Friday, May 23, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
'PanMan' Movie To Show June 15 at Yoshi's
The film “Panman: Rhythm of the Palms” will be shown at the 10th Annual San Francisco Black Film Festival (SFBFF) June 15, 2pm at Yoshi's.
THE PANMAN RHYTHM OF THE PALMS tells the story of the rise and fall of the steel drum pan player Harry Daniel. Harry is an icon of the Caribbean whose personal life suffers when he places his music above his family. He is desperate to pass the pan culture to a younger generation.
During this crusade to keep the music alive on his beloved island of St Martin he meets the exceptionally talented Jacko who becomes his star apprentice and hope for the future. Harry treats him like the son he never had. However when Harry's fame begins to diminish, Jacko turns against him and embraces instead the world of rock music. But when Harry dies unexpectedly Jacko returns to his island culture to become pan music's brilliant new icon.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
WST: A Moment with Andy Narell
Andy Narell talks with When Steel Talks about pan, calypso, music education and his upcoming concert in New York. See entire article here, or by clicking on the headline:
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
The Conscious Pannist - 1 (An Adaptation)
NEVER ACCEPT THE SUGGESTION OF LACK
You and I are creatures of habit. We get into the habit of accepting as final the evidence of our senses. I want to be outstanding pan player and my senses tell me that I am not, and I through habit am about to accept this lack as final.
When I remember that my consciousness is the one and only reality, therefore if I deny the evidence of my senses and assume the consciousness of being an outstanding pan player, I have in a sense rebuked the consciousness which suggested lack; and by assuming the consciousness of being an outstanding player, we become that player in a way we do not know.
In this case I say to myself, “What have I to do with thee?” What have I to do with the evidence of my senses? I will proceed as though I am already the pan player I desire to be. In other words, I assume that I am all that I desire. Then my dimensionally greater Self inspires in all, the thoughts and the actions which aid the embodiment of my assumption.
You and I are creatures of habit. We get into the habit of accepting as final the evidence of our senses. I want to be outstanding pan player and my senses tell me that I am not, and I through habit am about to accept this lack as final.
When I remember that my consciousness is the one and only reality, therefore if I deny the evidence of my senses and assume the consciousness of being an outstanding pan player, I have in a sense rebuked the consciousness which suggested lack; and by assuming the consciousness of being an outstanding player, we become that player in a way we do not know.
In this case I say to myself, “What have I to do with thee?” What have I to do with the evidence of my senses? I will proceed as though I am already the pan player I desire to be. In other words, I assume that I am all that I desire. Then my dimensionally greater Self inspires in all, the thoughts and the actions which aid the embodiment of my assumption.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Steel Jam performs this weekend
· Fri., May 16, 10-1 PM, in Hillsborough for the Community Service League’s “Kitchen Tour”· Sat., May 17, 1:30-4:30 PM, an Open House at 404 Bayswater Ave. in Burlingame
· Sun., May 18, 1:30-4:30 PM, an Open House at 404 Bayswater Ave. in Burlingame
Event Details:
On Fri., May 16, 10-1 PM, the Community Service League’s
28th Annual “Kitchen Tour of Homes”
(at 315 Pinehill Road in Hillsborough.)
Tickets are $35 in advance; $40 the day of the event. Tour five unique homes in Hillsborough and San Mateo Park. Proceeds will benefit The Mental Health Association of San Mateo County and the YFES Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Center of San Mateo County.
Call 650-483-6485 for tickets or, for more info, visit the CSL website at www.cslsanmateocounty.org.
Come on out to have a listen…and all for a great cause!
On Sat., May 17 & Sun., May 18, 1:30-4:30 PM:
an Open House at 404 Bayswater Ave. in Burlingame
--Mary Spalding featured on Sat., May 17
--Christin Hablewitz featured on Sun., May 18
Los Gatos Parents Call for return of Pan Teacher McGinnis
By Emilie Doolittle
Los Gatos Weekly-Times
Article Launched: 05/12/2008 07:21:18 PM PDT
For the third time, the Los Gatos High School Band Boosters and several high school students showed up at the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District board meeting on May 6 to ask that the school's band teacher, Ross McGinnis, be rehired.
