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.
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Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - The Holy Saviour Anglican Church is delighted to present the National Steel Symphony Orchestra (NSSO) of Trinidad & Tobago, featuring the revolutionary “G” pans, in concert at the newly-commissioned Daaga Hall of the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine on Sunday, May 31st , 2009 at 5 pm. The NSSO will be joined in this festive concert by popular vocalist singer Michele Dowrich.

....This is the first concert event for the NSSO since their much lauded appearance at the recently concluded 5th Summit of the Americas in April where they played for the 34 Heads of State and Government.
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Global  - Neville Jules turned 82 last week.  At the Duke Street panyard, even the young players call him Cap. They see him around Hell Yard, a shrine to pan, but can’t fully fathom his weight. Founder of Trinidad All Stars, Jules led the band and arranged its music for 25 years or so. In either capacity, Cap wasn’t easy. If he were alive, badjohn Big Sarge would tell you he owed his failed confrontations with his nemesis to band discipline. And Invaders, the Harps of Woodbrook, can testify, though begrudgingly, to his groovy road music.  As sweet as a lickin’.

Cap migrated to the States in ’71, and many a band was glad, not for him, but for that.
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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.
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Maryland, USA  

Pan Masters Steel Orchestra
2009 Steelband Jamboree:
In Pictures

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Maryland, USA - When Steel Talks (WST) departed Brooklyn at 5:40 a.m. to catch the 8:05 Washington-bound Amtrak train stopping off at 11:04 a.m. in Maryland - the site of the 2009 Pan Masters Steelband Jamboree.

WST left with a lot of anticipation, in terms of expecting much from what this year’s line up of steelbands would present. In addition to many of the Maryland-area steelbands, this year Long Island-based ADLIB Steel Orchestra - the 2008 New York panorama champions - would be participating. And based on past performances, the expectations were high for a very entertaining event. After all this was the 11th annual steelband jamboree. Simply put: if you don’t know what you are doing by now, you will never know.
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Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - In its quest to build a season of concerts, the National Steel Symphony Orchestra will stage three concerts at venues across Trinidad over the next three weeks.

The first show will take place at Princes Town Secondary School-East on Friday (May 29, 2009) from 10:00 am. It will consist of a 45-minute workshop and a one-hour concert.

The second concert will be held two days later on Sunday (May 31, 2009) at Daaga Hall, University of the West Indies. It is an afternoon concert and is open to the public.
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Global - The time period is whenever - the setting and place is wherever - and the agenda is good music. That’s pretty much all you need to know about producer, performer, composer and recording artist Andy Narell's latest project called the “University of Calypso” - soon to be released on the Heads-up label. This time Narell teams up with noted Calypso singer “Relator” (real name Willard Harris) to produce another musical nugget that showcases the steelpan instrument and it's often associated sidekick, Calypso music, in a major way.

According to the Heads-Up promotional material, ‘Relator, a major known talent of the Calypso music genre brings his special brand of storytelling, humor and musicality to the project. What’s more, 15 unforgettable compositions by legends of calypso such as Lord Kitchener, Lord Melody, Mighty Terror, Roaring Lion, Spider, and Relator himself - are presented by the Narell/Relator tandem.’ We indeed concur.

In an exclusive interview with When Steel Talks (WST) Andy shares his thoughts on this, his latest musical venture, and a host of other steelpan music matters.
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Web Posted - Saturday May 23, 2009
Trinidad and Tobago Guardian

Laventille, Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. -  While the country focuses on crime’s convincing devastation that burden’s the Laventille community and its environs, a woman who hails from the pit of the beast’s belly will celebrate her 63rd birthday today. This woman, dubbed the “Diva of Pan,” is proud of her survival, her adept ability that has taken her across the world and before thousands at a time, and her seemingly undying appreciation for the sweet tenor pan.

“The youths of today aren’t interested in playing the pan for the natural love of the instrument. They do it for the money.” This is the observation of Witco Desperadoes’ First Lady, Ursula Tudor. At 62, this woman who many have marveled to see in action, still maintains her craft. The rhythms, beats and tunes that she’s all perfected on the percussion instrument holds fast to her daily routine and with no sign of an end, she jokingly says, “I don’t know when I’ll stop, I’m tired but they’re always calling me to come.”

