First Annual Michigan Steel Drum Festival
At Hockeytown Cafe'
2301 Woodward Avenue in Downtown Detroit next to the Fox Theatre
Saturday, June 17 (Noon to Midnight)
Detroit, Michigan—
On
June 17th, the city of Detroit will play host to the first-ever Michigan
Steel Drum Festival, the only Michigan festival to focus entirely on the
breadth of music composed for steel drums. The steel drum, or "pan" as it's
known in the Caribbean, is the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago
where it was invented in the mid-twentieth century. The instrument was
first introduced and popularized in the state of Michigan by the Trinidad
Tripoli Steelband in 1973. Numerous community organizations, high schools,
universities, and professional ensembles throughout the state have since
taken up the steel drum. The Michigan Steel Drum Festival will feature a
total of eight Michigan-based steelbands. These groups will perform a wide
variety of music on an amazing range of 55-gallon steel drums—including the
rumbling six-drum bass pans, the powerful triple cello pans,
the resounding double guitar pans, the lyrical
double second pans,
and the clarion single tenor pan.
The Michigan Steel Drum Festival is being produced by the MSDF Committee, Jumbie Records, and Total Step Productions. The festival will take place on Saturday, June 17th on the roof of Hockeytown Café, where live steel drum music will be heard from noon until midnight. In addition, DJ Billy The Kidd will spin island blends between each band's performance and traditional Caribbean food and handicrafts will be available for purchase. Festival merchandise and CDs of the performing groups will also be on sale. Admission for the entire day of concerts is $10.
“There’s been a growing interest in Caribbean steel pan music throughout our state," says Mark Stone, Special Instructor in World Music at Oakland University. “Many people will certainly be surprised that all eight groups are from Michigan. I think they'll be even more surprised when they hear the incredibly diverse music performed by these Michigan steelbands. The festival is a unique opportunity for people in the Michigan steel drum community to come together and share their passion for pan.”
The Michigan Steel Drum Festival will feature the following bands:
- Hugh Borde’s Trinidad Tripoli Steelband
Michigan's original steelband led by the venerable Hugh Borde, Tripoli was first formed in Trinidad in 1942 and Hugh Borde became leader of the band in 1951. The group established itself as one of Trinidad's top steelbands in the 1964 Steelband Music Festival. The group later won the 'bomb' competition at the 1965 Panorama and the Prime Minister's Trophy in 1966. Tripoli gained international acclaim at the Montreal Expo World's Fair in 1967 followed by tours with Liberace and a Grammy Award. After settling in Ypsilanti in 1973, Tripoli brought the music of Trinidad and the steel drum to Michigan, a tradition they continue to share today.
- Southpaw Isle Steelband
The only North American group to perform in the ensemble category of the 2004 World Steelband Festival in Trinidad, Southpaw Isle performs a varied repertoire of jazz, classical, samba, calypso, and original compositions. The group recently presented the world premier of “A Caribbean Christmas Mass” for orchestra, chorus, and steelband with the Warren Symphony and performed a sold-out concert at the Max M. Fisher Music Center to kick off last year's Detroit Symphony Orchestra's Tiny Tots Concert Series.
- UPRIZIN
Led by virtuoso Trinidadian-born steel drummer Lyndon Sorzano, Uprizin will be presenting a set of jazz and contemporary music arranged for steel drums. In his native Trinidad, Lyndon performed with the renowned Neal & Massey All Stars and the Pamberi Steel Orchestra. He has since gained an international reputation as a steel drum composer, arranger, and performer through extensive tours of Europe and Asia. Now a resident of Warren, MI Lyndon regularly performs and shares his love and appreciation for Caribbean music.
- The Gratitude Steel Band
The Gratitude Steel Band is a family group led by Charles Russell. The group performs family and educational programs throughout the year at Michigan fairs, festivals, schools, and libraries. In addition to their extensive repertoire of Caribbean music, Gratitude is well known for their performance of gospel music on steel drums.
- Steelheads Steelband
The Steelheads are a steelband composed of students from Mott Middle College High School, Mott Community College and the University of Michigan-Flint. Since 1997, the group has performed at the Detroit, Vienne (France), Nice (France),and Montreux (Switzerland) International Jazz Festivals; the Paris Conservatoire, the Percussive Arts Society's International Convention, and twice at the Bands of America National Concert Band Festival, opening for The Canadian Brass and Free Flight. The ensemble is consistently recognized with top honors for musical excellence.
- Oakland University’s Pan-Jumbies
Formed in 2001 by Mark Stone with the assistance of Michael Kernahan, Lyndon Sorzano, and Kerro Knox; this group is made up primarily of Music Education Majors from Oakland University's department of Music, Theatre, and Dance. The Pan-Jumbies will perform Andy Narell's masterful panorama composition "The Passage" as well as arrangements for pan-around-the-neck, the forerunner to the modern steel drum.
- Michigan State University’s Hard Bargain Steelband
Directed by Marie Kujenga, the Hard Bargain Steelband is a part of the Michigan State University Community Music Program. What began as a community-based art form in Trinidad has now become a community-based art form in Lansing, MI. Hard Bargain's performance will feature several pieces by one of the greatest steel drum composers of all-time, Trinidadian Ray Holman. They will also perform classic Caribbean and Brazilian compositions.
- Caribbean Pans Of Joy Steelband
Caribbean Pans of Joy is a community steel drum ensemble based in Detroit. The band is an extension of Ralph Taylor's award winning Caribbean Mardi Gras Productions. For over 30 years, Mardi Gras Productions has created fantastic costumes and floats for carnivals around the world including festivals in New York, Chicago, Trinidad, the Virgin Islands, and Toronto. As a native of Trinidad, steel drum music is an important part of Taylor's carnival productions, which is what led him to create his steelband, Caribbean Pans of Joy.