Web Posted - Sunday
April 30, 2023
When Steel Talks
“Echophone” steelpan made by Herman “Rock” Johnston
Herman Johnston, who developed the Echophone
steelpan
Florida, USA - On Monday
(April 30, 2001) Mr. Johnston, who moved his family to Spring
Hill from New York 12 years ago, died at home after a four-year
battle with prostate cancer.
....The former body builder-turned-steel-drum-band-leader gained
international acclaim in the early 1960s after coming up with an
innovation that stretched the instrument’s musical range from 24
to 36 notes - the Echophone steelpan.
See more
Web Posted - Friday
April 28, 2023
When Steel Talks
Legendary panist Robert Greenidge speaks on the Rudolph
Charles version and origin of the Triple-Second steelpan
Robert Greenidge with his Triple-second
Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - The
triple-second was never featured in Desperadoes Steel Orchestra.
Nevertheless, it is one of the signature voices and achievements
of the late, great Rudolph Charles. The instrument was a
personal favorite of the late, great Grammy award-winner Ralph
MacDonald. It was featured often with Robert Greenidge playing
it on MacDonald’s albums..
See more
Web Posted -
Thursday April 27, 2023
The Times-Standard
Ray Holman joins Humboldt Calypso Band
Ray Holman from Trinidad & Tobago performs with
the Humboldt Calypso Band during a previous
performance.
California, USA -
The Department of Dance, Music, and Theatre at Cal Poly Humboldt
will present the Humboldt Calypso Band Saturday at 8 p.m. in the
Van Duzer Theatre on the university campus in Arcata.
....The concert will showcases the festive dance music of the Humboldt
Calypso Band along with a special guest steelband artist, the legendary
Ray Holman
from Trinidad & Tobago. The concert will be directed by Eugene Novotney.
....Holman has an assured place among the all-time greats of steelband
arrangers and composers. He has enjoyed extraordinary longevity as a leader
in the steelpan movement worldwide and holds the distinction of being the
first person to compose and arrange an original tune for steelband for the
Trinidad & Tobago National Panorama.
See
more
Web Posted -
Monday April 24, 2023
The Ellsworth American
30th Pan New England Steel Band Festival in Blue Hill May 6
and 7
Members of Flash! in the Pans perform at a steel
drum concert in Blue Hill 2021.
Maine, USA - Bagaduce
Music and Pan Institute are excited to present the 30th
Pan New England Steel Band Festival. In the spirit of the
tradition that Carl and Susan Chase created in Blue Hill, the
two-day festival will be celebrated in their honor.
The festival will take place Saturday, May 6, and Sunday, May 7, on the
campus of Bagaduce Music at 49 South St. in Blue Hill. This is a public
festival, bringing together steel bands from all over New England for two
days of music and fellowship.
....Bands set to participate in this year’s festival include: Vintage
Steel, from the University of Maine-Augusta; two groups from Gorham Middle
School; a group from Stratton Elementary School; Steel Industry from North
Yarmouth Academy; Pan Fried Steel from Yarmouth; The Panhandlers, from
Vermont; Flash! in the Pans from Blue Hill; Steel Revolution, from George
Stevens Academy; Soul Surfers, from George Stevens Academy; Planet Pan, from
Blue Hill; Rhythm Rockets, from Blue Hill; and Millennial Steel, from Blue
Hill.
Saturday, May 6
Music Celebration and Backyard Party
....There will be a barbecue and potluck dinner at 6 p.m., followed by an
evening featuring
Carl
Chase’s songs and arrangements performed by Ready About! and the
Atlantic Clarion Steel Band with special guests.
See
complete schedule
Web Posted -
Monday April 24, 2023
Trinidad Express Newspapers
50 years of pan studies
Northern Illinois University marks milestone...
Humble beginnings: The original NIU Steelband in
1973.
Illinois, USA - From a
humble start with a self-taught panist, the
Northern Illinois University (NIU) pan studies programme is
now the world’s grand dame of higher education for the
20th-century instrument. As NIU celebrates 50 years of pan
studies, it continues to be recognised as the world’s best, with
the only master’s programme globally.
The world’s oldest pan music programme, headed by Trinbagonian professor
Liam
Teague, marked its golden anniversary in a recent concert, with an
international audience, including a few people from Trinidad and Tobago.
See
more
Web Posted - Friday April 21, 2023
NSU News
Steel Band Workshop and Concert to be held April 28
Natchitoches, Louisiana, USA -
Northwestern State University’s Steel Bands will host the Third
Annual Steel Band Workshop on Friday, April 28. The workshop
will be from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the William Brent Band Room. A
concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall.
....The concert will feature music from Trinidad and Tobago and by Earth,
Wind and Fire, the Beatles and more. Featured groups will include the NSU
Steel PanDEMONium Band, Thursday Night Band and participants in the Third
Annual Steel Band Workshop.
