Tobago band scores pan upset

Tobago based Steel Orchestra Katzenjammers created history on Saturday night, being the first conventional Tobago steelband to win a major pan competition. Katzenjammers, with its rendition of Gloria Estefan’s “Conga,” arranged for the band by Trinidadian Auburn Wiltshire, was declared the joint winner of the TSTT sponsored “Pan In the 21st Century,” at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain at the weekend, held in tribute to West Indies Captain Brian Charles Lara. Legendary steelband Neal and Massy Trinidad All Stars Steel Orchestra, hailing from Hell Yard, Duke Street, Port-of Spain, tied with Katzenjammers for the top spot scoring 283 points. Trinidad All Stars chose Jorge Ben Jor’s “Masq Que Nada,” as its tune-of-choice arranged by its founder and pan innovator Neville Jules. The first prize is $50,000.

Led by Jemma Duke, Katzenjammers appeared in position number five among 12 finalists on the night’s two-prong competition, which also featured the “Pan Down Memory Lane,” competition for Single Pan Bands. Dressed in salsa-patterned tops and black trousers, complemented by sombrero hats, the predominantly youth-oriented steelband (Katzenjammers) was a clear crowd favourite for the title, despite the passionate performances from steelband heavy-rollers that went before. These performances came from reigning National Panorama champion Exodus, which appeared in position number three, doing Pelham Goddard arrangement of “Lovely Day,” sung by Bill Withers and Witco Desperadoes with its rendition of “Bring Back that Loving Feeling,” from the Righteous Brothers. Clive Bradley arranged that musical item.

In the end, Exodus tied with Petrotrin Phase II Pan Groove for third place amassing scores of 281. Phase II performed Len “Boogsie” Sharpe’s arrangement of “Besame Mucho,” by Consuelo Velaquez. There was another tie for the fifth spot between Desperadoes and Solo Pan Knights scoring 280 points. The latter band performed Duvone Stewart’s arrangement of Ricky Martin’s “Cup of Life.” The Single Pan Band competition — Pan Down Memory Lane — saw La Horquetta Pan Groove successfully defend its title playing Duvone Stewart’s arrangement of Jimmy Cliff’s “Wild World,” earning 277 points. Led by Kion Robinson, La Horquetta Pan Groove demonstrated its usual musical richness, mixed in with its high degree of showmanship. This band was also a crowd favourite. Twelve bands competed in this category for the $15,000 first prize.

Pan Trinbago’s compact productions witnessed by scores of patrons over the past two years, at the TSTT sponsored “Pan In the 21st Century” and “Pan Down Memory Lane” competitions, did not materialise on the weekend playbill. Due to inclement weather, the programme commenced 40 minutes past its scheduled 6 pm start and the flow of bands was not as brisk, causing the usual four-and-a-half-hour show to elapse by 90 minutes. Patronage was visibly less in comparison to previous instalments of the programme. To the benefit of the audience, however, none of the contestants performed the same tune-of -choice, and patrons revelled in the 24-song repertoire delivered, which featured musical fusions, as bands incorporated classical, reggae, tassa, latin, salsa, bossa nova, jazz and calypso rhythms in their competition selections.