Steelpan Music News - History and Culture

  When Steel Talks extends Birthday Greetings to panist  Darrielle Mylan-Charles August 31st Darrielle Mylan-Charles is a member of Trinidad & Tobago's renowned Renegades Steel Orchestra. “Compared to the past and what I've learnt, the sexism aspect of playing the steelpan and it being considered a "man's thing" has been mostly if not completely non-existent. We see more women playing the steelpan and being treated as another other player in recent times.” --  Darrielle Mylan-Charles She is a scholar with a plan and a mission. In an exclusive interview with When Steel Talks - panist Darrielle Mylan-Charles shares her personal journey and future musical expectations. See interview Related content: Meet Darrielle Mylan-Charles - Trinidad & Tobago

Yasmin Brito When Steel Talks extends belated Birthday Greetings to panist  Yasmin Brito August 27th Ontario, Canada - “Time waits on no one. If you enjoy the musical instrument, find a band and become a member. Don’t keep saying “I always wanted to... Just Do It! .....” –– Yasmin Brito At 12 years old she was playing pan in a steelband. And while the neighbors had less than kind things to say about this - she had fun. Much fun - made history by becoming one of the first of the firsts in the annals of pan - an unwitting trailblazer with memories and experiences that have lasted a lifetime. In an exclusive interview with When Steel Talks - panist, mom and former corporate Yasmin Brito shares her joys of her remarkable lifelong story with Pan, and the steelpan art form. ...

   New York  Panorama 2005 - D'Radoes Steel Orchestra - "Darling" Arranger: Clive Bradley ©2005 When Steel Talks. All rights reserved "Darling" performed by D'Radoes Steel Orchestras. A Clive Bradley arrangement as captured by When Steel Talks/Basement Recordings. Related content: New York Panorama 2005 results Check New York Panorama 2005 in Pictures New York  Panorama 2005 - D'Radoes Steel Orchestra - "Darling" Arranger: Clive Bradley ©2005 When Steel Talks. All rights reserved

    Dr. Mia Gormandy-Benjamin August 27th When Steel Talks extends Birthday Greetings to panist  Dr. Mia Gormandy-Benjamin Intelligent, immensely talented, beautiful, charismatic, articulate, focused and thoughtful - this ‘Ambassador of Pan’ represents the ultimate pan product from Trinidad and Tobago’s next generation of pan talent. In an exclusive interview with When Steel Talks, instructor and performing artist Dr. Mia Gormandy-Benjamin speaks on her career and fantastic journey in Pan. An epic performance of Mars, the Bringer of War by Gustav Holst -- arranged and conducted by Dr. Mia Gomandy-Benjamin. Her passion for Pan is unwavering and burns intensely. She is a steelpan ...

  Fifteen years ago in August of 2007, superstar Wyclef Jean visited the panyard of New York's Pantonic Steel Orchestra as they were preparing for that year's Panorama competition.  The occasion was a video shoot with the group as he danced and sang in front of and with the steelband at their Brooklyn site. He even took a musical turn on a tenor as the thrilled panists surrounded him. The musical collaboration with Pantonic was part of Wyclef's preparation for his then-upcoming Fall 2007 release entitled The Carnival II: Memoirs of an Immigrant - his  sixth solo CD release.  Guest artists on that album included T.I., Chamillionaire, Paul Simon, Akon and Mary J. Blige. See full story and picture show See full story and picture show

  Island Jazz Chat is a  Jazz in the Islands  podcast featuring conversations with Caribbean jazz and panjazz musicians based in the islands and the diaspora. For more, click here . Panman, steelpan virtuoso, steeldrum musician. Just don't call Annise 'Halfers' Hadeed a "pannist". He is more than that! This important musician and recording artist from Trinidad and Tobago, now resident in the U.K., has been blazing a trail in the jazz scene there, as well as contributing significantly to the Caribbean presence there as an award winning steelband arranger. He made his recording debut in the 1980s with The Breakfast Band, and recorded, toured and performed widely in the U.K. & Europe, the US, and the Caribbean, as part of a new wave of Caribbean jazz talent, reinforcing the work of pioneer kaisojazz musicians like Clive Zanda and Russell Henderson, and moving the music forward with important collaborations that put the steelpan at the forefront of a new jazz ...