The band teacher, who was hired at the beginning of the school year, resigned for reasons he cannot disclose. McGinnis did not attend the last three board meetings with the band boosters. However, he said that if the school offers to rehire him, he would accept.
Los Gatos High School principal Doug Ramezane could not comment on the reasons for McGinnis' resignation because personnel issues are confidential.
(Click on headline for full story)
Los Gatos Weekly-Times
Article Launched: 05/12/2008 07:21:18 PM PDT
For the third time, the Los Gatos High School Band Boosters and several high school students showed up at the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District board meeting on May 6 to ask that the school's band teacher, Ross McGinnis, be rehired.
The band teacher, who was hired at the beginning of the school year, resigned for reasons he cannot disclose. McGinnis did not attend the last three board meetings with the band boosters. However, he said that if the school offers to rehire him, he would accept.
Los Gatos High School principal Doug Ramezane could not comment on the reasons for McGinnis' resignation because personnel issues are confidential.
(Click on headline for full story)
Friday, May 09, 2008
Andy Narell's Beaten path to greatness
We hated to see Andy Narell leave the Bay Area for France. But let's face it. It wasn't happening for him on this side of the globe. The popularity that Andy had amassed in the 1980s when he first shot onto the jazz scene with his pan, had withered down to an occasional concert here and there. The novelty had worn off. So Andy followed the path of many great American Jazz artists before him who felt less than appreciated in the home of Jazz. He crossed the Atlantic to France where Jazz and music innovation is perhaps more appreciated than anywhere else on the globe.
Well that move certainly revived his career. After a spell with Calypsociation, Andy's popularity seems to have exploded. Check Youtube, the man is all over the planet playing pan...T&T, Eastern Europe, Spain, Cuba, and just about every University with a pan program in the USA.
Which begs the question: Andy, is time to come home?
Phil flyin' below the radar
Am I the only Phil Hawkins music fan in the Bay Area? I’m surprised that not many Bay Area bands are playing his music. There’s a certain calculated quality to Phil’s music that brings the pan(s) alive. I notice the jump in energy in his tunes compared to anything played before.Phil is getting ready to release a new CD with most of the tunes from his Pan Combo compilation. He also has a number of great band arrangements of these tunes available on his website pnotemusic.com.
Check out The Big Idea and Suk-kyo’s Samba, two of my favorites.
Jammin’ at the Beach
Don’t try to reach any of the Bay Area’s Pan notables this weekend. They have all gone to the beach…Virginia Beach. It’s the 6th Annual PANorama Caribbean Music Fest. Saturday features the competition, where bands ranging from elementary to college to community groups from all around the country compete for ratings and awards. Between 15 and 20 bands are expected to compete. On Sunday the top bands from the previous day’s competition perform on the 24th Street Stage.
Gone to the beach: Andy and Jeff Narell, Tom Miller, Phil Hawkins, Jim Munzenrider...
Liam’s Lightening Licks
Liam Teague was in the Bay Area last weekend and spread his stardust around leaving a lot of people with tingles from his performance. He showed how he earned the title “the Paganini of Pan”. The man is a masterful pannist, truly a leader among the next generation of pan practitioners. Personally, I found some of his classical pieces a bit esoteric…I get a similar feeling listening to Othello Molineaux’s avant-garde jazz. But, his skill on the pan was so captivating, it didn’t matter what he played. Or, with whom he played.
Liam was backed by Jim Munzenrider’s very capable CSM Panhandlers. The group did an adequate job but not up to the standard of their past performances. Notably absent were iconic players like Anna Talamo who is nursing tendonitis in both hands. The band, and Liam, lost it temporarily when they teamed with the La Nueva school band, but it was all taken in stride.
