Web Posted - Tuesday August 31, 2021
When Steel Talks - Feel the Music - Live the Experience

UK Steelband Panorama Winners

London, England, UK - Previous Winners of the Notting Hill ‘Champions of Steel’ Panorama.
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Web Posted - Monday August 30, 2021
When Steel Talks Reboot - Feel the Music - Live the Experience

D’Radoes Steel Orchestra - “Spankin’” (‘Panyard’ - “Cool down” version - Video)

Panyard Recording

Brooklyn, New York, USA - Basement Recordings captures D’Radoes Steel Orchestra as they prepare for the 2014 New York steelband Panorama competition shortly before the event. D’Radoes Steel Orchestra performed a Terrance “BJ” Marcelle-arrangement of “Spankin’.” This is the ‘cool down’ version.
Listen and watch

Web Posted - Monday August 30, 2021
When Steel Talks - Feel the Music - Live the Experience

UK National Steelband Panorama 2021

Notting Hill Carnival 2021 live stream

London, England, UK - Four steel orchestras competed for the 2021 UK National Steelband championship. Ebony Steelband, Croydon Steel Orchestra, Metronomes Steel Orchestra and eventual champions Mangrove Steelband performed at the Emslie Horniman’s Pleasance Park venue on Saturday August 28.
See video

Web Posted - Sunday August 29, 2021
When Steel Talks - Feel the Music - Live the Experience

Congratulations to Dashawn Wallace - 2021 Junior Panorama Champion Arranger

Pan Evolution Junior Steel Orchestra

Dashawn Wallace aka “Drummerboiibam”

Brooklyn, New York, USA - When Steel Talks (WST) extends congratulations to Dashawn Wallace aka “Drummerboiibam,” on his victory with Pan Evolution Junior Steel Orchestra, as 2021 Junior Panorama Champion Arranger.
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Web Posted - Saturday August 28, 2021
When Steel Talks - Feel the Music - Live the Experience

Mangrove Steelband Cops 11th UK Panorama Title with Arranger André White - 2021 UK Panorama Results

London, England, UK - Mangrove Steelband held on to its title as UK Panorama champion, making it the steel orchestra's eleventh win in the Panorama competition.

....In the midst of a different landscape worldwide, there was a somewhat ʽreduced’ steelband-footprint in the London UK Panorama for 2021, in large part due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
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Web Posted - Saturday August 28, 2021
inews.co.uk

Panorama 2021: Carnival steelbands prepare for the stiffest test of the year

With no street parades in Notting Hill this weekend, a nearby park will resonate to Caribbean rhythms as it hosts the UK’s top steelpan contest

Ebony steel band play in preparation for the then-upcoming Notting Hill Carnival in 2019

London, England, UK - Across the UK’s steelband community, the drilling has been getting louder, and it is not the DIY kind. For panists – steelpan players, to the uninitiated – drilling means “focused, intense rehearsals” ahead of a big competition.

The stakes are even higher for today’s Panorama 2021 event after the UK’s national steelband competition was called off last year because of COVID. It is “the height of excellence when it comes to steelbands,” according Matthew Phillip, the chief executive of Notting Hill Carnival Ltd, which organises the championship.

“It’s not an easy thing as a musician to do. You’ve got to learn 10 minutes of music by memory – there is no sheet music involved, and everybody has to play very tightly together,” he says.
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Web Posted - Thursday August 26, 2021
When Steel Talks Reboot - Feel the Music - Live the Experience

Pantonic Steel Orchestra - “My House” - (‘Panyard’ - “Tempo” version - Video)

Panyard Recording

Brooklyn, New York, USA - Basement Recordings captures Pantonic Steel Orchestra’s 2015 New York Panorama selection “My House” as arranged by André White just days before the competition. This is the “tempo” version being performed at a pace similar to that at Panorama.
See performance

Web Posted - Thursday August 26, 2021
When Steel Talks

Gorillaz release surprise new EP ‘Meanwhile’, celebrating Notting Hill Carnival - featuring Mangrove Steel Band

London, England - Gorillaz have released a surprise new EP – listen to ‘Meanwhile’, a celebration of Notting Hill Carnival which features AJ Tracey and more, below.

