Bands blank pan tunes

February 11, 2001
By Terry Joseph

REIGNING National Calypso Monarch Shadow, who has enjoyed high rotation on the airwaves and fete circuit since the December release of his CD Just for You, extends his domination of the playbill on day two of the Panorama preliminaries for conventional orchestras.

The selection of Panorama tunes by the bands flies in the face of a flurry of pan-specific calypsoes, composed especially for the competition and featuring either the instrument or its players as themes.

Indeed, very few of those songs (which number about 50 this year) have been paid any attention by musical arrangers.

Shadow, the 1974 Road March King, is one of three former monarchs whose music was selected by 14 of the 25 bands listed to perform today. Six of them are playing Shadow’s two most popular tunes, “Yuh Looking for Horn” and “The Stranger”, the latter also tipped as a contender in this year’s Road March stakes.

Next in the popularity poll is Preacher, the 1994 Road March Monarch, whose “Rain Melody” was a runaway choice at the single-pan bands playoffs that took place on Thursday and Friday nights in Port of Spain. Among the conventional orchestras today, Preacher’s tune will be played five times.

Wayne Rodriguez, King of the Road in 1998, (singing Lincoln Waldron’s “Raindrops on My Pan”) is the choice of three orchestras, tying with newcomer D’ Boss, whose “Start De Jam” took off late in the season. Long standing composer/performer De Fosto (“Kitchener Say”) and Sweden-based pannist Mark Loquan, writer of “Fire and Steel” (sung by Denyse Plummer) will both be heard twice on pan today.

Panorama patrons will have access to secured parking in the Queen’s Park Savannah today.

The parking facilities, which have been arranged by the National Carnival Commission (NCC), are available behind the North Stand and in front of the Grand Stand at a $10 fee.

There are five entrances for the parking area: three near the Grand Stand, one at Casuals Club corner, and one at the St Ann’s Roundabout.

Order of appearance