From the tender age of six, Ursula was a pan lover and even when her parent’s disapproved, the yearning within for the instrument of the “badjohn” drew her in like steel to magnet. She says that even though she was not allowed to venture into the panyard, she would often jump up with the band when the opportunity presented itself. When asked where the love for the instrument came from she coyly explained, “I just loved it; it was a natural thing.”
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Hamilton, Bermuda - Very much in the belief that “you have to know where you come from in order to know where you are going,” as Bermuda celebrates its 400th Anniversary, they have chosen to include African traditions during the Bermuda Day Parade on Monday May 25, according to the Ministry of Culture and Social Rehabilitation and the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs.  In this vein, the island welcomes stilt-walkers/Mocko Jumbies from Africa and St. Kitts, and Toronto’s very own Afropan Steelband as the country seeks the fabled advantage to “look into the future.”

....Bermuda welcomes both the Mocko Jumbies and Afropan Steelband for Bermuda Day 2009 - the latter upon their arrival on May 21.  Joining other celebrants, the steelband plays on the road for Bermuda’s Heritage Day on Monday, before returning to Toronto, Canada on May 26.
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Delaware, USA - The Southern Delaware School of the Arts steel drum band recently traveled to Virginia Beach to compete at the Panorama Caribbean Music Festival.

The group of 19 players ranging from 6th to 12th grade competed with their teacher John Syphard and took home a gold medal.

"We just wanted to compete and do a good job," he said. "I enjoyed that they got to go on stage and the crowd really like them."

Syphard has traveled to Trinidad several times and knew he wanted the group, called Steel The Show, to play traditional Caribbean music.

"A lot of the bands played classical music and we worked with an arranger that was fresh from working with bands in Trinidad," he said.
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New York, USA - In a couple of days the legendary Mr. Neville Jules will celebrate his 82nd birthday.

There are a collective few who bear the distinction of being universally recognized as members of that unique, and special fraternity we at When Steel Talks refer to as Giants and Titans of “Pan and the Steelpan Movement.” Through their intellect, talents, genius, innovativeness, sacrifices, foresight and leadership they forged a path to greatness for a marvelous invention known as ‘Pan’ - all the while showcasing the genius and indomitable spirit of man.

Mr. Neville Jules is without doubt one of these Titans.
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New York, New York - The NYU Steel Pan Ensemble, under the direction of Josh Quillen, recently took the stage of New York University’s Loewe Theatre to present an evening full of music for steel band. In addition to his work with So Percussion, Quillen has performed with numerous steel drumming ensembles all over the country, and brings his diverse knowledge of the instrument to the ensemble.
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Port-of-Spain, Trinidad - The much anticipated steelband sport and talent showcase called Companion has commenced its month-long series of activities, with small goal football matches and all fours tournaments at the Duke Street, Port-of-Spain, panyard of six-time National Panorama champion, Neal and Massy Trinidad All Stars Steel Orchestra.

Courts Sound Specialists of Laventille, Couva Joylanders, Sagicor Exodus, Trinidad All Stars, the National Steel Symphony Orchestra, Solo Pan Knights, T&T Defence Force and bp Renegades were the bands taking part in the ninth annual staging of the event. With the use of pan outlawed in this series, pannists are called upon to bring other skills to the fore.
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Port-of-Spain, Trinidad - A session last month at the Ariapita Avenue showplace - the Corner Bar - in Woodbrook brought together veteran pan virtuoso Rudy “Two-Left” Smith and Sean Thomas, with bassist Dougie Redon, that extraordinary trumpeter manqué masquerading as a bass player.