The three-track EP, which also features Jelani Blackman and Alicaì Harley, gets its title from Meanwhile Gardens, the site of the band’s first ever live performance, where they played ‘Clint Eastwood’ at the Middle Row Records soundsystem in 2000.

....The EP’s title track was previewed at the band’s recent sold out shows at The O2 in London, one of which was attended solely by NHS workers.

Reviewing the gigs, NME wrote: “West London rapper Jelani Blackman features alongside London’s Mangrove Steel Band on ‘Meanwhile’, a new song previewed tonight that capture the spirit of carnival the vibrant optimism of the steel band underpinning his confident bars.”
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Web Posted - Wednesday August 25, 2021
When Steel Talks

Keeping J′Ouvert Relevant During the Pandemic

by J’Ouvert City International

Global - ....Despite limitations, J’Ouvert City International has not been dormant during the [COVID-19] pandemic but has found ways to keep the cultural flames alive with several virtual educational events.

With a promise of coming back “bigger and better in 2022,” J’Ouvert City International is confident that the cancellation of this year’s parade is the “most responsible thing to do at this moment in time.”
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Web Posted - Wednesday August 25, 2021
Jamaica Gleaner

Gay Magnus heads Alpha Music School

Jamaica, W.I. - Gay Magnus has been appointed band master at the Alpha School of Music (ASOM) in Kingston by the Religious Sisters of Mercy (RSM) in Jamaica.

....Magnus will lead males between the ages of 16-25 in vocational training in music and entertainment.

....Magnus has over 15 years of experience in lecturing and music directing. She is a trained pianist who switched to percussion and now focuses on steel pan, Magnus received a teaching certificate from The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona campus, and completed her first degree in music performance at the UWI's St Augustine campus and a masters in music performance from Northern Illinois University in the United States.
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Web Posted - Tuesday August 24, 2021
When Steel Talks

The Silence of the Nights -- The Government′s ʽNaive Assumptions′ About Despers Pan Theatre

by Martin Daly

Desperadoes Steel Orchestra

Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - ....In the course of my sorrow, I have attempted again to remind our disrespectful rulers and moneyed elites—as well as the Anthony Watkins-led committee on community recovery—what promotion of our performing arts can do to revitalise and diversify the economy, with practical suggestions for the use of the performing arts to earn money and to assist in winning a peace dividend within troubled communities.

....I know that many of our rulers and elites are blind to the true possibilities. As pleased as I am that Desperadoes will get a new pan theatre, I am certain that the underlying and persistent lack of understanding of the true capabilities of Despers and so many other cultural practitioners will not be cured by last week’s sod turning for the new Despers pan theatre or the completion of the project.
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Web Posted - Friday August 20, 2021
When Steel Talks

Total Disrespect! Total Advantage! Total Destruction (coming)! Say NO to HADCO

by Salmon Cupid (Musician, Educator, Inventor and Entrepreneur)

Global - “How stupid will a steelpan Builder - Tuner - Grover be to go and work for HADCO. We are trying as a people to be INDEPENDENT … we are trying to put slavery behind us....

“...How could it possibly be ok with us for one private company to roll in (Jeff Bezos/Amazon-style) and monopolize a whole industry for personal gain. Accepting this move quietly is saying yes to closing down an entire sector in the long term.”
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Web Posted - Thursday August 19, 2021
Brattleboro Reformer

Music Under the Stars features steel pan band Saturday

The Pan Evolution Steel Orchestra will be performing at the Retreat Farm on Saturday.

Pan Evolution Steel Orchestra

Brattleboro, Vermont, USA - The Brattleboro Music Center and Retreat Farm’s “Music Under the Stars” summer concert series concludes Saturday, August 21, with a performance by the Pan Evolution Steel Orchestra (PESO).

