Pan Jazz Revival May 24, 2017

On Saturday3rd June 2017, All Sport Entertainment and the EJC will present “Pan Jazz Revival”.  The following post gives the motivation behind the project, as described by the producer, Chantal Esdelle and published in the Trinidad Guardian on Sunday 21st May 2017.

Jazz is the music used to express the African experience in the Americas.  As such it reflects the African encounter with indigenous peoples of the Americas and all who were brought or chose to come to the Americas.  Pan Jazz and Kaiso is the Trinidadian contribution to this canon.  As such many of the significant arrangers for steelbands have been both significant arrangers for kaiso and revered pan players and/or musicians. Examples include Clive Bradley, Earl Rodney, Beverly Griffith, Boogsie Sharpe, Ray Holman, Carlton Zanda.  Second generation examples of this include me and my colleagues Duvonne Stuart, Darren Sheppard, Natasha Joseph and Douglas Redon. The work done in the smaller jazz ensemble and in the calypso tent informs the steel band arrangements and the experience of the steel band community informs the work done in calypso and the jazz ensemble.  They feed each other, therefore, both need to be sustained for the health and energy of our cultural expression. Pan Jazz, Pan Ramajay, Pan Royale, the Trinidad and Tobago Steelpan and Jazz Festival are some of the big events that helped to nurture the production and promotion of Pan Jazz.  They no longer exist.

Pan Jazz Revival, is meant to join the other emerging pan jazz events being produced to fill this cultural void.

The EJC has been producing Caribbean jazz presentations and recordings for seventeen years.  Pan and Kaiso jazz has always been central in the EJC’s work.  I was, therefore, ecstatic when Anthony Harford of All Sport, a man who had me host and produce an hour long weekly programme (The Chantal Esdelle Caribbean Jazz Hour) on his radio station, approached me to produce a pan jazz event.

As this was our first presentation we honed in on pan maestro’s with whom we had vibrant relationships.  For me it was four time champion steelband arranger for Harmonites, bassist and arranger for Sparrow from the late sixties to early seventies, and arranger of Black Stalin’s land mark record Caribbean Man, Earl Rodney.  From Mr. Harford’s side it was his teacher at Fatima, champion pan arranger, master performer Ray Holman.  Of course my group, an example of pan jazz and the winners of the 2013 Trinidad and Tobago steel pan and jazz festival pan challenge would play and accompany these greats and vocalist Candice Alcantara would give us a necessary change in timbre. Moyenne: Glenford “Kevin” Sobers (pan), Douglas Redon (bass), Darren Sheppard (drums), Chantal Esdelle (keys), Gary “Sam” Haywood (percussion).

Pan Jazz Revival, Saturday 3rd June, Normandie Under the Trees, <ethnicjazzclub@gmail.com>, 622-8062

EJC 2015/16 Calendar November 17, 2015

One of the most important hats I wear is that of the Managing Director of the Ethnic Jazz Club (EJC).  This is where I make space for me and my colleagues to produce and present our music.  This is the calendar for our 2015/16 calendar year.  The posts that follow are updates on the events listed and other related Caribbean Jazz tidbits.

We look forward to your joining us.

Chantal.

EJC Calendar of events

Sweet Southland Vibes November 23, 2015

Left to Right:  Kyle Noel, Charles Ryan, Tinika Davis, Damyon Alexander

Kyle Noel’s set was sweet and intense.  Charles Ryan added just the right treatment on bass and Damyon Alexander’s guitar accompaniment was inventive, relevant and in the true style of kaiso. A perfect match for the kaiso originals and standards Noel performed in his set.

EJC regulars were satisfied with yet another evening of beautiful, thoughtful, well played music.  I was glad to join in the opening piece, Andre Tanker’s Forward Home, listen to his duet with Natasha Joseph on Pan Night and Day and savour his performance of his originals, Swift Breeze, Yard of Love (a dedication to Earl Rodney) and Fly Away (dedicated to the memory of his brother).