See
more
Web Posted - Thursday April
20, 2023
Trinidad & Tobago Guardian
A day in Surrey... with Parang and Pan
Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. -
Scores of people converged at the
Supernovas panyard in Lopinot
last Saturday evening for a night of parang and pan music.
The event titled ‘A Day in Surrey’ sponsored by First Citizens, featured
some of the best bands in T&T including Los Sonidos, Los Amigos Cantadores,
steelband
champions 2023 bp
Renegades,
medium band champs
Katzenjammers from
Black Rock, Tobago, NLCB
Fonclaire and First Citizens Supernovas.
Web Posted - Wednesday April 19, 2023
NSU News
NSU Percussion Ensemble, Steel Band to perform
Natchitoches, Louisiana, USA -
The NSU (Northwestern State University) Percussion Ensemble will
present its spring concert on Friday, April 21 at 7:30 p.m. in
Magale Recital Hall. Admission is free and open to the public.
The concert will be livestreamed at capa.nsula.edu/livestream.
....After intermission, the Steel Band will play “Birthday
Party” by
Len
“Boogsie” Sharpe and arranged by Irvine & Popernack, “September” by
Earth, Wind, & Fire and arranged by Ziegler and “Float” by Machel Montano
and arranged by Ziegler.
See
more
Web Posted -
Monday April 17, 2023
The Daily News
Steel symphony: Steel band festival brings new sounds to
Batavia
Members of the Carnival Kids Steel Orchestra of
Lancaster perform at Saturday’s festival.
Batavia, New York, USA -
....There was a time in Trinidad and Tobago, as Alfred St. John and Paul Ferrette recounted Saturday, when having a pair of drumsticks in your pocket and wearing your cap backward carried an edge of danger.
....The gathering brought five steel bands from as far away as Ithaca for an afternoon of performances. Each reflected a variety of styles and genres, played on steel drums and demonstrating the instrument’s versatility.
....Saturday’s festival included the Ithaca College IC Steel band; the
Lancaster High School Carnival Kids Steel Orchestra; the RIT Tiger Steel
band; and the Steel Alchemy Community Steel Band.
See
more
Web Posted -
Monday April 17, 2023
OJO World
Government lobbies for World Steelpan Day
Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - Government, along with the Steelpan Trust of T&T and
Pan
Trinbago, are lobbying to the United Nations General Assembly to
have August 7th declared as World Steelpan Day.
The announcement was made my Culture Minister Randall Mitchell,
during Sunday’s opening of the new home for the
Desperadoes Steel Orchestra.
“That is presently being developed in collaboration with the
Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs, and we look forward to
our lobby and that application being made,” Minister Mitchell
said.
See
more
Web Posted -
Monday April 17, 2023
Trinidad Express Newspapers
Despers gets $14m ‘home’ in downtown Pos
Swirling Moves: Dancers from North West
Laventille Cultural Movement perform for guests
during yesterday’s opening of the Witco
Desperadoes Pan Theatre at George Street, Port
of Spain
Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. -
Desperadoes Steel Orchestra has been handed the keys to its new
home in downtown Port of Spain.
The multi-million-dollar facility was officially opened yesterday
afternoon following a ceremony attended by several hundred people.
It was recently completed by State agency, the Urban Development
Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (UDeCOTT), at a cost of approximately $14
million [circa US$2,058,000] and is located at George Street.
The pan theatre includes the panyard, a car park and the main commercial
building outfitted with classrooms.
See
more
Web Posted - Monday April
17, 2023
USM.edu
Steel Pan Musical Extravaganza set for April 20
Andy Narell
Mississippi, USA - The The Southern Miss Steel Pan Orchestra (SoMiSPO) and world-renowned
guest artist
Andy Narell will present Sea of Stories: A Steelpan Musical
Extravaganza. This program, which is being jointly presented by the
University of Southern Mississippi (USM) and Mississippi Gulf Coast
Community College (MGCCC), brings the exciting rhythms and lyric melodies of
Calypso and Soca music to the Coast.
The highly anticipated concert will take place at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College’s state-of-the-art Immersive Media Performing Arts Center (iMPAC) at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 20. The concert is free and open to the public.
See
more
Web Posted -
Friday April 14, 2023
Northern Public Radio
The Sound of Science - ‘Steelpan Acoustics’
Illinois, USA - Newt:
You’re listening to The Sound of Science on WNIJ. I’m Newt with NIU
STEAM. April marks the 50th anniversary of
NIU’s CSA steelband.
So we’re talking to steelpan aficionados to get some insight
this month. Today, hear Jay Smith explain acoustics.
Jay: What is common to most musical instruments is that something is
vibrating which then vibrates the air then that’s what we hear....It could
be a membrane like the drum, that would be a membranophone. Or it could be
like in the case of a steelpan, it could be the body of the instrument
itself, and that would be an idiophone.