The concert will be held at Retreat Farm, 45 Farmhouse Square, and admission is free. Gates open at 5:30 p.m.; the concert begins at 6:30 p.m. All are welcome to bring lawn chairs and a picnic, and to enjoy food truck fare from Dosa Kitchen and Jamaican Jewelz, maple creemees, and craft beers at The Thirsty Goat bar.
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Web Posted - Wednesday August 18, 2021
The Guardian

‘We brought colour to this country’: the matriarchs of Notting Hill carnival

Whether it’s online or on the streets, women have defined London’s huge celebration of Caribbean culture. We talk steel pans and skimpy costumes with the pioneers who set the tone

Caribbean queens … Allyson Williams, Sister Monica Tywang, Lady Lee Woolford Chivers and Kim Woolford

England, United Kingdom - ....“Marrying a Trinidadian was a dream come true,” she says. “I want my children to understand our legacy: the legacy of slavery, where I came from, to understand the culture of steel band and carnival.”

While their involvement with carnival might not stretch quite as far back as that of Tywang or Woolford Chivers, Debra Eden and Debi Gardner are a two-headed driving force behind much of what defines carnival in 2021. “We’re inseparable most of the time,” says housing worker Gardner.

She is an executive officer of the British Association of Steelbands (BAS), a year-round role that involves keeping the various bands that perform at carnival every year “functioning, connected and resourced”. She says each band has a unique identity but hers, Mangrove, understandably maintains a special place. “It’s the way that people associated with Mangrove fought for equality. All the challenges they faced that we’re still facing now … continuing that fight is central to who I am as a black woman.”

....Eden works with autistic children as an SEN teacher but after hours she is a carnivalist, and one who wears a number of hats in relation to the event. She plays with steelpan band Ebony and teaches with Mangrove. She sits on the carnival advisory council as a residents’ representative and performs as solo artist Pan Diva (“that’s my Sasha Fierce”).
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Web Posted - Tuesday August 17, 2021
Trinidad & Tobago Guardian

New home for Despers seen as tourism revenue earner

UdeCOTT chairman Noel Garcia, second from right, and employees look at the Desperadoes Pan Theatre billboard before the sod-turning ceremony to start the construction at Nelson Street, Port-of-Spain, yesterday

Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - A new home for the Desperados Steel Orchestra could mean additional foreign exchange and a chance for cultural diversification.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and Tourism Minister Randall Mitchell urged the band to make full use of the facility at the official sod-turning ceremony yesterday at the corner of Nelson and George Streets, Port-of-Spain.

....The new home for Desperadoes will cost taxpayers $14 million and the Prime Minister urged the group to make sure the investment was a worthwhile one.

....Mitchell meanwhile hailed the new home of the Desperados Steel Orchestra, saying that it would generate additional opportunities to “showcase Trinidad and Tobago’s rich culture while generating foreign exchange when tourists visit the capital city.”

“It gives tourists, visitors and our locals a chance to immerse themselves deep into the history of the steelpan, witness its creations and lose themselves in the melody,” Mitchell said.
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Web Posted - Tuesday August 17, 2021
When Steel Talks Reboot - Feel the Music - Live the Experience

CrossFire Steel Orchestra - “Outta De Box” - (‘Panyard’ - “Cool Down” version - Video)

Panyard Recording

Brooklyn, New York, USA - Basement Recordings captures CrossFire Steel Orchestra’s 2015 New York Panorama selection “Outta De Box” as arranged by Kendall Williams, just days before the competition.
See performance

Web Posted - Monday August 16, 2021
When Steel Talks Reboot - Feel the Music - Live the Experience

 “Haiti” - David Rudder

Global - This is “Haiti,” a song written and performed by world-renowned calypsonian David Rudder in tribute to the Caribbean country, paying homage to its historical beginnings, noting its first governor-general, the legendary Toussaint Louverture, and much more in this vocal narrative.
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Web Posted - Saturday August 14, 2021
When Steel Talks

Magical steelpan reflections

“Culture Matters”

by Dara E Healy

Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - “We went over with our rusty pans. They weren't painted or chromed or anything – just dustbins. People didn't know what to expect, but they liked it. They said it was “black magic.”” - Sterling Betancourt, pan tuner/arranger

In 1951, Sterling Betancourt travelled to England with the Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra (TASPO) for the Festival of Britain. The players were selected from among the best in the country. It is believed this was the first time steelpan was showcased on a global stage since its invention near the end of the Second World War.

....This week we celebrated World Steelpan Day. You are forgiven if you were not even aware that the day existed, as we did not experience any of the excitement that one would expect for the honouring of a national instrument.