Rhythms, arpeggios and rolls flowed as freely as the wine and beers and hopefully some visionary soul captured all for posterity and the national music archives on tape.
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Port-of-Spain, Trinidad - The Buzz is being accused of promoting Lennox “Bobby” Mohammed as the only pan product of the southland. If you know the Buzz, I like to give Jack his jacket and when people make statements like that it hurts. But I have no apology to make. Nevertheless, Lennox is a pan legend through his creative work with the famed Guinness Cavaliers, arrangements and compositions. No one should begrudge this son of the soil, he has made, and is still making, a tremendous contribution to culture, and the pan in particular.

He deserves all the promotion he gets. He has never begged for it... and don’t have to. Lennox has had his setbacks which some people use to “diss him.” But that’s not the way to treat a pan genius. We should be ashamed to treat a hero that way. Let’s support him by buying his CDs, and encouraging his project. Please, let’s stop the hurt of this pan pioneer and give him the respect he deserves.
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Denmark - His bio states that the sound of Trinidadian steel drums are reinvented and combined with contemporary pop music to create the global fusion that is the outcome of his approach - and that he is an accomplished steel panist, singer and songwriter who continues to push the boundaries of modern music with his very own brand of global music, which is “steel drum textured, vocal layered and steeped in the traditions of American Rock, Funk, R&B, and Jazz.”

All of the above is very true - but there is much more to Gregory Boyd - the artist. He has that intangible and unquantifiable quality that makes one go “wow.”
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Massachusetts, USA - Over the most recent decade Boston has experienced fluctuations in steelpan musicianship. In the last year there have been two heartening developments which manifest themselves at the 7th Annual Spring Concert of Steelbands. There is an increase in the number of ensembles and a movement to change the pan teaching paradigm.

As a pan music enthusiast, I have observed other conditions that impact the sound of Boston pan, and Sunday’s concert also presented the differences in various dimensions. Pan Xpressions is the smallest group and most recently formed. One recalls Panazz Players at an Xpressions performance and its presentation maintained that perception.
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Denmark - In an exclusive interview with When Steel Talks (WST), Danish recording/artist/panist/ arranger/composer Sune Borregaard speaks on the Hollywood film “Finder of Lost Children” which features his original pan score.

Sune shares how he became involved with the film project directed by Ricardo Scipio, and how he interpreted and translated Scipio's vision into a work of art on the steelpan and processing.

The theme of the film “Finder of Lost Children” examines some of the realities that people of Caribbean Diaspora come to terms with - despite the veneer of ‘contentment’ that usually permeates the lens through which the region’s people are viewed.
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The first concerto ever written for steelpan
and orchestra

Illinois, USA - “Concerto for Steelpan and Orchestra” - the work of composer and educator Dr. Jan Bach of Northern Illinois University (NIU) - was most recently performed by NIU baccalaureate and soon to be Masters candidate, panist Mia Gormandy. Originally written for then student, world-renowned panist Liam Teague (and now-Assistant Professor of Steel Pan and co-director of NIU’s steelband) back in 1994, it has since been performed throughout the USA and as far afield as Prague, capital of the Czech Republic.

Dr. Bach has taught at NIU for almost forty years, and has under his belt a comprehensive body of work written for nearly every acoustic instrument and/or ensemble, including eight or nine solo concertos with orchestra and five brass quintets. He has since additionally penned the thirty-minute “Songs of the Streetwise,” for choir, soloists, and a small steelband with percussion, based on poems by Chicago’s homeless people. This illustrious and innovative musician/educator shares with When Steel Talks the impetus behind his initial involvement with the steelpan, classical music written for the instrument, and his overall thoughts on the movement to date.
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France - Many times in the arts you come across talent and work that are so compelling that words are not needed, and language is not a barrier. Indeed such is the case with the work of François Lachèze.

François, who is a steelpan lover and former pan player has graciously agreed to allow When Steel Talks (WST) to spotlight his work, passion and love for the steelpan artform through his images.
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Vancouver, BC, Canada - Filmmaker Ricardo Scipio has announced that his third feature film, “Finder of Lost Children” will be premiering at the Hollywood Black Film Festival in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Theater #1, Wednesday, June 3, at 3:00 p.m.

The film features an original pan score by Danish recording artist/ panist/arranger/composer Sune Borregaard.

