In this edition:

1. Laventille Steelband Festival 2001
2. Pan Notes
3. Pan News
4. Pan Events
5. Archived News

1. Laventille Steelband Festival 2001

The second annual Laventille Steelband Festival was held on August 5th 2001 along the Eastern Main Road, Laventille. Thousands of pan enthusiasts turned out to hear some of the nation's top steel orchestras, nine of whom participated in this year's Panorama Final. Conventional bands included Witco Desperadoes, Exodus, Phase 11, Bp Renegades, Pamberi, Harmonites, Blue Diamonds, Pan Knights, Carib Tokyo, Courts Laventille Sound Specialists, and Express 21. The programme also included a theatrical re-enactment of the history and development of the steel band that was performed by cultural groups from within the area.

The emancipation declaration is read

The stick fight

The Engine Room - the sound of iron

The tamboo bamboo

The Traditional Steelband - Unistars

The festival committee also recognized the achievements of some of Laventille's outstanding citizens in the areas of Athletics (Pilar McShine), Steel pan development (Sydney Gollop and the Pierre sisters) and Community work (Lystra Penny).

This year's festival was expanded to include two other components, a pan camp for youths from schools in the area and a steelband management workshop designed for steelband executives and administrators. The pan camp was held from July 30th to August 4th and immersed the participants in the history and evolution of pan, pan manufacturing, music theory, and careers in pan. Over thirty young persons participated and were certified. There were recommendations for the camp to be expanded both in terms of its content and the number of participants for the next year.

The second component was the Steelband Management Workshop that was held on July 28th, 2001 at the Angostura Glass Room. The major objective was to improve the management and marketing capacity of steelbands. The workshop attracted a total of one hundred and five participants and a cadre of well-known facilitators such as Professor Lloyd Best, Dr. Keith Nurse, Ms. Pat Bishop, Mr. Brian Awang, Mr. Errol Fabien, Mr. Keith Carter and Mr. Terry Joseph. Specific emphasis was placed on situating the local steelband industry within the wider global context, the business of operating a steelband, financial and human resource competencies and marketing and public relations.

All of these activities were made possible due to the generosity of the Festival's sponsors. The major contributors this year included Angostura Limited, Trinidad and Tobago Instruments Limited, West Indian Tobacco Company Limited, Carib Brewery, the Ministry of Culture and Pan Trinbago.

2. Pan Notes     [back to top]

New on the shelf this month are two releases from Exodus Steel Orchestra and TCL Skiffle Bunch:

The National Panorama champions (2001) - Exodus Steel Orchestra have released a compilation of some of their better-known pieces. "Exodus 11 - The Power and The Glory" features nine pieces that range from calypso to latin pop and disco including the Panorama winner "A Happy Song". Pelham Goddard arranges all of the music on "The Power and The Glory". Produced and distributed by Sanch Electronics. (868-663-1384)

Steelband Music Festival champions, TCL Skiffle Bunch recently launched their latest cd - "In the Rainforest". The cd, which features seven selections, is being lauded as the most expensive pan cd to produce to date. Band captain, Junia Regrello estimates that all the music on the cd cost the band over $200,000 TT to arrange and approximately $60,000 TT to produce. The selections include their two wining Festival pieces, "In the Rainforest" and Pan by Storm" both arranged by the renowned Len "Boogsie" Sharpe. Also featured are "Stranger" by Shadow, "Misbehave" by Sharpe, "Firebird" by Stravinsky, "Nessun Dorma" by Puccini and "How Great Thou Art". "In the Rainforest" is available at music stores nationwide.

3. Pan News     [back to top]

COSTATT's Associate Degree in Steelpan begins on September 24th.

The collaborative training initiative between the National Steel Orchestra and the College of Science and Technology of Trinidad and Tobago is scheduled to begin on September 24th at the premises of the Steel Orchestra, Oxford Street, Port of Spain. According to Nestor Sullivan, the Manager of the National Steel Orchestra, the course is already fully subscribed and everything is in place to begin in September. The degree will take place over six semesters, or two years, for a total of sixty credits.

Funding for Pan Trinbago

Three members of the Pan Trinbago executive will visit various countries to raise funds for the organization. Traveling along with Pan Trinbago's President Patrick Arnold will be Richard Forteau (Secretary) and Selwyn Paul. The group will visit the United States, France, and the United Kingdom and will meet with the executives of several sporting and cultural associations to propose funding arrangements for Pan Trinbago. Mr. Jack Warner, the Vice President of Fifa, has facilitated these meetings. It is expected that this fund-raising initiative will yield positive results, and would eventually lead to a reduction in Pan Trinbago's dependence on government subventions. The group returns home on September 23rd.

4. Pan Events     [back to top]

Western Union Launch

Four steelbands from Western Port of Spain will come together on August 25th to launch their mas band for Carnival 2002. Phase 11 Pan Groove, Invaders, Woodbrook Playboyz and Havard Harps have come together under the name of their sponsor - Western Union - to put out a masquerade band for Carnival 2002, which is entitled Cosquelle. The collaboration between the bands was born out of a need for steelbands to bring back mas on the road during the Carnival days. It is envisaged that this initiative will be extended to other developmental activities after the Carnival period.

Pan Month

The month of August is designated Pan Month in Trinidad and Tobago. As such, Pan Trinbago has planned a series of activities to celebrate the occasion. The month was launched with an interfaith church service. In addition, Pan Trinbago has organized several solo pan performances at various companies throughout Trinidad and Tobago such as the Unit Trust Corporation, TSTT, and HiLo Food Stores. Noted panists such as Noel La Pierre, Duvonne Stewart, Darren Shephard, Michael Toby and Roger Regis will be featured at these sessions. Enquiries for the performances can be forwarded to the Pan Trinbago's secretariat at 868-623-4486.

Pan on the Piazza

The Normandie Hotel continues its pan evenings this month at the Vidalia Restaurant. Witco Desperadoes Steel Orchestra is scheduled for August 25th, and TCL Skiffle Bunch is scheduled for September 1st. All shows begin at 7.30 p.m. and cost $125.00 for dinner and show and $40.00 for the show only. Reservations can be made by calling 868-625-8732.

Pan on the Park

Pan Trinbago's Pan on the Park has two more scheduled performances for the month of August. Bp Renegades and Rio Claro Koskeros are scheduled to perform on August 24th and Trinidad All Stars and Arima All Stars are scheduled to perform on August 30th. All shows start around 6 p.m. and cost $30.00.