Although there was no formal announcement, it is rumored that Saturday’s concert was the group’s last as it is presently constituted. Talk is, Munzenrider is thinking of ending the 20-year-old project and starting over with new members.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Pan Eternal Band featured at Carnaval Show
DON"T FORGET: EVERY FRIDAY BBQ LUNCH/DINNERSistas-Wit -Style Caribbean Folk Performing Co. presents a fundraiser Caribbean Carnaval Show and Party featuring Live and Direct from Trinidad & Tobago, Pan Eternal Band with Miss Rita Jones.
Caribbean food, music by Bay Area’s #1 DJ Miller and Linden B. with special guest DJ’s Fusion from Canada.
The Carnival Ball kicks off at Caribbean Gardens on Saturday May 24th 2008 at 1306 Bayshore Highway Burlingame Ca 94010 begins at 8:00pm.
Advance Tickets $15.00 and $20.00 @ door.
Play Mas on de road for San Francisco Carnaval with Sistas-Wit-Style on Sunday 25th May 2007
This event is supported by Sistas-Wit-Style and Associates proceeds goes towards our children and youth dance program. We are empowering youths
Come and enjoy the spirit of the Caribbean!
(510) 952 –6287/ (415) 601-7513
Carnival Fundraiser for 'We Ah We'
Hi friends:
Don't miss having a fun time with us this Saturday
May 10, 2008, at the Caribbean Gardens. Check out Vincy Night, a Fundraiser for our Carnival Contingent, Caribbean Roots and Culture for Carnaval San Francisco's 08 “We Ah We”.
DJ Miller and DJ Linden B.
Party starts at 9:00 pm.
FREE ROSES FOR THE FIRST FIFTY LADIES **** FLOWERS BY JOSIE
Kojo’s Kitchen will be open, serving food from the Caribbean-Curry Chicken and Goat, Curry Tofu, Roti, rice and peas, salad and plantains.
PS. kindly forward this info to all your friends.
Don't miss having a fun time with us this Saturday
May 10, 2008, at the Caribbean Gardens. Check out Vincy Night, a Fundraiser for our Carnival Contingent, Caribbean Roots and Culture for Carnaval San Francisco's 08 “We Ah We”.
DJ Miller and DJ Linden B.
Party starts at 9:00 pm.
FREE ROSES FOR THE FIRST FIFTY LADIES **** FLOWERS BY JOSIE
Kojo’s Kitchen will be open, serving food from the Caribbean-Curry Chicken and Goat, Curry Tofu, Roti, rice and peas, salad and plantains.
PS. kindly forward this info to all your friends.
Monday, May 05, 2008
'Panman' in Bay Area Film Festival
The film “Panman: Rhythm of the Palms” will be shown in San Francisco for the 2008 San Francisco Black Film Festival (SFBFF) in June.The film will in addition be shown at the Hollywood Black Film Festival. Since its December 2007 red-carpet premiere, the film has been getting very good comments locally and abroad. The film is also on the line-up for film festivals in Curaçao, Europe, North America and South Africa.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Manning: G-pan will revolutionise Panorama
BY SEAN NERO /Trinidad Guardian
Prime Minister Patrick Manning has put the steelband fraternity on alert that the emergence of the Genesis pan (G-pan) will have serious implications on future Panorama competitions.
He said he anticipated that orchestras competing in the Carnival event would no longer be required to retain their present sizes since instruments in the G-pan family offered greater musical volume.
Pan Trinbago is responsible for producing Panorama, which is funded by the State. A large conventional orchestra taking part in the competition has a ceiling of 120 pannists, 90 for medium, and 60 for small bands.
In Manning’s view, the need for a large complement of pannists would soon be a thing of the past.
Speaking at Saturday’s launch of the National Steel Symphony Orchestra (NSSO) at Queen’s Hall, Port-of-Spain, the Prime Minister predicted smaller orchestras would soon occupy the Panorama stage.
It’s the second time in less than a year that Manning addressed the future of the Panorama competition while outlining the Government’s achievement in discovering the G-pan.
He first tackled the issue during the launch of the G-pan at the JFK Quadrangle at University of the West Indies, St Augustine, on July 14, when he said Panorama orchestras would have less need for an assortment of bass pans since the new G-bass pan covered all musical ranges.