Should we blame it on the pandemic? Maybe. On August 11, the day of the pan commemoration, media headlines declared that the delta strain of the COVID-19 virus had arrived.
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Web Posted - Saturday August 14, 2021
When Steel Talks Reboot - Feel the Music - Live the Experience

CASYM Steel Orchestra - “Far From Finished” - (‘Cool Down’ version - Video)

Cool Down Version - Basement Yard Recordings 2017

Brooklyn, New York, USA - Captured “live” at CASYM’s East Flatbush, Brooklyn Pan Yard days before what was supposed to have been the New York 2017 Panorama competition.  The selection is “Far From Finished,” arranged by Kendall Williams. This is a “cool down” version.
See performance

Web Posted - Friday August 13, 2021
When Steel Talks Reboot

Meet the late Mikey Enoch, Pioneer, Renowned Pan Maker and Tuner

Global - ....In 1962, Mikey Enoch migrated to the USA, playing and learning from the famous Ellie Mannette, etc. Having perfected his craft as a professional steelband tuner, player and arranger, Enoch's talents took him to countries such as Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and all over the United States. He was instrumental in forming Despers USA and was one of the best known tuners in the USA.
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Web Posted - Wednesday August 11, 2021
When Steel Talks

Breaking my silence - Gerard Mendez, Treasurer Pan Trinbago

LIES, MORE LIES & DAMN LIES

Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - .... she [Sandra Blood] wrote “Pan Trinbago was able to secure a new accommodation at 37 Duke Street West with Ramsey-Moore successfully negotiating first year rent-free occupancy”. Nothing could be further from the truth!

Lies... Damn Lies... The truth is that the Duke Street Headquarters of Pan Trinbago was secured through the efforts of mainly Dane Gulston, together with Gerard Mendez and Carlan Harewood. In fact the President was not present, and had no involvement in the successful negotiations that secured the accommodation of the Pan Trinbago head office. At that time, the President was at her home in Tobago.
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Web Posted - Wednesday August 11, 2021
When Steel Talks

International Pan Ramajay Postponed Until 2022

Global - Out of an abundance of caution Republic Bank Exodus Steel Orchestra postpones the 2021 International Pan Ramajay until 2022 - Let Us All Be Safe...
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Web Posted - Tuesday August 10, 2021
Wired868

St Bernard: Why New York City boasts of ‘the now generation of pan’

Panist Khuent Rose (right) practices his craft

Brooklyn, New York, USA - A couple months ago, Yvette Rennie, the president of J’Ouvert City International in New York City, hired me to do a video documentary with some prominent people involved in the NYC steel pan movement. She wanted to focus on the economic development of steel pan in NYC.

The interviewees included Nolene Davidson, a musicologist, Wilfred Kieal Jr, an arranger and panist, and Anthony Joseph, president of the United States Steelband Association.

....One person who should have been on the panel is Keith Marcelle. Keith has given his life to playing, organising and developing pan in NYC. When Keith sent an invite to attend ‘The Now Generation of Pan’—a production of his beloved Sesame Flyers International organisation—it boldly proclaimed that the NYC panists have moved ahead of our homeland, Trinidad and Tobago.

The performances at The Now Generation of Pan production lived up to the billing. There was traditional steelbands but most alarming were several individual panists accompanied by their own full music bands. I was unaware that there were quality panists with their own bands in abundance in NYC.

....The closing act came from Trinidad’s Renegades Steel Orchestra arranger, Duvone Stewart. He stood on stage with pride, joy and enthusiasm and proclaimed that the performers for the evening: Freddie Harris III, Kareem Thompson, Iman Pascall, Jonathan Scales (highly recommended by Andy Narell), Khuent Rose, André White and Earl Brooks Jr were definitely pan’s Now Generation!

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Web Posted - Monday August 9, 2021
When Steel Talks Reboot - Feel the Music - Live the Experience

Desperadoes Steel Orchestra - “Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing” | Clive Bradley - Arranger

Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - This performance is part of The Four Pillars Of Steel program held at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain, on July 2, 2011.
Listen and watch

Web Posted - Thursday August 5, 2021
When Steel Talks - Live the Experience - Reboot

A Not-So-Brief History of the United States Navy Steel Band

by Skip Poole

Global - “I have been asked by When Steel Talks to write a history of the Navy Steel Band during my tenure as the Leader.”

