Ritual of the Drum

It is amazing that in an atmosphere as acoustically unaccommodating as the Grand Stand, Panorama still remains the most engaging event on that wide-open stage. The canopies muffle a lot of what's left. And the poor sound engineer robs the pans of the rich tone tuners spend sleepless nights creating. But the raw combustible high of the competition outweighs these irritants. The dust and early morning dew probably kindle some primal urge. We don't seem thoroughly comfortable with a production that is too slick. It must be wassy.

Panorama offers potent excitement. It arouses us emotionally, and rescues an element of our imagination from the grip of foreign cultural influences. We inherited Carnival, but we invented Pan. Its shaky beginnings, its immense potential and its resilience mirror history and perhaps, our destiny. Without Pan, our Carnival might as well be held in Rio.

Pan in the Savannah is distinctly ours. Each steelband brings its own share of a year's tension to the Grand Stand. Arrangers demand our faith and our fascination with a genre of music that is still evolving. And passionate pan lovers faithfully fuel competitiveness with arguments and analysis.

Panorama 1987 had its unique aspects. The range of music was broader than usual. What jazz bassist Happy William calls sensible and intelligent arranging was evident even among the lesser-known bands. Percussion played and important role in many of best arrangements heard on final's night. The performance of the pianist this year displayed careful discipline and dedication. It appears too, that most of the bands slowed the break-neck pace of the former years.

There was the usual reshuffling of arrangers. Clive Bradley returned to desperadoes to collaborate with Beverly Griffith, after an unrewarding stint with Tokyo. Ray Holman reappeared in Panorama unexpectedly with Exodus, a long underrated band from the East. Earl Rodney rejoined Harmonites with more zest than he has been able to muster in the early decades.

But they all had to contend with Len "boogsie" Sharpe, Pan's first true superstar. Boogsie deserved to win for sheer creativity, although it can reasonable be argued that Pase II wasn't the best performing band at the final. "This Feeling Nice" simply set a fire that captured pan lovers in the preliminary rounds,

Still, it was a gem of competition. The list of favourites was long, and the judges were confronted with multiple arranging styles. It washeart-rewnding to put any band in last place. Winners each in their own right, the all brought ambition and hope to the savannah: from the modest Merrytonees and their hearty rendition of Baron's "Say Say" to a resuscitated Invaders, whose "Unfinished Symphony" danced on a memory of some sweet last lap with a long forgotten lover.

Much of the music undefinable. Pamberi, for instance, opened our imagination to riper possibilities for Panorama music. The band gave Kitchener's "Pan in A Minor" a narrative style that was almost suspenseful. Siparia Deltones exhibited another side of Boogsie, showing he's equally capable of arranging other peoples music.

Jit Samaroo was cerebral, as usual, he combined the pans cleverly, and in some passages brought a force to Renegades the shook the Savannah. He use tempo expertly to hold the listener, and extracts every ounce of concentration with his runs a intricate movements. There is immense depth and complexity in his rendition of "Pan in A Minor". Edward Raymond, the captain of Angel Harps,Suggest that Jit really arranges the lyrics of a tune and not the melody.

Where Jit insist on wrapping the tune with accountrements better suited for classical music, he becomes predictable. Not that he doesn't handle it well. But we have heard much of it before. If he writes more soca lines, the response is likely to be better.

After respite from Panorama, Earl Rodney came back to Harmonites cooking. His old brilliance sparkled in several passages in "Pan in A Minor" theer is even a lively jam reminiscent of "The Wrecker" (Harmonites 1968 Panorama winner). Rodney is always at his beat arranging Kitchener's music.

Although Rodney says the rest from pan worked wonders for his psyche, his moodies is very evident in the texture of this year's arrangement. Harmonites seemed a sad shadow of their former greatness. The number of youthful players suggest. The number of youthful player suggest there is some rebuilding going on. The band has been in a cold spell lately, and an uninspired performance probably didn't win it any new fans.

