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November
2018
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“The Bradley
Years”
The
Bradley Years represent the definitive collection
of steelband music arrangements and performances
for a large steel orchestra. This collection
showcases seven classic arrangements from the
master arranger Clive Bradley. Bradley
is considered to be the best steelband music
arranger ever by many, including his peers.
In addition, the arrangements are performed
by one of the finest steelbands in the world,
New York’s Pantonic Steel Orchestra. Clive Bradley
had a very special relationship with Pantonic.
This orchestra clinched the title of panorama
champions five times in seven years - performing
Bradley’s musical works. The performances
were captured by Basement Recordings days before,
and in one instance, mere moments before they
took the stage for the prestigious annual steelband
music panorama competition.
The recordings
capture, reproduce and present an unrivalled
clarity with sonic realism, of a large steel
orchestra fielding between one hundred and one
hundred twenty musicians - unlike any other
steelband music recordings in its class.
This body
of musical work is a sterling addition for all
fans, educators, players, historians and fine
music collectors.
click to listen
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WST
YouTube Channel

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Pan in New York CD and DVD
available
here
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Simply one
of the greatest steelband recordings to
date!
A collector’s item...
[ PANTONIC + BASEMENT
+ BRADLEY ] x 4 =
MASTERPIECE

- Clive Bradley the Master
at Work -
Very Sweet Pan Music
Get Your Copy Now
click - limited copies available >>
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When Steel Talks family!
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Web Posted -
Thursday November 29, 2018
When Steel Talks
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Meet Brandon
Waldrop - Panist and Arranger - UpClose!
 |
Global
- He is a deep
thinker, a perfectionist - two traits which work
well for a committed musician. The audio
'images' evoked through the arrangements
unveiled to date by Brandon Waldrop, are
undeniable windows into the treasure trove in
store for music lovers from this talented pan
player's musical palette. Intrigued by, and
happy especially when he is engaged in a musical
workout on the famous Ying Yang (six pan),
Brandon embraced the challenge in mastering one
of the more complex voices in the family of
steelpan instruments. It is this energy, this
element which is his signature on his path as he
becomes a consummate steelpan musician.
read more,
see interview
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Web Posted - Wednesday November
28, 2018
Trinidad and Tobago
Newsday
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MHTL sponsors Starlift
for 3 more years
 |
Trinidad & Tobago.
W.I. - Starlift
Steel Orchestra will be the recipient of
three more years of sponsorship from Methanol
Holdings (Trinidad) Ltd (MHTL).
This was announced during the Starlift on Fire
event held at Starlift panyard last Tuesday
night.
Dr Euric A Bobb, chairman of MHTL, said three
years ago, when his board decided to expand the
scope and visibility of the company’s social
engagement with the national community, support
for the steelband movement seemed an obvious
choice. Not only is the steelband TT’s unique,
iconic brand, but it is also an ideal vehicle
for building social capital, knitting
communities together, and uplifting young people
in wholesome group activity while at the same
time providing the pure joy of musical
entertainment.
read more |
Web Posted -
Tuesday November 27, 2018
When Steel Talks
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Song for Panorama 2019
‘I’ll Be There’
sung by “Crazy”
 |
Global
- The legendary and
iconic composer Dr. Winsford Devine has
partnered once again with veteran performer and
ace songwriter himself Edwin Ayoung aka “Crazy.”
The latter steps forward as vocalist once more
for Trinidad & Tobago’s upcoming 2019 steelband
Panorama and carnival season.
The talented duo comes
together for “I’ll Be There” - a song penned in
tribute to and in memory of, some of Trinidad
and Tobago's most cherished cultural icons who
have passed, a few very recently.
listen to tune
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Web Posted - Monday November
26, 2018
Ouachita Baptist
University
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Ouachita offers after-school, community steel band program to Peake Elementary School students
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Arkansas, USA - Ouachita
Baptist University has begun offering an
after-school, community steel band program for
fourth and fifth graders from Peake Elementary
School in Arkadelphia. The steel band, called
Pan Harmony, meets every Monday on Ouachita’s
campus from 3 to 5 p.m.
The community steel band program began at the
start of the 2018 fall semester with nine Peake
Elementary students and student volunteers from
Goza Middle School, Arkadelphia High School and
Ouachita. The program is geared toward fourth
and fifth graders specifically because they are
not yet old enough to play school sports or join
the school band. The students will have the
opportunity to show the skills they have learned
this semester during Ouachita’s fall and spring
steel band concerts.
