore area, and one from Long
Island, New York - each made the most of their time on
stage, serving up music that raised the temperature as high
as did the afternoon sun’s rays, and made the event into the super
steelband music outing that it is now known to be after
eleven years.
Pan Majestic Youth Academy Steel
Orchestra had the honor of opening up just after 3:35 p.m.
and produced a session that was well worth the time of the
large audience by now seated under the tents and standing
around on the periphery. The band is just over a year
old, but is determined to be eventually held in similar
regard as the more established area bands. The
well-travelled Positive Vibrations Youth Steel Orchestra who
are no strangers to the spotlight - drew the proverbial line
in the sand when they threw down Bell Biv Devoe’s “Poison”
with a wicked bass line as their opening salvo, with really cool and tight
percussions by the talented Jeremy Caesar - as versatile on
drums as he is on pan! (Should we mention here that he
is the nephew of the legendary arranger, musician and
composer Len “Boogsie” Sharpe?)
The musicians of one of the smaller groups
for the
event followed - St. Veronica’s Youth Steel Orchestra.
But
 these young players went about their musical business
like they were old hats at their trade, and with a measured intensity that said
“we might be young, but this is what we
do!” In fact it was their repertoire and
rendition of well-known
favorites that got a lady probably well into her sixties on
her feet, along with another patron
(pictured), to the delighted roar
of the crowd as they maximized on their enjoyment of St.
Veronica’s music. Stepping up to the plate next were out-of-towners
ADLIB Steel Orchestra from New York, 2008 Panorama
champions - their stage side group a blend of seasoned and
skilled musicians who
have grown up with the band, and budding pan playing newbies. With
their champion arranger (at age eighteen the youngest ever to win a
major steelband Panorama, and trouncing his significantly
older peers in the competition while he was at it) André White in tow,
solid deliveries of “No, No, No,” “Never
Too Much,” a soca medley and more - continued to slake the thirst of the
steelband lovers present.
Jamboree veterans DC Pan Jammers were ‘in
the house’ next. Like Positive Vibrations, their
youthful members got into their presentation with gusto, and
took the audience present along for the ride. It was
a great contrast of the teens having the time of their lives
as they performed while playing with well-honed skill, as
the older members mainly and firmly anchored the band in the
engine room. As usual, Pan Jammers cut no
 corners, and
simply kept the crowd going. Slamming through with the
funky “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough” as opener, Pan
Masters had the ‘home court’ advantage of being the largest
contingent of the evening with about twenty five musicians.
Needless to say, they were worth waiting for. With one
of their arrangers, the very competent Roger Greenidge
quietly and unassumingly at precise work in the engine room, literally lost
in the rhythm, Pan Masters -
sporting a few faces also seen in action earlier on in the
evening with Positive Vibrations and DC Pan Jammers (Pan
Masters is where many got their start, and it was a picture
akin to ‘chicks returning to the nest’) - brought the house
down, and also the curtains, on several hours of
tremendous steelband musical artistry and entertainment.
Essentially it was a show of “take no
prisoners” - a friendly steelband warfare that was musically
competitive and brought out simply the best in the pan
players assembled, with both them, and the audience who were
on hand, coming out on top and winners. The
evening ended shortly after 9:30, earlier than past editions
of the Jamboree - but one thing was the same: the
young players were ecstatic with their performances, and
with the very obvious show of appreciation and support from
the audience. And they will be back for the 2010
Steelband Jamboree without a doubt - the steelband
lover-filled audience, and the steel orchestras fortunate
enough to be invited next time round to be part of this
really great musical experience.
Pan Masters 2010 Jamboree already on
track? CHECK!
contact Pan Masters at
info@panmasters.com;
www.panmasters.com
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