With all stars the drama was of a different sort. Much to his chagrin, Leon "Smooth" Edward found the panorama audience no longer naive, and demanding substance. Smooth garnished the mighty Trini's ""Curry Tabanca" with his usual frills and flourishes, but the tune never got as hot as he hoped it would. The geera was missing. Structurally his music offerd nothing particularly clever, nor was it even mildly engaging. The band however, deserves kudos for precision and a zesty performance

Ken "Professor" Philmore brought music to the Savannah that was spirited, with a tempo as constant as a clock. His orchestration is clear and crisp. There were forays into pleasant musical ideas in certain parts. There were renditions of "Pan in A Minor." But little of it seemed fully integrated into the tune. Fonclaire;s performance lacked the edge and the shrillness that ignites a Panorama. If Professor continues to experiment however, he will remain a threat.

Desperadoes, of course, is always a contender in Panorama. The band comes to the stage with arresting bravura. The quality of its music and performance usually justifies this cocky attitude. The Griffith/Bradley collaboration produced richly textured music that sometimes electrified the audience. The arrangements showed nice variations on Kitchener's theme. Despers; penchant for pop music surfaced in several passages. Percussionist Ralph MacDonald thinks it was the best performing band in Panorama, but the audience never found the jam juicy enough to jump
What Bradley produced on his own was sturdier. Pandemonium performed his arrangement of Scrunter's "she want me to sing I she party" brilliantly. Bradlley gave the tune vigor and depth, staying safely from the musical semantics we heard sometimes form other arrangers. His usual elegance graced every passage of the music.Andy Narrell.the American jazz musician who has become a Panorama fixture, calls Bradley's work this year "substantial." Some people believe Pandemonium won the panorama. Bradley feels strongly that is did. We are proud of the music we gave to the audience." he says. Ray Holman displays a similar confidence, "Pan Woman." for Exodus is probably the cleanest , sweetest piese of music played in the Panorama. It shows Holman's undeniable skills as a composer. He constructs music with an artful intelligence that almost seems unsuited for the madness we expect in Panorama. The tension in his music is palpable, and gripping. The phrasing is wicked. Boogsie calls "Pan Woman" a symphony, but thinks it lacks "thunder." Bradley says the arrangement is attractive, and believes it's more edifying than Boogsie's music. Bradley likens Holman to a Mercedes, and Boogsie to a souped-up Volkswagen.

Exodus performed admirably considering the difficulty its members experienced learning Holman's laid-back style. They played joyously, and we hardly demoralized when the band placed seventh. Holman's disagrees with those critics who say the tune is too slow for Panorama." That tune came straight out of my soul," he says, "it had to be played the way it was. It would have been sacrilegious for me to tamper with it to meet the elusive expectation of Panorama judging."

Andy Narrel thinks "Pan Woman" has more structural integrity than any other piece of music he heard in Panorama. Narrel also played a Phase II, but couldn't hide his enjoyment at playing a Holman composition. "It's beautiful music," says Narrel.

Roy Boyke, who produces the biennial steelband music festival feels bands must first create a Panorama constituency in order t win Exodus can take a lesson from Phase II where that is concerned .

"A Band needs the osmosis with audience that boosts its performance," Boyke advises. Holman and Exodus remain hopeful.

Panorama 198 produced some exceptional music. There were enough new ideas to reassure us that the future of steelband music is in good hand. Once more, the arrangers stretched the potential of the instruments. The pianist broadened our appreciation pf the performance, and the tuners tampered delightfully the tone of the steel. The fans also deserved praise. Their tolerance and their enlightened criticism shows a remarkable degree of sophistication, notwithstanding the North Stand's cool reception to the smaller bands.

Like the satire on Jouvert and the Mas on Tuesday, Panorama is a necessary outlet, an arena even. It's chance to perform with excellence perhaps the only job many will have for the year. That the panists invariably succeed should be no surprise. Panorama, after all is a ritual of the drum.