Trinidad
- Invaders Steel Orchestra may be facing the imminent
loss of their sixty-seven year old historic and landmark panyard location on Tragarete Road in north Trinidad, but for the immediate future - the next forty-eight hours
or so - they are focused on winning the 2007 National Panorama title
in the competition being held at Skinner Park in San Fernando on Saturday February 17.
Invaders, playing at position three will have to hold their own and excel over
and above their seven fellow contestants in the large steel orchestra
conventional category.
But they are moving forward like an
army, with New York-based arranger Arddin Herbert leading the charge, as he has
done since 2005. Playing one of the more popular pieces for the 2007
panorama season - De Fosto's 'Pan Lamentation,' Invaders is looking
to close the gap in the final round, and seize the championship. It was
the last evening at the panyard before the entire orchestra would head down
south in readiness for the competition.
It was at this juncture Herbert told
When Steel Talks, "things are going great, things are
going according to plan." He is very pleased with Invaders' showing in the semi
finals which propelled them to fifth position in that phase. Looking
toward the championship competition round, Herbert was very positive. "With the type of energy that is being
displayed by the players, and the sort of togetherness and unity that we have
with one goal, one vision, I see nothing standing in our way, particularly
once we have the Creator on our side."
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Live
Exclusive interview with Arddin Herbert,
Arranger,
Invaders Steel
Orchestra |
The 2007 panorama season was an enjoyable
one, made so much easier with Invaders' band management facilitating Herbert's
travel back on forth between New York and Trinidad on weekends, as they worked
around his own schedule and professional commitments in the US. That type
of teamwork also produced the final decision for Pan Lamentation as
Invader's tune of choice for 2007. The band management sent Herbert a CD
with possibilities, and with his input, they then came to a joint decision as to
what would be the best panorama choice for the band this year, said the
arranger.
When
When Steel Talks put forward
the always-interesting question as to the number of players the orchestra would
be taking to the finals, the response was an equally-interesting one.
"Lots of new players now, are coming into the yard, last minute [as we speak]",
said Herbert, adding that he believes they will reach the competition max of one
hundred and twenty musicians. Some of the new players were 'taking music,
around the corner' Herbert explained. "It's just an exciting
time right now, it's really exciting!...Trinidad [and Tobago], as we all know,
is the Mecca of Pan, and these are players, you know, some of them play with
four, five bands per night. They're really good! They come, listen,
and within a couple of hours, they will learn your entire song!...This is
normal." With this, Arddin Herbert was off to continue his work at the
panyard on the Thursday before panorama Saturday.
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