Tag Archives: steelpan

Nestor Sullivan was modestly described as manager of Pamberi Steel Orchestra when we lost him at the beginning of this month. My few precious interactions with him and his cool, dry witticisms caused me to become aware that he was a tireless presenter of scholarly but practical papers on the …

The words of Kahlil Gibran in The Prophet inspire generations of readers all over the world. In the words of an Oxford University lecturer, the book ‘serves various occasions or big moments in one’s life’. I have so far escaped the worst of the deprivations of the pandemic. My pandemic …

A couple months ago, Yvette Rennie, the president of J’Ouvert City International in New York City, hired me to do a video documentary with some prominent people involved in the NYC steel pan movement. She wanted to focus on the economic development of steel pan in NYC.  The interviewees included …

It appears from their television interviews, that the Community Recovery Committee headed by Anthony Watkins is proceeding with the task given to it by the Prime Minister, namely ‘to find solutions to address some chronic problems in urban and semi urban communities’. The appointment of the committee was stimulated by …

“[…] Etched on its surface are vodka bottle-shapes that separate the notes on the instrument. The words ‘ABSOLUT PAN’ are boldly depicted at its base. “It is an insult to our national musical instrument! Will it stand for as long as Columbus’s statue? Shouldn’t voices be raised nationally for the …

Author Kim Johnson is on a mission to reprint his 2011 work, The Illustrated Story of Pan. Drawn from more than 600 interviews with pan pioneers, and filled with historical photos, the book documents the history of the steelband movement. Wired868 spoke with author Kim Johnson about his crowdfunding campaign …

Desperadoes Steel Orchestra is in no position to refuse the generosity of the prime minister, but the population can. We can tell Dr Keith Rowley that the reasons Despers left the ‘Hill’ are still with us and may even be more deeply entrenched as we count the daily shootings, killings …

Everything is set for a thrilling indigenous musical contest at next Saturday’s Panorama Finals and I open this column with an appeal to anyone who loves pan and our country’s youth to put aside their bad experiences with previous ridiculously lengthy Panorama Finals and attend the event. This appeal is …

I have been mulling over the lessons of the panyard experience and continue to feel that the panyards are on to some yet unexplored management concept in the way they organise themselves for Carnival. Mind you, there are as many systems as there are bands, but what is common is …

The following letter, designed to ‘offer a few thoughts on the recent Big Five pan concert, staged at the Queen’s Park Savannah last Saturday evening’, was submitted to Wired868 by Earl Best, who asked that we stress that pan music is emphatically NOT one of the several areas in which …

When our politicians fail us, rather than responding on the issues, they commonly pursue attacks on critics and angry dismissals of so-called negativity. They are however so blinded by their own rhetoric and the flattery of their satellites that they do not know where to look for—let alone properly to …

“Let me tell you the honest truth. It’s a 24 hour job. When you work in the panyard for 12 hours and go to sleep, you dream about things for the band and the players… “Ideas are always popping up in my mind. I’m never satisfied with something. I always …