Created without any funding, and relying solely on the loyalty and support of a volunteer cast and crew, the film was shot in 26 days in and around Vancouver in the spring of 2007. Scipio previously wrote and directed the feature films “When” and “Watershed.”
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Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - US President Barack Obama purchased two powder-coated tenor steelpans, one red, the other black, for his daughters Malia and Sasha during his visit here for the recent 5th Summit of the Americas that took place from April 17 to 19.

According to Hilton Trinidad Convention Services Executive, Vanessa Teelucksingh, Obama, on April 19 instructed one of his staff members to purchase the steelpans for him to take back home for his daughters. He did not want to have them sent after his return because his daughters would have been expecting him to bring home the presents.

The President gave specific details on what the staffer was to look for as far as size, tonal quality and colours, seeming to know some technical details on steelpans.
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Wyoming, USA - Only nine minutes. That’s about how long it takes to learn how to play a song on steel drums.

Even those who don’t have a lot of experience with percussion can learn a song in one class period.

Nine minutes of practice in the band room at Campbell County High School North Campus showed that if the students will struggle with any subject in the curriculum next year, it sure won’t be the steel drum class. The unusual instrument is favored by students for being easy to learn.

Christopher Lubken, CCHS band director, knows that from his previous experience with steel drums in Alaska.

“Kids just love them,” he said. “You don’t have to work so hard like in a trumpet just to get a good sound. The only thing you have to worry about is hitting them too hard.”
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Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - Work is expected to start on the National Carnival Centre in another few months, Prime Minister Patrick Manning disclosed yesterday. The NCC project, which has been on the drawing board for several years, was put on hold last year following Manning’s belt-tightening advisory of November.

Manning also said T&T was being marketed through branding via the use of the steelpan design. He noted that the water fountains at the Hyatt Regency on Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain, Prime Minister’s residence and the Performing Arts Academy—now being completed—all featured fountains designed in the shape of the steelpan. Manning said Government was making a major thrust in the area of the arts with the Performing Arts Academy.
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Kettering, United Kingdom - Traditional tones of the Caribbean are set to ring out from a Corby school after it took delivery of a set of steel pans.
Corby Business Academy is thought to be the first school in the north of the county to form its own full steel band.

It is hoped the instruments will help inspire young people who are not otherwise involved in music to take part in musical activities.

After a year in the making, the set of 20 drums is now taking pride of place in the music department and staff and students have started making Calypso music.
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Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - Students of the Point Fortin RC Primary School threw up their hands in the air and screamed with joy as they were announced winners of the Pan For Blue competition last Thursday (April 30) at Coronation Park, Point Fortin. The band, which had been knocking on the door of victory in this competition for the past four years, took home the first prize of $5,000. Pan For Blue, part of the Point Fortin Borough Day celebrations for primary schools and youth bands, was this year dedicated to the music of former Road March champion Barnett “Preacher” Henry.

The players, 13 maximum, were required to play a calypso composed/sung by Preacher, not previously played by the band in the competition. With a Denzil James arrangement of Preacher’s Doulahin, Point RC, playing in position five, added a dramatic flair to their memorable performance. The tune was sandwiched between a skit by two students depicting the Doulahin and her suitor, and the eventual “wedding.” Two-time champion Edinburgh 500 Government School, also playing Doulahin, the tune of choice for five of the seven competing bands, had to settle for second place and a cash prize of $3,000. Their arrangement was done by Curtis Jones.
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Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - Prime Minister Patrick Manning, his wife Local Government Minister Hazel Manning, Foreign Affairs Minister Paula-Gopie-Scoon, the MP for Point Fortin, and Health Minister Jerry Narace mixed with tourists and locals in Point Fortin on Saturday, as the borough enjoyed the Pan on the Move show, the highlight of its Borough Day celebrations which have been in progress for the last two weeks. None wore masks, despite concerns about swine flu.

