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- Steelpan music without compromise

A When Steel Talks Review

Rather than getting into any deep musical analysis of the music or any specific track, let's just 'say' Sakésho's We Want You To Say is required listening and a welcomed addition to any music lover's collection.  These cats are dropping some serious music.

Web Posted - Wednesday March 23, 2005
Delaware Coast Press

Students steel instruction after school By Darrell Neale Coast Press News Editor

Coast Press photo by Alan Piñon Olivia Henning, sixth-grade student at Mariner Middle School, plays the steel drums during practice. Delaware - The halls of the Ninth Grade Campus of Cape Henlopen High School in Lewes have been echoing this month with the sounds of the world's newest instruments. As part of the Cape Carousel Program, an after-school enrichment for students in grades four through eight, 23 children have been learning about steel drums. Ken Schleifer, instrumental music instructor for the four Cape Henlopen School District elementary schools, is the teacher for the classes held Tuesdays and Wednesdays for the past six weeks. Student musicians will present a concert Wednesday night. Schleifer took part in a Delaware Department of Education cluster workshop on steel drumming this past summer and is now sharing what he learned with the students. [Full Story]

Steel drums make sweet music at WRV-Lyons

Indiana --What began as a small steel drum group at White River Valley Lyons Elementary/Junior High School has grown tremendously over the past three years.

Virgil Franklin, WRV-Lyons band director, said he was introduced to steel drums, or pans, three years ago by Tony Kluesner from Linton.

"The Kluesner family had a pan ensemble based in Linton for years. I played in church praise band with Tony and had never played a pan before three years ago," Franklin  said.

Now, Franklin has a number of students from grades three through eight involved with pans.

After the first year of the steel drum program, Franklin said it has received an overwhelmingly large amount of support from the community.

"Everyone loved it because it was so different," Franklin said.

[full story]

Fisheye watched for it to go beyond this. He watched for the bands, the warriors to come together to do something, to make some dent in the real world. And for years he walked the lines of his band on Carnival days, with his black hat with the bullet holes he had cut in it, his face unsmiling, his shirt unbuttoned down his chest, his unclenched hands Lifted above his head in that gesture of triumph and acknowledgement, trying singly to summon into the presence of this masquerade, ideas, feelings, memories of warriorhood back again, so much so that Terry and Reds felt moved to tell him: 'Take it easy, man. Enjoy yourself. We ain't expecting no war; we in peace with Desperadoes.' [more]

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Memories and Current Thoughts Related to Women
in the Steelpan World

Clive Bradley, Arranger

New York - Bradley reminisces about the early days of women in pan:

"The first time that I remember seeing women play Steelpan was around 1968, somewhere around there -  when three women joined Desperadoes; one of them was Ursula, on the tenor pan, and she still plays with the band today. The other, Carol, played tenor pan too, and the third, whose name I can't recall right now, played the Bass. It was a sort of status symbol for those guys because there were not too many bands with women playing. They were good players. As a matter of fact, I believe that Scrunter (Owen Reyes Johnson) wrote Woman On the Bass for particularly that girl.
 
Legendary, producer, artist and master steelband music arranger Clive Bradley, shares his personal thoughts and memories on Women In Pan in a special interview for Women's Month.  

Iman Pascall
A Steelpan Virtuoso In The Making
Angela Howard
When Steel Talks

New York - Iman Pascal - Steelpan Virtuso -Iman Pascall is easily one of the most talented female steelpan musicians in North America. At the tender age of 17, Iman accomplished what few have in a career... Having already worked with the greats of the steelpan art form.