....But in the case of the steelpan, you’re mainly just selecting
different notes and controlling the amplitude, although where you strike the
note also will have a little effect on the timbre itself. So therefore you
are extremely, very dependent upon a quality tuner to control those other
factors that have to be taken into account prior to the performance.
See
more
Web Posted -
Friday April 7, 2023
Northern Public Radio
The Sound of Science - ‘Crafting the Steelpan’
Illinois, USA - Newt:
You’re listening to The Sound of Science on WNIJ. I’m Newt with
NIU STEAM.
NIU’s CSA steelband hits 50 years old this April, so
steelpan player Chad Nichols is going to tell us a little bit
about the crafting of the steelpan.
Chad: A steelpan is a percussive instrument that originated in the
Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago in the late 1930s. Originally, it is
made of a 55 gallon oil drum. The process of creating a steelpan involves
various steps and the method that I’ll be introducing today is what was
taught by the late
Dr. Clifford Alexis, a steelpan pioneer who worked at the
Northern Illinois University steelpan program for 30 years.
See
more
Web Posted -
Thursday April 6, 2023
Livingston County News
Music by the barrel: Steel band Festival set for Batavia
Members of the Steel Alchemy Drum Band are seen
performing during a past Geneseo Rotary Summer
Festival.
Batavia, New York, USA -
For the first time a Steelband Festival is coming to Batavia.
GO! ART will be hosting the Western New York Steel Band Festival on
Saturday, April 15 at the Batavia City Center. Organized by teaching artist
and percussionist, Ted Canning, the event welcomes everyone to come enjoy
steel pan bands performing on this instrument developed in Trinidad and
Tobago.
....The Western New York Steel Band Festival begins at 2 p.m. with a
pre-concert presentation, Pan in Trinidad, with longtime Rochester pan
player and band leader, Alfred St. John.
....The idea for the Steelband Festival came from when Canning took his
community band, Steel Alchemy, to a couple Steelband festivals in Ohio.
See
more
Web Posted -
Thursday April 6, 2023
steinhardt.nyu.edu
NYU Steel Takes the Stage
NYU Steel
New York, USA -
NYU Steel
celebrates the history, music, and culture of Trinidad and
Tobago. This concert will feature works by
Kendall K. Williams,
The United Sisters, Matthew Best, and the exciting world
premiere of
Mia Gormandy-Benjamin’s arrangement of Gustav Holst
The Planets. Joining us for this special performance will
be guest artists
Pan in Motion Steel Orchestra from Brooklyn,
NY.
See
more
Web Posted -
Wednesday April 5, 2023
Trinidad and Tobago Newsday
Work on Desperadoes Steel Orchestra Pan Theatre completed
New digs: The newly built Desperadoes panyard on
George Street in Port of Spain.
Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. -
Work on the Desperadoes Pan Theatre has been completed, the
Urban Development Corporation (Udecott) confirmed via e-mail on
Wednesday afternoon.
....The corporation did not give an official opening date but Newsday
understands this may take place in mid-April.
....Desperadoes is currently in discussion with The Roy Cape Foundation
to expand the programme into more than just pan.
“That is instrumental because
Roy Cape has been an instrumental part of
Desperadoes’ legacy and history, being the one that brought in, in the early
days, our winning
Panorama arrangers:
Beverly Griffith and
Clive Bradley....”
See
more
Web Posted
When Steel Talks
Complete Summary of Results of all Conventional Steel
Orchestras - 2023 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 2023 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
When Steel Talks
Facebook got it wrong - Meta World and WST & SteelPan Are
Friends Again
Facebook “Likes” sends PanOnTheNet Apology - “We got it
wrong”
Metaverse - Facebook got it
wrong. About three years ago without warning or reason all WST
(When Steel Talks) steelpan-related accounts fell out of favor
with the social media giant Facebook now known as Meta and its
aligned consortiums (Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp). Because
WST has all of our material hosted on our own shared servers,
this ‘tag’ was not incurable or as problematic as it could have
been. However, it was annoying to have people seeking critical
steelpan music info diverted by Facebook AI (artificial
intelligence).
see more
Web Posted
When Steel Talks
Technology Giant “Google” Celebrates the steelpan instrument via Google
Doodle
Celebrating Steelpan - Illustration by artist Nicholas Huggins
Doodle of steelpan instrument ‘live’ on Google’s web site
Global - On Tuesday July 26, 2022 the
steelpan instrument of Trinidad and Tobago is featured and celebrated on the
site of technology giant “Google” via the famed Google ‘Doodle.’ The ‘Doodle’
is essentially an illustrative change made to the Google corporate logo “to
celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists, pioneers,
and scientists” - and more. The doodle is then seen by users all around the
world who access Google’s homepage on that day, and is available thereafter
in the doodle archives.
....Trinidad and Tobago-based artist Nicholas Huggins is the creator of the
illustrative artwork featured in the doodle, while Etienne Charles is the composer
of the accompanying music performed by the legendary steelpan icon Len “Boogsie”
Sharpe.
see more