“To have young students excited about music, and
excited about learning music from a different
culture other than our own, is very exciting,”
said Dr. Ryan Lewis, director of the steel band
program and associate professor of music at
Ouachita.
read more |
Web Posted -
Sunday November 25, 2018
When Steel Talks
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Brooklyn Pays Tribute to Shadow and DeFosto
by Winthrop R. Holder |
New York, USA
- When, with a moving and evocative
rendition of Shadow’s “One Love”, Count Robin and a host of artistes
including Ajala and Dr. Witty, brought down the curtains around
midnight, the audience didn’t leave. Robin’s ability to invoke
Shadow’s spirit while capturing the master’s persona, not just the
broad-brimmed hat and all-black attire but his distinctive moves,
left attendees speechless and motionless as if possessed by Shadow’s
“Jumbies”… wanting more calypso. And, as if in a Shadowesque trance,
Yvette Rennie, president of the J'Ouvert International; Dr. Lawrence
Waldron, facilitator of the Shadowlingo blog; Donna Cox, T&T NY
Consulate; Roger Toussaint, leader of the 2005 Transit Strike which
brought the city to a standstill; and many of the 350-plus crowd
lingered at the November 14, Brooklyn Tribute to Winston (Shadow)
Bailey and Winston Scarborough, De Original De Fosto Himself.
read more |
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Web Posted -
Saturday November 24, 2018
When Steel Talks
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BOSS
Remembering Clive Bradley
by Dalton Narine
 |
Global
- When Clive Bradley passed away on 26
November, 2005, he carried with him more music than he devoted to
his life. He also left us with an uproarious humor, as if his new
world would be even more electric, and his raucous, clucking
laughter, a robust cackle, runs a line of symmetry through the
center of his eyes. I still hear it, so I see it too.
It’s as if
Bradley’s never been gone. Still up the hill,
now way beyond yonder where he’d devised and
concocted his music. Indeed, to Bradley, a
geometric soul, less is still more.
Parse
that.
read more |
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Web Posted -
Saturday November 24, 2018
When Steel Talks
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Oh, Rebecca
How Bradley Fashioned a beautiful Intro for
her, then Won her in the endby Dalton Narine
 |
Global
- Rebecca Was Something Else, Yes
She left everybody in heat.
And something else defined Rebecca. Not only the
drinking and carousing. Might have been the wicked weed, too. How
she had used it throughout the 1983 Carnival. Everywhere she went.
In the dancehall. In the tent. On radio. By the Dry River. On the
Hill. At Panorama.
That's where the showdown for her passion took
place.
Talk of the town was about which arranger would
take Rebecca home Panorama night? Clive Bradley of Desperadoes, or
Leon Edwards of Trinidad All Stars?
Every breath would be baited. Who to ketch whom?
read more |
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Web Posted -
Friday November 23, 2018
When Steel Talks
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Desperadoes Harmonises its Support for the Elimination of
Violence Against Women
 |
Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. -
On the occasion of the United Nation’s observance
of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against
Women on November 25th 2018, Desperadoes Steel Orchestra joins with
the various global voices in demanding a safer and more nurturing
environment for all women and young girls; particularly within the
steelpan fraternity. It is our belief that the eradication of
discrimination, abuse and violence against our women can only auger
well for the sustainability of our heritage as well as, our nation’s
peace and productivity.
read more |
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Web Posted -
Thursday November 22, 2018
When Steel Talks
|

Meet Rico Hunte -
Panist, Arranger, Educator & Hip hop Artist - UpClose!
 |
Global
- His passion for Pan
burns as fiercely as it does for Hip hop through
rhyme; life experiences find unapologetic and
cutting expression through verse and rhythm.
Rico Hunte is on a musical mission that is
unabashed and includes the steelpan where it
belongs - naturally in sync with other
“conventional” instruments. He’s proudly
plotting and travelling his own path, not
compromising his craft for a quick quest in
popularity. At his core, CASYM [Steel
Orchestra]; Hunte, in his own words, tells
his-story to date.
