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New York
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It’s on!
The New York steelband music summer season is in
full effect. “Come good or don’t come out
at all” - this was clearly evident at
Despers USA launch on Sunday evening. Eleven
orchestras participated in the annual trek towards
the rites of passage - the New York panorama
championship. Present in addition to the
host orchestra Despers USA, were Harmony, Steel
Sensation, Sesame Flyers, Utopia Pan Soul: the
Next Generation, CASYM, Sonatas, D’Radoes, Pantonic, Dem Stars
and Pan Ambassadors.
Onlookers
take in
the
performance
of
Harmony
Music
Makers
at
Despers
USA band
launch
As is normally the case - beyond
the obvious economic importance of the launches,
the steelband launch provides the groups a
chance to ascertain where they are musically in
comparison to each other. Furthermore,
they afford the groups a chance to perform to a
steelpan music audience whose allegiance is
critical to the survival of any New York
orchestra. As is the tradition it is important that each group
perform well in order to maintain their fan base
and remain relevant musically in the minds of
steelpan music aficionados.
On this night the music
performances ranged from awesome to ‘hmmmm.’
Similarly, the sound quality of the instruments
went from impeccable to ‘yuk.’ Some of the
instruments clearly needed the work of a
professional tuner after the long Winter layoff,
and others clearly needed to be retired
permanently. They were not fit to be
around human ears and eyes - both sonically and
visually.
Steel
Sensation
open up
Despers
USA’s
2010
band
launch
Stellar performances were
dispensed by Steel Sensation which took the
audience on a musical journey that delivered pop
classics like Peter Frampton’s “Baby I Love Your
Way” and Chris de Burgh’s “Lady in Red,” to New York’s own pan
arranger Andre White’s “Wild and Free;” Utopia Pan Soul
delivered a version of Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind” with a
twist. Despers USA let it be known - “Not in my
house!” and that it was not over until they had their say as
they dropped stirring renditions of The Beatles
classic “Yesterday” and calypso great Sparrow’s
“Mr. Walker.”
Sesame
Flyers
perform
at
Despers USA’s
2010
band
launch
Almost all the groups came
dressed in respective uniform attire. All the
bands
had their musical moment. Sesame Flyers
kept the audience in a “New York” frame of mind as
they captured their attention with Alicia Keys’ and Jay-Z’s monster hit
“Empire
Stage of Mind.”
Defending panorama champions Sonatas brought
the full package with their performance of David
Rudder’s “Ganges Meets the Nile.” And of course
CASYM had the crowd rocking with their high
energy performance of Colin Lucas’ “Dollar
Wine,” Shadow’s “Dingolay” and more.
As When Steel Talks (WST) departed the launch (11:00 p.m.) there were
still two more bands who had not yet played -
Pantonic and D’Radoes.
WST saw several steelpan notables
in the audience on hand to enjoy the evening of
pan, including steelpan music composer Miguel
Reyes, performing legend Emmanuel “Jack” Riley, Solo Harmonites
co-founder, pan ambassador Hue Loy and
one of Desperadoes’ former captains Bertram Glasgow, among many
other steelpan music stand outs.
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Miguel Reyes |
Bertram Glasgow |
Emmanuel “Jack” Riley |
In spite of the late start to the
event which
curtailed WST’s ability to see all the
bands perform, it was a musical-filled event that
was enjoyed by the attendees.
In
Pictures
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