No New York Panorama Brooklyn, New York, USA -  It’s easy to be angry. Sometimes it seems like our entire culture is being destroyed right before our very eyes. This year’s lack of a Panorama in New York is disappointing on so many dimensions. Even if we allow for some grace in the post-COVID (is it really post?) come-back era, if we look far enough down the road we can see that pan as we know it is irreparably damaged and changed when we don’t hold the competition. We can’t blame this all on gentrification and neo-colonization. see more

Notting Hill Carnival 2022 – Live Stream – Monday Watch now

 Relevant content Total Steelband Panorama Wins - UK UK Steelband Panorama Winners

  Notting Hill Carnival 2022 London, England, U.K. -  Notting Hill Carnival live stream for Carnival Sunday, August 28 Watch now

  Duvone Stewart with Ebony Steel Band London, England, U.K. - Ebony Steelband's performance of the Duvone Stewart-arrangement of Mash Up sung by the late Dexter “Blaxx” Stewart has given the orchestra its twenty-third UK Panorama championship. For Duvone this marks his fourth winning collaboration with the UK steelband powerhouse. No doubt, Ebony's director Pepe Francis MBE is proud that his orchestra continues to make history with this accomplishment. See complete results and story

   Exodus Panyard launch Watch Live!

  LIVE @ London Notting Hill Carnival 2022 Watch live

  NY Pan Broken but not Dead by a Longshot - “People Like Peas” D’Radoes Steel Orchestra at its 20 th  Anniversary celebration Brooklyn, New York, USA -  On Sunday August 21 st  D’Radoes Steel Orchestra held their 20 th  anniversary celebration. Twenty years of Pan in New York ain’t no joke. Many have tried but few have survived. Much more than a observance of longevity, survival, and sustainability, it was a genuine reminder of just how much of a cultural, historical and musical treasure-trove New York Pan is. And in this case D’Radoes Steel Orchestra. NY Pan is coming out of the global pandemic (with New York the epicenter) bruised, battered and wobbly - with some on life support. see more

    UK Panorama 2019 - Pan Nation Steel Orchestra - Iron LoveArranger: Chris Storey Related content: The Anatomy of UK Panorama 2022 - Quick Chart - Steelband Music Competition UK Steelband Panorama Winners Total Steelband Panorama Wins - UK

    2021 UK Panorama - Mangrove Steelband - “Happy Place” - Andre White, arranger Related content: The Anatomy of UK Panorama 2022 - Quick Chart - Steelband Music Competition UK Steelband Panorama Winners Total Steelband Panorama Wins - UK

  J’Ouvert 2022 Route J’Ouvert in New York New York, USA -  “At this time last year, we promised that J’Ouvert was going to come back bigger and better in 2022. I am pleased to announce as officers and members of J’Ouvert City International we are poised to deliver on this promise come Labor Day morning September 5 th ....” .... “J’Ouvert parade has been part of the City’s Cultural fabric during the Labor Day season, and our financial contributions have helped to boost New York City’s economy in excess of a billion dollars. As customary, the official parade route is Grand Army Plaza & Flatbush Ave to Empire Blvd and ends at Nostrand Avenue and Midwood Road from 6:00 – 11:00 a.m. J’Ouvert 2022 Route see more

  2019 UK Panorama - Ebony Steel Band - “Trouble In The Morning” - Duvone Stewart, arranger Related content: The Anatomy of UK Panorama 2022 - Quick Chart - Steelband Music Competition UK Steelband Panorama Winners Total Steelband Panorama Wins - UK

  Aliandre Maraj Brooklyn, New York, USA -  The rays of sunshine warmed the sunny Sunday afternoon for the celebration of the life of Despers USA Steel Orchestra panist and vice captain Aliandre Maraj - just as he himself had warmed the hearts of all those he touched in his thirty years of life. At the Seven Days Adventist Church on East 21st Street in East Flatbush, people of all ages, from the young to the not-so-young gathered to bid him goodbye. In addition to his conventional family and friends, there was a considerable turnout in his steelband family among the New York pan fraternity in attendance. see more

  Musician and entrepreneur Aliandre Maraj also known as "Ali" was a remarkable son, brother, cousin and friend. Born on February 9, 1992 at Interfaith Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY to Aveian Brathwaite née Maraj. Aliandre was a very happy baby who smiled and laughed all the time. At age two, he went to Trinidad to live with his grandparents Noel and Mummy Jean and there he attended pre-school. At age four, he returned home to Brooklyn to be with his mother. There he completed his education from elementary to high school at: Flatbush SDA School, PS 315, Andries Hudde Junior High School and Science Skills Center High School. At age five, during a life-changing summer vacation in Trinidad, his grandfather Noel taught him to play pan. In his teenage years, during one of his regular summer trips, Noel gifted him a tenor pan which he loved and cherished for the rest of his life. He grew to love and respect the art...