Angry DJs packed up their sound systems and left, as police banned them from playing during the Pan on the Move show. Steelbands on hand for the occasion included top bands such as 2009 Panorama champions Silver Stars, Pan in the 21st Century champions TCL Skiffle Bunch and RBTT Redemption Sound Setters of Montgomery Road, Bethel, Tobago. Jah Roots’ Pan Around the Neck, the longest serving steel orchestra in Point Fortin, also performed a hit called When I Dead Bury my Clothes.

The police move against the DJs followed last year’s celebrations when the pannists complained that the DJ’s had affected their performance at the event. As a result, the Point Fortin Borough Corporation issued a memo that all DJs were to shut down their systems at 5 pm, so that the pannists could perform without disruption. When they continued playing, the police went to the DJs and ordered them to stop. Meanwhile, soldiers and police officers kept watch over the festivities.
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Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - Methanex Trinidad, in collaboration with the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the Music Literacy Trust, challenged composers internationally to create new music that integrates the Symphonic Orchestra and the Steel Orchestra.

The competition ‘Symphony & Steel’ is a Methanex Trinidad education initiative that provides teaching material for use by the UWI Department of Creative and Festival Arts (DCFA) in its Degree and Certificate programs in Musical Arts. Combining symphonic instruments with Trinidad and Tobago’s steelpan is an innovative approach that will make the country’s local music more accessible and appreciated by an international audience.

The competition invited music scores in three categories – an overture, steelpan concerto and arranged calypso from Trinidad and Tobago. Methanex awarded first and second prizes of TT$30,000 and TT$10,000 respectively to winners in each of the three categories.
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New York, USA - There have been many, many great musical moments in the history of New York and this past Friday another great moment occurred at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music (MSM). Indeed, the institution has a ninety-year history of music-making in New York City.

New York may always be known as Bradley’s town - so named after the late great master arranger - but on this Friday night in upper Manhattan, the Big Apple belonged to Andy Akiho and his superb collection of talented fellow musicians. Moreover, the music and performances on this evening at the MSM blazed a new path and understanding for the steelpan instrument as part of the institution’s revolutionary Master of Music Contemporary Performance Program.
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Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - Ashton John was a pioneering figure in the steelband movement. He died recently and this is his tribute.

Ashton John was cremated a few weeks ago at St James. He had passed on after a long fight with ill health. His relatives and close friends witnessed this event that brought closure to the life of an ordinary man who had done extraordinary things for his art and for his country.

Ashton was born in the southern town of La Brea. It was here he developed his skills as a drummer with the Southern Symphony Steel Orchestra, his hometown band. At the time, they were considered one of the best steelbands on the island in post-war Trinidad.
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Grenada, W.I. - Steelband in Grenada is also marking a special anniversary this year. It was 40 years ago that a then Catholic priest, Trevor Emmanuel, broke from convention, which frowned on members of the clergy involving themselves in carnival culture. In 1969, “Father Trevor Emmanuel’’ accepted a contract to arrange music for the Carenage-based Panasonic Steel Orchestra, which won the national panorama title. This move by Mr. Emmanuel, who died last December, cleared the way a few years later for a group of St. Joseph’s Convent students to begin learning to play the pan. It was the first large scale group of women to join the pan movement in Grenada. Many steelbands today comprise more women than men
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Massachusetts, USA. - Dorchester, Boston is the place to be on Sunday May 3 if you are a fan of steelpan music and youth initiatives. You are in for a treat, and have the opportunity to support young musicians at the same time by attending the 7th Annual Concert of Steelbands. Justin A. Petty is the music director and arranger for several steelbands in Boston, and is extremely excited along with the musicians about the upcoming show.

The steelband concert is a joint venture between John J. Smith Lodge #14 and John J. Smith Chapter #3 as a way of showcasing the musical talents of the area’s young students within the community whose skills and music literacy have been cultivated by using the steel drum as the primary instrument, and simultaneously fascinating them with the culture and musical phenomenon that is the steelband. Boston Public Schools Citywide Steel Orchestra, St. Cyprian’s Celestial Infernos Youth Steelband and three other orchestras take the stage in the steelband show which gets underway at 2:30 in the afternoon.
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