....On average we performed about 500 gigs per year, which was around 55 concerts or social events per month. We received requests from throughout the United States and the Caribbean, with a bulk of the performances being in the Continental U.S.

....Duty with the Navy Steel Band was a very unique opportunity, there was no other US Military Band like it, and probably no other military steel band anywhere (expect possibly in the Caribbean). To me this was one of my favorite tours of duty.

“In my Navy career I went on to several other bands serving as leader, but the Navy Steel Band was my first band as leader and the most demanding and exciting!”
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Web Posted - Tuesday August 3, 2021
When Steel Talks

Pan Trinbago Vice President Carlan Harewood Resigns

Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - Carlan Harewood, vice president of Pan Trinbago, has tendered his resignation to Beverley Ramsey-Moore, the organization′s president. In his publicly-circulated letter dated August 3, 2021 Harewood expressed and detailed overall dissatisfaction with Ramsey-Moore′s tenure.

“....My decision to step aside at this time is being done with a heavy heart. I can no longer remain part of an administration that has failed, and where my skills and abilities are not valued. Having served under these difficult times and with an unshakable resolve to work towards improving our organization, moving on at this time is the right decision.”
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Web Posted - Tuesday August 3, 2021
When Steel Talks

The NOW Generation of Pan Concert

Brooklyn, New York, USA - Sesame Flyers is uniting The Steel Pan community for a special night under the stars. Join them on the rooftop of Brooklyn Children's Museum as they celebrate the rich sounds on Pan with internationally and locally known Steel Pan artists.

Pan Evolution, Iman Pascall, Khuent Rose, Jonathan Scales, Steel Sensation, Earl Brooks Jr., Freddie Harris III, Kareem Thompson, André White, Duvone Stewart and KIT Caribbean Connection.
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Web Posted - Monday August 2, 2021
WAVY.com

Local steel orchestra and its ‘De Panyard’ inspire underserved communities

Mosaic Steel Orchestra

Norfolk, Virginia, USA - A Hampton Roads organization is working to bring music to underserved communities.

The Mosaic Steel Orchestra is a 501(c)(3) organization that teaches adults and kids how to play steelpan drums.

It’s a dream that Dr. Anthony Hailey, its director, founder, and president, envisioned years ago.

“About 15 years ago, I took out a second mortgage on my home to buy these instruments because I was working and doing service in the community, but I wanted to see a deeper and greater change. So, over the past 10 to 12 years, we’ve been serving in neighborhoods here and in Portsmouth,” Hailey said.

....Hailey fell in love with the instrument after seeing the US Navy Steel Band in college and many of his students also fell in love after hearing the drums for the first time.

Elisha Jackson, who learned about the program from his cousin, says he originally thought the drums were pans because of the name.
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Web Posted - Sunday August 1, 2021
Trinidad Express Newspapers

“...that sounds like steelband judging to me. But say what, she did us proud.” Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley...

Michelle-Lee Ahye, at center

Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - “I am a little bit disappointed that Michelle didn’t get into the final but when you didn’t get in by ...one thousandth of a second, that sounds like steelband judging to me. But say what, she did us proud.” Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley.

Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley said he was disappointed that top female sprinter Michelle-Lee Ahye failed to advance to the final of the women’s 100m. However, he said the country has the potential to strengthen its athletic performances on the biggest global stage.

The Jamaican trio of Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson swept the medals in that order and, in the process, Thompson-Herah also broke a 33-year-old record by Florence “Flo Jo” Griffith-Joyner.
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2020 Trinidad and Tobago National Steelband Panorama Info - Complete

Global - PanOnTheNet/ WhenSteelTalks is Panorama Central! Complete information on the 2020 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 - February 2020
When Steel Talks

Complete Summary of Results of all Conventional Steel Orchestras - 2020 Trinidad & Tobago National Panorama

Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - At a glance and on a single page, access the comprehensive summary of results for the Small, Medium and Large conventional steel orchestras that participated in their respective categories in the 2020 Panorama.

Follow the musical journey of respective bands through all three phases - compare side-by-side preliminaries, semi-finals and finals through data on band info, scores, tunes of choice and arrangers - on one page.
access full summary