“One of the advantages of the new pan is that of the top three pans—the tenor, double seconds and the guitar—the volume you get from these pans is 50 per cent more than what you get from traditional pans; and the volume you get from the new bass, which is the real innovation, is about 75 per cent more.
“What this means is an orchestra that comprises only G-pans would be configured very differently from an orchestra with the traditional type.
“In the case of the NSSO, the overall orchestra of 36 players and percussionist would take it to a maximum of about 40.
“Initially, we anticipated a NSSO of about 60 to 70 players. We now have a NSSO with a maximum of 40 players. Innovation has brought that about.”
Manning said he believed the G-pan would change the face of Panorama despite its unresolved production obstacles.
“We unveiled the G-pan on July 14, 2007. The research took longer than expected and, more than that, the production facilities of necessity that must go with it took us and continues to take us a little longer than we expected.
“They present a challenge that was over and above what we had anticipated, but is not an insurmountable challenge.”
Manning told the Queen’s Hall gathering, which included President George Maxwell Richards and Mrs Ramjohn-Richards, that his Government’s decision to scrap the T&T National Steel Orchestra was necessary because the system under which it operated was flawed and “simply not sustainable.”
He said the musical outfit, which was constituted under the Basdeo Panday administration, was viewed with suspicion by the steelband fraternity.
“We began an approach that would have stood a better chance of survival. We began an approach, for one, that was more sustainable, and came to the conclusion that perhaps a symphony orchestra, different from all other orchestras in T&T, might be the way to go,” he recalled.
Manning said the Government spent $9.9 million to continue research that was ongoing for some time at the pan research lab at UWI, St Augustine, headed by Brian Copeland.
According to Manning, the main criteria for the Genesis project was the creation of a soprano pan with a wider musical range that did not suffer from the disabilities experienced by the present soprano pan.
“It did not take us long to realise we were onto something. In fact, that research began to progress at such a pace that we took the decision to delay the formation of the NSSO, allowing the research to produce new instruments and to take the pan one major step forward,” Manning said.
“If we were able to develop these instruments, it would be the first orchestra in the country and in the world to be equipped completely with whatever pans we developed.”
Prime Minister Patrick Manning has put the steelband fraternity on alert that the emergence of the Genesis pan (G-pan) will have serious implications on future Panorama competitions.
He said he anticipated that orchestras competing in the Carnival event would no longer be required to retain their present sizes since instruments in the G-pan family offered greater musical volume.
Pan Trinbago is responsible for producing Panorama, which is funded by the State. A large conventional orchestra taking part in the competition has a ceiling of 120 pannists, 90 for medium, and 60 for small bands.
In Manning’s view, the need for a large complement of pannists would soon be a thing of the past.
Speaking at Saturday’s launch of the National Steel Symphony Orchestra (NSSO) at Queen’s Hall, Port-of-Spain, the Prime Minister predicted smaller orchestras would soon occupy the Panorama stage.
It’s the second time in less than a year that Manning addressed the future of the Panorama competition while outlining the Government’s achievement in discovering the G-pan.
He first tackled the issue during the launch of the G-pan at the JFK Quadrangle at University of the West Indies, St Augustine, on July 14, when he said Panorama orchestras would have less need for an assortment of bass pans since the new G-bass pan covered all musical ranges.
“One of the advantages of the new pan is that of the top three pans—the tenor, double seconds and the guitar—the volume you get from these pans is 50 per cent more than what you get from traditional pans; and the volume you get from the new bass, which is the real innovation, is about 75 per cent more.
“What this means is an orchestra that comprises only G-pans would be configured very differently from an orchestra with the traditional type.
“In the case of the NSSO, the overall orchestra of 36 players and percussionist would take it to a maximum of about 40.
“Initially, we anticipated a NSSO of about 60 to 70 players. We now have a NSSO with a maximum of 40 players. Innovation has brought that about.”
Manning said he believed the G-pan would change the face of Panorama despite its unresolved production obstacles.
“We unveiled the G-pan on July 14, 2007. The research took longer than expected and, more than that, the production facilities of necessity that must go with it took us and continues to take us a little longer than we expected.