    Crystal Noel August 21st When Steel Talks extends Birthday Greetings to panist  Crystal Noel “...funding is the most serious issue. Pan is hard work - talent or not - and most times the reward for playing pan can never compensate for the long nights on your feet or the 6-7 days of practice just for one competition or one ‘play-out.’ I think if pan was taken more seriously in Trinidad then it can actually be a source of revenue for a lot of people. But as I always say... we don’t do it for the money we do it because we love it.”  -  Crystal Noel She is a veteran double tenor panist for the perennial Trinidad and Tobago National Panorama Champions, Trinidad All Stars Steel Orchestra. In an exclusive interview with When Steel Talks -...

  Trinidad Express Newspapers MOVED BY THE MUSIC: Housing and Urban Development Minister Camille Robinson-Regis dances yesterday to the sweet pan music of Music Stars Steel Orchestra, following the upgrading and refurbishment works to their band room located in Chinapoo, Morvant Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. -  Speaking yesterday at the Chinapoo Community Centre at the handover ceremony of the recently constructed Trinidad and Tobago Music Stars Steel Orchestra panyard, Dr Jeffrey Reyes, board member, East Port of Spain (EPoS) Development Company, said when the Government invests in steelpans, it invests in young people’s education and the social cohesion of the community. ‘Pan can be used to develop knowledge, address deviant behaviour, and improve memory. This facility in Chinapoo is an opportunity for you to pull the community together,’ Reyes said. see more

  Arts Council of Greater New Haven Lisa Yarbor and members of St. Luke’s Steel Band New Haven, Connecticut, USA -  Gloria Rogers stepped to the beat from the back of the audience towards where her two friends, Mary Lopes and Mary Freeman, were dancing in their seats. She leaned down to say something, and a moment later, all three women were on their feet, heading in different directions through the audience. Within minutes, the audience would be on its feet. On Friday night, a Whalley Avenue parking lot transformed into a Caribbean oasis with the colorful melodies of the St. Luke’s Steel Band and the sound of laughter from strangers coming together to dance. ....“The most important thing for me is the instrument,” said director Kenneth Joseph, who hails from the instrument’s home of Trinidad and Tobago. ....The free concert, which featured 16 performers of the sometimes-25-person band, began around 7 p.m. see more, video

  Carol-Ann Andrews August 20th When Steel Talks extends Birthday Greetings to panist  Carol-Ann Andrews “In my perspective, it seems that the greatest challenge of our art form, the steel pan, faces today is that although we have come a long way, we, the pan men and pan women are still not appreciated or respected enough by our own people in our own land.” -  Carol-Ann Andrews Carol-Ann Andrews Her passion ...

When Steel Talks extends congratulations and acknowledgment to the Wilson pan family.  Montreal's first family of Pan. The Wilson Sisters and Mom Salah Wilson ..MA musicology / PhD ethnomusicology Salah Wilson, wife, and daughters Relevant content Meet Fatima Wilson - Montréal, Canada Meet Zaynab Wilson of Montreal Salah Wilson - bio - history Salah Wilson - Writer, arranger and educator, speaks on Panorama 2012 Salah Wilson: a Man with a Vision, a Plan and a Point A Ministry Exclusively for the Steelpan in Trinidad & Tobago See more breaking news

  WBUR Boston, Massachusetts, USA -  Boston’s Caribbean Carnival parades are just around the corner, and one would expect that the bandleaders of such beautifully costumed mas — or masquerade — bands Soca & Associates and Misfit, or the symphonic steel sound of Branches Steel Orchestra , would be at their mas camps busily making final preparations for both the afternoon Carnival and early morning J'Ouvert parades down Blue Hill Avenue on Aug. 27. ...Branches is missing its first ever Carnival since the event started 49 years ago. At the heart of many of the absences is the long-running strife between bandleaders and the Caribbean American Carnival Association of Boston (CACAB), which presents Boston Carnival, billed as the largest BIPOC celebration in Massachusetts. The conflict comes down to the leadership of CACAB’s president, Shirley Shillingford. see mor...