On the
mixture of Pan and Hip hop Rico says “I like
where it is going. Pan has been hidden for so
long - out there for so long. And Pan has been,
like this kind of percussion instrument that
people really don’t know. And now that it is
kinda getting out there I’m happy about it.”
read more,
see interview
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Web Posted - Thursday November
22, 2018
When Steel Talks
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An Appreciation: Dr. Winston (Shadow) Bailey, Our Conscience
Roger Toussaint’s remarks as delivered at a Tribute to Dr. Winston (Shadow) Bailey
by Roger Toussaint
 |
Global -
Greetings all! I flew in this afternoon to be here and am out tomorrow because it is truly an honor to be asked to help honor our beloved Dr. Winston Bailey, The Shadow. Many of you here today are probably more knowledgeable about his work and some of you may have even known him more intimately - a pleasure, which I did not have. Actually, my last carnival before first coming to the U.S was 1974, the year Bassman won. As we battled that wrenching period spanning several years of adjustment to life in this country, Shadow's works were among the things that helped keep me--as it did others--anchored in our Caribbean Culture while cheating depression, if not insanity.
It was 1971 when Errol Pilgrim and I walked into
Port Services to catch the Mighty Shadow’s first songs at a public
venue.
Indeed, Shadow kept the Trinbagonian Village alive. He was a constant reminder of our better values and kept our Conscience in check.
read more |
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Web Posted -
Sunday November 18, 2018
When Steel Talks
|

Meet Brooklyn
Steel Orchestra - Panists, Educators, Promoters,
Administrators & Much, Much, More - UpClose!
 |
Global
- In an exclusive
interview with When Steel Talks, members of
Brooklyn Steel Orchestra management speak about
the goals of the organization and their highly
successful “Pan Is Sweet” concert.
They are extremely
intelligent, unpretentious, focused, driven,
abundantly talented, and are high-character
individuals. Coming off the high of the
extremely successful Pan is Sweet they made it
known that this is only the beginning. They have
a lot more in store for the global Pan world.
Watch out for this young group of doers that has
grasped the dragon by the horns. Travis Roberts,
Kernel (Kern) Simon, Marc Brooks, Orisha John,
Wayne Bernard, Jahlani Roberts, Kendall Williams
and Shelly George comprise the core group of BSO
decision-makers.
read more,
see interview
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Web Posted -
Friday November 16, 2018
Grand Forks
Herald
|
Bandleader bows out: UND percussionist to retire after 42
years
 |
North Dakota, USA -
If you close your eyes, you might think you're on
a beach in the Caribbean, so mellow are the mesmerizing sounds of
steel pan drums that fill the band room at UND's Hughes Fine Arts
Center.
It's nearly impossible to not move with the
rhythms that 13 students create with mallets on pans, sticks on the
drum set, and hands on the shekere, a gourd-shaped instrument
covered in a bead netting.
Under the direction of Mike Blake, members of the
UND Steel Pan Band are preparing for a concert which begins at 8
p.m. Monday at the Chester Fritz Auditorium.
It will be the last time Blake, percussionist and
teacher, will lead the group on stage. He intends to retire at the
end of the school year, closing the book on a 42-year teaching
career with the UND music department.
read more |
|
Web Posted -
Sunday November 11, 2018
When Steel Talks
|
NIU Steelband Fall 2018 Concert and the Legacy of
Generations
 |
Illinois, USA -
It was not too long ago that WST would request
embed codes to live steelband music streams from universities, other
performances - and we were met with resistance or the proverbial
“What’s that?” Times have changed. We no longer have to ask for
embed codes for live streaming broadcasts of steel orchestras - they
are shared with or offered to us by the performers without asking,
or YouTube or Facebook provides them. And folks realise these are
not guarded ‘state secrets.’
NIU (Northern Illinois
University) was one of the first programs that
was progressive and forward-thinking enough to
provide access to their stream embed codes to
allowed a shared broadcast of their concerts on
WST’s platforms. And as a result the WST global
audience have become accustomed to seeing and
experiencing great performances from NIU
steelbands and featured guest artists over the
years.
read more |
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Web Posted -
Saturday November 10, 2018
When Steel Talks
|
Song for Panorama 2019
‘Deadbeat Dad’
sung by Colvin
Fields
 |
Global
- Colvin Fields is
both the writer and vocalist of this track. It
is called ‘Deadbeat Dad.’
listen to tune
|
|
Web Posted -
Saturday November 10, 2018
When Steel Talks
|

Meet Jahlani
Roberts - Panist, Arranger & Educator
- UpClose!
 |
Global
- The extremely
talented, articulate, charismatic and
forward-thinking Jahlani Roberts is highly
intelligent. Full of exuberance for the steelpan
art form and knows which way is up. Moreover, he
is a do-er not a talker.