“They present a challenge that was over and above what we had anticipated, but is not an insurmountable challenge.”
Manning told the Queen’s Hall gathering, which included President George Maxwell Richards and Mrs Ramjohn-Richards, that his Government’s decision to scrap the T&T National Steel Orchestra was necessary because the system under which it operated was flawed and “simply not sustainable.”
He said the musical outfit, which was constituted under the Basdeo Panday administration, was viewed with suspicion by the steelband fraternity.
“We began an approach that would have stood a better chance of survival. We began an approach, for one, that was more sustainable, and came to the conclusion that perhaps a symphony orchestra, different from all other orchestras in T&T, might be the way to go,” he recalled.
Manning said the Government spent $9.9 million to continue research that was ongoing for some time at the pan research lab at UWI, St Augustine, headed by Brian Copeland.
According to Manning, the main criteria for the Genesis project was the creation of a soprano pan with a wider musical range that did not suffer from the disabilities experienced by the present soprano pan.
“It did not take us long to realise we were onto something. In fact, that research began to progress at such a pace that we took the decision to delay the formation of the NSSO, allowing the research to produce new instruments and to take the pan one major step forward,” Manning said.
“If we were able to develop these instruments, it would be the first orchestra in the country and in the world to be equipped completely with whatever pans we developed.”
Friday, April 18, 2008
A Holiday for Kitch
Celebrate the Grand Master Lord Kitchener's birthday in cyberspace. See a list of activities at this link:
http://www.pan-jumbie.com/
http://www.pan-jumbie.com/
mas makers parties
Save the dates and spread the word:
Mas Makers gears up for Carnaval with two smoking events; Saturday April 26, Caribbean Breakfast/BrunchOpen House at the Mas Camp. Taste delicious island specialties, sign up for your costume or just party to the latest soca music.
Sunday May 11 Mother's Day Glo. You Must Wear White. Backyard Garden Party-Steelpan Music, Popular DJ, Island Food, Complimentary Cocktail and more...
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Lil' Mo' Love Steel n' Brass
Lil' Mo' Love Steel n' Brass plays their rockin' Soca Samba Rocksteady Sounds!!!!Whole Foods Berkeley - Ashby & Telegraph (in the patio, by the front entrance)
3-4pm only! but Come Early! it's an Earth Day Festival! - lots of kool food & stuff!
Free Admission -Buy Raffle Tickets or Register to become a MEMBER OF MO' LOVE to Support the Kids' w/ Mo' Love May 25 -SF Carnaval PARTY Crew...all youth costumes, food, transportation etc is sponsored...
do your bit to give some love to youth at risk and have fun! maybe win a TRIP TO THE CARIBBEAN! + FEEL GOOD! HEAR GREAT MUSIC! maybe TAKE A JUMP! DANCE! or jus' Swing ya' Hips... at least, we'll have u tappin' ya foot!
See you there! remember to come early! shoot for 2pm if you travelin' trini time....Mo' Love,
Sistas-wit-style bandlaunching
WHEN: April 26th, 2008
WHERE: 9105 Golf Links Oakland, Ca
Info: (510) 952-6287387-7771
http://www.sistas-wit-style.com/
sistas_wit_style@yahoo.com
Exit 98th Avenue, right Golf Links straight
You don’t want to miss the excitement!!!
Designer:
Curtis Hinds
COME AND ENJOY 2008 MUSIC
WHERE: 9105 Golf Links Oakland, Ca
Info: (510) 952-6287387-7771
http://www.sistas-wit-style.com/
sistas_wit_style@yahoo.com
Exit 98th Avenue, right Golf Links straight
You don’t want to miss the excitement!!!
Designer:
Curtis Hinds
COME AND ENJOY 2008 MUSIC
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Sunday, April 06, 2008
"wild suburbanites" playing steel drums in Moraga!
The Lamorinda Weekly recently featured the new steel drum class at the Bernhardt residence in Moraga taught by Harry Best. Click on headlines for link to full story. The class is in its third session this spring.
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