  Nicky Couture (right) and Mom (left) August 18th When Steel Talks extends Birthday Greetings to Nicky Couture Related content: See breaking news

  When Steel Talks The Anatomy of UK Panorama 2022 - Quick Chart - Steelband Music Competition London, England, U.K. -  Five steel orchestras will put their best competitive efforts forward for the 2022 UK Panorama. Each wants to be champion, with the title defenders, 11-time Panorama champs Mangrove Steelband determined to cede no ground. ....The UK National Panorama will be held at the customary venue at Emslie Horniman’s Pleasance Park, Kensal Road, W10 from 4:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m. on Saturday 27 th  August. see quick chart

The Angel Harps Steel Orchestra is perhaps Grenada's most well-known steelband. "The Harps" or "The Wharf Band" as they are affectionately called by their fans and supporters, seem to have been around for as long as most people could remember steelband in Grenada.  See Bio

    Augustus “Gusy” Peters August 17th When Steel Talks extends Birthday Greetings to tuner and panist  Augustus “Gusy” Peters Augustus “Gusy” Peters is an accomplished and outstanding steelpan tuner whose talents are sought after all over the world. See bio/history Related content: Augustus “Gusy” Peters  - Steelpan Tuner & Pan Maker See more breaking news

  Trinidad and Tobago Newsday Members of Desperadoes Steel Orchestra’s new board of directors Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. -  Over the past few weeks, the steelpan has been in the global spotlight. On Sunday, a steelpan version of the T&T National Anthem was heard twice around Birmingham, England, as  Jereem Richards , and then this country’s 4x400 men’s relay team, collected their Commonwealth Games gold medals. And last month, the  steelpan was featured as a Google Doodle  on the 71st anniversary of the Trinidad All-Steel Pan Percussion Orchestra’s ( TASPO ) performance at the Festival of Britain, which introduced the steelpan and a new music genre to the world. But while there is no denying that the steelpan has been accepted and acclaimed globally, the managing director of the orchestra with the  most Panorama titles  believes more needs to be done for the instrument locally. “The steelpan has reached global already but the problem I...

  UK Panorama 2022 NHCarnival is delighted to announce the return of the UK National Panorama Steelband Competition to the Emslie Horniman’s Pleasance Park. An event that will bring together a medley of NHC elements all in one day ending with the crescendo that is Panorama! The UK National Panorama Steelband Competition is an annual steel pan event and is the most respected and anticipated outside of the Caribbean. Saturday 27th August 2022 Emslie Horniman’s Pleasance Park, Kensal Road, W10 4pm - 12am There will be food stalls and bars, large screens and NHC DJs throughout the day bringing you the sounds of Carnival. This is a family day like no other! Panorama will be the grand finale for the day’s activities…. 5 titans of UK steel bands will go head to head for coveted title of Panorama Champions 2022. Winners will be announced on the night and a celebratory DJ set to continue the good vibes. Mangrove Steelband (Defending champions) Croydon Steel Orchestra Ebony Steelband Metrono...

When Steel Talks extends belated Birthday Greetings to panist  Pepe Francis August 15th Pepe Francis is the director of the Ebony Steelband Trust in London, and chairman of the British Association of Steelbands (BAS). Interview with Pepe Francis Related content: Meet Pepe Francis, Chairman of the British Association of Steelbands & Ebony Steelband Trust Director - UpClose! Steelband Panorama Champions of the UK Total career Steelband Panorama Wins - UK

  CentralPark.com See the very best of Steelpan music at Harlem Meer Performance Festival New York, USA -   This summer’s festival closes with Despers USA Steel Orchestra. Despers USA is the oldest New York-based offshoot of the legendary Desperadoes Steel Orchestra of Trinidad and Tobago. ....This is a free, family-friendly community event overlooking the beautiful Harlem Meer on Sunday August 21 st , 2022. see more

In recognition of Jereem Richards’ public appeal that the national anthem of Trinidad & Tobago be played on the Steelpan at his recent Commonwealth Games medal ceremony, Republic Bank Exodus Steel Orchestra plans to honor him. The band reached out to Jereem and he has agreed to accept an award at Exodus’ “Panyard Opening” on Saturday 27th August. Exodus believes that Jereem’s bold request could help to highlight the national instrument as a symbol of our creativity and joie de vivre, and elevate it as an expression of all that is good and unique about us. His fervent plea was also timely as it coincided with Pan Month, recognised in August every year, in our nation.  His request also was made on television with global reach, viewed by millions. This act by itself would have served to bring Pan to the attention of hundreds of thousands of persons across the Globe. Happily, our National Anthem was played on the Steelpan at his medal ceremony. It is hoped that J...