Pan In Motion Meets the Challenge of Performing in the Age of COVID

Brooklyn, New York, USA -  The COVID pandemic toll on the New York performing arts and music community has been particularly severe. The once-vibrant steelband music community was forced to shut down all live performances for almost two years. Pan In Motion, the brainchild of Kendall K. Williams whose stated mission it is to “promote Steel Pan while creating opportunities and providing resources for those with a love and passion for the instrument that will enable them to make their visions become reality,” has taken the charge in providing innovative and creative solutions to navigate this ‘new normal’ performing environment.  In this regard, Pan In Motion streamed a pre-recorded collection of performances featuring some of Brooklyn’s outstanding steelpan musicians and orchestras. This project was labeled Homegrown 2 with performances by Steel Sensation, Pan Evolution Steel Orchestra, a solo by Josh Quillen and a duet by Garvin Blake & Frankie McIntosh.

Pictured below: world-renowned pianist Frankie McIntosh and the iconic Garvin Blake performing “The Shadow of Your Smile.”

On a similar tip, we have seen some stellar performances and productions from the UK, like the Notting Hill productions featuring the UK steelbands at the Royal Albert Hall. In addition, there is also the recent production of the Notting Hill Carnival coming to Opera Holland Park this past summer.  This showcased the UK’s Ebony Steelband and Mangrove Steelband featuring the legendary Anne Fridal and Leon Foster Thomas as part of bringing a three-day programme of calypso, Steelpan and Caribbean jazz.

And then there are the recent productions by producer and bassist standout Nicholas Brancker with the Nicholas Brancker Band, who simply knocks it out of the park on every level - production, musicianship, artistic concepts.  Nicholas Brancker is no stranger to working with the steelpan instrument. He was the bassist for many Ralph MacDonald and Robert Greenidge projects. Brancker’s productions make it loud and very clear that if performing under pandemic restrictions is the new normal - there is absolutely no place for weak productions, mediocre recordings and poor musicianship going forward on the internet, especially those incorporating  and/or featuring steelpan instruments.

This movement towards quality performing standards and produced artistic events is a welcome development.  Hopefully, there will be fewer dismal, low-quality, upside-down phone videos of performances, and sm57 mics on pans ’miked’ from the bottom of the pan with distortion, distortion, and more distortion proliferating all over social media, while doing a great disservice to the steelpan instrument and art form.

Big Up to the Pan in Motion crew for adapting, engaging and creating performance opportunities for the steelpan music community.

Pictured below: Pan Evolution performing a set of musical arrangements by arranger stand-out André White.

Pictured below: Steel Sensation performing a musical set arranged by Tristan Japsi

Pictured below: panist, educator and arranger Josh Quillen in solo performances of  “What a Wonderful World” and “Till There Was You”

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