Jahlani
has invested in his vision of what can be and
should be with ‘both feet’ in. Never standing
still, he has carved out a space within the
performing arts sector where he can be most
effective and impactful. A quick learner and
study, he has turned his experiences and
challenges into fuel, opportunities and a road
map for success.
read more,
see interview
|
|
Web Posted -
Thursday November 8, 2018
When Steel Talks
|
Song for Panorama 2019
‘Ice Cream’
sung by “Crazy”
 |
Global
- Prolific performer
and songwriter Edwin Ayoung aka “Crazy” - is out
front again as vocalist (and co-writer) on this
track called ‘Ice Cream’ released in time for
the 2019 steelband Panorama and Carnival season.
His sassy double-entendre skills are on display
in this selection, which joins ‘Get Pay’ also
sung by “Crazy” and released a few days ago.
That ditty is already
enjoying accolades from music lovers.
listen to tune
|
|
Web Posted -
Thursday November 8, 2018
MENAFN - News
784
|
PACC To Hand Over Steel Pans Valued At $90,000 To Epic
Sounds |
Saint
Vincent and the Grenadines, W.I. -On
Friday 9th November 2018, the
Pan Against Crime Committee will be handing over a brand new set
of steel pans, valued over $90,000, to Epic Sounds of Calliaqua, the
latest pan side to be established here.
The event will be celebrated with the hosting of a Concert, at the
Calliaqua Hard Court, commencing at 6:30 p.m.
Symphonix and Epic Sounds Steel Orchestras and the Police Band will
provide music, while cultural performances will be rendered by
students of the Calliaqua and Fair Hall Government Schools and
Police Youth Clubs in the area.
read more |
|
Web Posted -
Wednesday November 7, 2018
When Steel Talks
|
Song for Panorama 2019
‘D-Azz’
sung by Lennox
Picou
 |
Global
- A San Juan, Trinidad-born native, Lennox
Picou started his career at a
young age on the local television station in
Trinidad. He moved on to popular local bands as
lead vocalist, gaining national recognition.
Lennox’s passion for music
includes composing, and actively collaborating
in the arrangement, and production of the songs
he performs.
For the 2019 Panorama season
Picou vocalizes ‘D-Azz,’ featured here. It is written by Winsford
Devine and Edwin Ayoung.
listen to tune
|
|
Web Posted -
Tuesday November 6, 2018
When Steel Talks
|
Song for Panorama 2019
‘Light It Up’
sung by “Jose Juan”
 |
Global
- Ramon “Jose Juan”
Diaz, a soca artist residing in the United
States, originally hails from Saint Vincent and
the Grenadines in the Caribbean.
He is a member of the
U.S.-based Dynamite Calypso Tent and has
competed for many years, both in St. Vincent and
the U.S.A., in various calypso competition
shows.
Jose Juan has recorded songs
written by Miguel Reyes over the years, and the
duo comes together again and collaborates on
this track, ‘Light It Up.’
listen to tune
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Web Posted - Tuesday November
6, 2018
Trinidad and Tobago
Newsday
|
FCB supports pan training
school |
Trinidad & Tobago.
W.I. - First Citizens is the proud
sponsor of Pan Development Unlimited (PDU), a
training school, which offers courses in advance
pan tuning, and pan construction.
First Citizens chairman Anthony Smart recently
met with Kerbasie Daniel, the most outstanding
student for the 2018 programme as well as Barry
Yeates, manager of Pan Development Unlimited.
Speaking at the First Citizens Corporate Centre
in Port of Spain, chairman Smart said, “As a
Group committed to the development of local
culture and young people, First Citizens
understands that the concept of setting-up and
running courses in making and tuning the
steelpan instrument is critically important to
the preservation of the art form.” Smart
continued, “The reality is that without
pan-makers and pan-tuners, there would be no
steel band movement.”
The First Citizens sponsorship of the 2018 Basic
Pan tuning course ran from July-August at the
Belmont Secondary School under the guidance of
instructors Musa Muhammad and
Brian “Bean” Griffith.
read more |
Web Posted -
Tuesday November 6, 2018
When Steel Talks
|
Song for Panorama 2019
‘Pan From Heaven’
sung by George
Rampersad
 |
Global
- Trinidad-born George
Rampersad played with steel orchestras in his
homeland before migrating to Denmark in 1984.
There, he taught pan in music schools, youth
clubs and adult evening classes in the cities of
Odense and Aarhus.
Rampersad has also arranged
with Sweet Pans, touring Manchester, England. As
composer, he is sharing this track, ‘Pan From
Heaven,’ for the 2019 Panorama season.
listen to tune
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Web Posted - Saturday November
3, 2018
Trinidad &
Tobago Guardian
|
Family, friends stunned
by DeFosto’s death
 |
Trinidad & Tobago.
