Who should be interested

Music departments with steel orchestras, all steel orchestras, music directors, percussion majors, libraries, museums, urban ethnomusicologists, budding steelband arrangers, major music organizations, music educators, media outlets...

 

Who's featured on the CDs

The best Steelbands of North America - Pantonic, D'Radoes, ADLIB, CASYM, Sonatas, Marsicans to name a few... Great players, great composers - great engineers...

 

What's on them

Steelpan yard performances recorded nights and mere hours before the much-heralded, prestigious and highly-competitive New York Panorama competition.

 

The offer
Purchase the 3-CD (Pan In New York 2002, 2003 and 2004) compilation - and receive the Pan In New York 2005 CD as an added bonus - FREE!  Clive Bradley Masterpieces, New York's Best Steelbands with world-class arrangers - Pelham Goddard, Jit Samaroo, Arddin Herbert, Ken 'Professor' Philmore - just to name a few...  Bonus CD - Free!

---

Clive Bradley on stage with Pantonic Steel Orchestra

Clive Bradley's deft manipulation of western music themes, genres, and interweaving of urban, Latin, African, worldbeat influences and nuances -always left his competitors, fans and new discoverers alike - in a place, somewhere between awe and musical ecstasy.

 

As expected the recent passing of master arranger Clive Bradley has left a serious void in the steelpan music world.  Mr. Bradley rose to global prominence and received critical acclaim through the musical masterpieces he created for the legendary Desperadoes Steel Orchestra in Trinidad, and the New York powerhouse, Pantonic Steel Orchestra.  Considered by many to be the world's greatest composer/arranger for the steelband orchestra, the renowned Mr. Bradley created magic and classics that are now required listening for all serious music educators, players, students and fans.  Indeed, Mr. Bradley earned the respect of his peers and enjoyed an acknowledged genius level status that few musicians ever achieve in their lifetime.  Only Bradley could bring laughter to your lips and tears to your eyes in the same piece.

 

The result has been a renewed surge in the appreciation and interest in the public desire to acquire this late master's music, as performed by, clearly, some of the best steel orchestras in the world.

 

The Bradley-Pantonic combination produced five steelband music championships in seven years.  Moreover, the collaboration produced an available body of work, already recognized as classics for the ages.  Luckily for the music world, the Bradley-Pantonic appreciation for the recording medium facilitated the capturing and preservation of some of the best moments/performances ever by a steel orchestra.  Remarkably, every year of the seven-year collaboration between Bradley and Pantonic Steel Orchestra was recorded by Basement Recordings.  Basement Recordings has long been recognized as the leading organization specializing in capturing, preserving and reproducing the true sonic beauty of the steelband orchestra.

 

And if this fortuitous collaboration was not enough -  an added value by default is that there is also D'Radoes Steel orchestra on the bill.  This means that available through this three-CD pack plus the bonus fourth CD, are eight pieces by the greatest architect of steelband music in our time - Clive Bradley - in addition to the laudable musical works of other world-renowned arrangers.

 

The Package - Pan In New York 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - plus 2005

Four years of the unprecedented beauty, clarity, fidelity afforded the listeners by the Bradley/Pantonic/Basement connection are truly awesome music and audio productions.  The additional entry of some of the other biggest names in steelband music history makes this offer one of the greatest musical 'steals' of all time.  These are simply 'must-have' items for any steelband music listener/collector/player.  It is also a key package for music educators as it is an indispensable tool for easy distinction and identification of the contrasting styles of the bands and arrangers, including Clive Bradley.  Furthermore, the variations of styles and rhythms in the musical package are essential educational resources for any institution that prides itself on having a world-class music department.

 

The packaging is truly 'barebones', devoid of the customary artwork and literature - but it is truly worth it.  For everything that is omitted in 'niceties' is gained in music and price/value.  This package would easily cost well over one hundred dollars.  So this barebones package does allow for more of those on a tight budget to enjoy some of the best steelband music in North America.  However the cover artwork/literature may be accessed via the web site and printed if truly desired. 

 

Finally, getting this CD set is a 'no brainier.'  To be in possession of great musical steelband orchestral performances that are uniquely engineered and produced, while being fantastically enjoyable, educational and danceable worldbeat pieces, is truly a 'coup' in every sense of the word.

 

Click here to hear sample audio www.basementrecordings.com/audio/tonicSample.mp3