W.I. - Just
three days after the calypso fraternity said
farewell to the
Mighty Shadow, De Original De Fosto Himself
(Winston Scarborough) died of a suspected heart
attack yesterday morning.
De Fosto, who suffered from
heart problems, was discovered at his Morvant
residence by his son Gabriel, who also resides
with him.
Yesterday, in shock and too
distraught to say much, Gabriel said: “I was
daddy’s boy. I lived with him in Morvant and
this thing is a real shock as daddy hasn’t been
sick. Last night (Thursday), he complained of
not feeling well and this morning I already had
on my work clothes when he died. I still have on
my clothes for work.
“Daddy and I were very close,
like how a father and son are supposed to be. He
used to ask me my opinion on the calypsoes he
would compose. This Friday really isn’t going
good for me.”
De Fosto, 64, also had an older son, Marvin,
who resides in New York.
National Carnival Commission (NCC)
Winston “Gypsy” Peters was one of the first
cultural officials to express sadness at De
Fosto’s passing.
“I am in shock; utter shock.
I haven’t even gotten over Shadow as yet, and
now Winston gone too,” Peters said.
read more |
Web Posted - Friday November 2, 2018
Stabroek News
|
China opens largest Caribbean embassy in Trinidad &
Tobago
 China’s Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago Song Yumin tries his hands at playing
the steel pan, surrounded by members of the Trinidad and Tobago Chinese Steel
Orchestra.
|
Trinidad & Tobago.
W.I. - (Trinidad
Express) The People’s Republic of China has
opened in Maraval its largest embassy in the
English-speaking Caribbeanregion.
The sprawling and stunning
new diplomatic premises, set on two and half
acres of land at 76 Long Circular Road, was
officially opened on Wednesday evening by
Chinese Ambassador Song Yumin.
....Song told the Express the
search for new premises began ten years ago,
with the help of the Trinidad and Tobago
Government. Construction at the Maraval site,
located opposite the Trinidad Country Club,
started four years ago by a team of Chinese
developers.
read more |
Web Posted -
Thursday November 1, 2018
Trinidad &
Tobago Newsday
|
Customised pan manufacturing launched |
Trinidad
& Tobago, W.I. - The MIC Institute of
Technology (MIC-IT) has launched a customised steelpan manufacturing
programme at its head office in Macoya. This customized programme is
the result of a Memorandum of Agreement signed in July, between
MIC-IT and the National Gas Company (NGC) to benefit sponsored steel
band members.
It is intended to arm graduates with knowledge and practical skills
for pan construction, pan tuning and fabrication of the necessary
pan tools and accessories.
At the launch, NGC president Mark Loquan indicated that NGC
sponsoring the programme was not just another corporate social
responsibility activity.
read more |
|
Web Posted - Thursday November
1, 2018
Daily Chronicle
|
NIU Steelband to perform
annual fall concert Nov. 11
 |
DeKalb, Illinois,
USA - The
Northern Illinois University Steelband will
present its fall 2018 concert at 3 p.m. Sunday,
Nov. 11, at the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall in
the NIU Music Building.
The event will be dedicated
to the memories of steelband legends
Ellie Mannette and
Ken “Professor” Philmore, both of whom
recently passed away.
The program also will feature
the All-University Steelband and Community
School for the Arts Steelband, as well the NIU
Steelpan Studio.
The NIU Steelband will host
Faye Seeman, professor of harp, as its guest
artist.
....The NIU Steelband is
directed by
Liam Teague and
Yuko
Asada.
read more |

|
2018 Trinidad and Tobago National Steelband
Panorama Info - Complete

|
Trinidad
& Tobago, W.I. - PanOnTheNet/ WhenSteelTalks
is Panorama Central! Complete information
on the 2018 season of the Trinidad and Tobago National
Panorama, and competitions: Schedules, Orders
of Appearance for preliminary, semi-final and final
phases for large, medium and small conventional
steel orchestras, and single pan bands; arrangers’
bios, bios of steel orchestras; full results, panyard
addresses, history of previous Panoramas, and much
more!
see complete information index
|
|
Web Posted
When Steel Talks
|
Early Trinidad and Tobago
Steelbands Names Associated with Hollywood Movies |

Global -
Within the historical context,
a look at the impact of American movies on the naming
of early steelbands of Trinidad and Tobago.
read more
|
|
|
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