This disciple of Earl Rodney represented the four sticks movement well. It was truly a gift to experience a piece of this young musician’s soul.

Thank you Kyle.

Chantal

Week 2 Pan Jazz Lime @The Jazz Studio November 17, 2015

Left to Right: Kyle Noel, Douglas Redon, Chantal Esdelle, Darren Sheppard.

We are all pannists but it was Darren who took the lead on his tenor pan this past Saturday 14th November.  Kyle played drums, Douglas Redon anchored us with his stellar bass playing and I did a pretty decent job on the keys.  We truly enjoyed supporting Darren’s intense, dexterous, powerful playing and ably added to the evening with solos of our own.

A handful of satisfied repeat EJC patrons shared in this experience.  Another opportunity for us to play, experiment and grow.

On Saturday 21st November Kyle Noel will share a few originals and his arrangements of a few Trinidadian classics. The first show is at 7pm and the second at 8.30pm.  Join us at the Jazz Studio, 51 Cornelio Street, Woodbrook, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.  Email <ethnicjazzclub@gmail.com> or call (868) 622-8062.

CE

Week 1 Pan Jazz Lime 2015 @ the Jazz Studio November 14, 2015

The first week of the Pan Jazz Lime got off to a great start on Saturday 7th November with Natasha Joseph.  Natasha performed her arrangements of Jane (Sparrow), Pan on the Move (Holman), included the standards Spain (Corea) and St. Thomas (Rollins), and performed her own composition “In God’s time”.  The set, backed by Douglas Redon (bass), Donald Noel (congas and djembe) and Chantal Esdelle (keys), was performed well and thoroughly enjoyed by the audience.

The musicians: Left to right, Donald Noel, Natasha Joseph, Chantal Esdelle and Douglas Redon.

The audience included a few members from Phase II (the band that Natasha serves as drill master for), Cuban professor Graciella Chailloux (Chantal’s Cuban mum) and some of her colleagues, and a few drop ins.  A small audience and a warm one.

The second evening of Pan Jazz Lime, Saturday 14th November will be led by Darren Sheppard the original lead pannist of Toronto based Jazz Group Kalabash and founder and manager of Fusion Steel.

The Pan Jazz Lime is being held at “The Jazz Studio” 51 Cornelio Street Woodbrook, (868) 622-8062, ethnicjazzclub@gmail.com, every Saturday in November.  Two shows each evening 7pm and 8.30pm.

EJC@15: The Launch November 3, 2015

The Ethnic Jazz Club’s fifteenth season got off to a great start this past Friday 30th October.  Fifty plus patrons, musicians, friends and colleagues gathered for the intimate dinner and concert event at Jaffa@the oval to celebrate the EJC’s production of sixteen major concert presentations in Cuba and Trinidad and Tobago, four albums, master recordings of three artists, over 100 cabaret style presentations and one hundred and fifty episodes of the Caribbean Jazz radio programme, “The Chantal Esdelle Caribbean Jazz Hour” over its fifteen year existence.  The guest of honour was Douglas Redon, a bassist, pannist, composer, arranger and teacher who has quietly and powerfully contributed to the performance, presentation and survival of kaiso jazz, pan jazz, pan and calypso music.

Chantal Esdelle presents musician Douglas Redon with a gift at the EJC’s fifteenth anniversary launch.

Chef Joe Brown served dinner choices of Argentine styled Beef Coulotte, Chicken Parmegiani and Snapper with fresh healthy sides and heavenly desserts; double chocolate mousse, coconut strawberry gateau, tropical fresh faith salad while Moyenne gave an excellent performance of an all original set of Sobers, Redon and Esdelle compositions, with the exception of the group’s favourite standard, Andre Tanker’s Forward Home/ I come back home.

It was great to feel the love and care of people who have experienced the commitment of Douglas Redon; Noble Douglas, Peter Aleong, members of Harvard Harps; and who support the work of the EJC; Hilarians, musicians (Alemu, Neil, Roger, Michael), students.  It was useful to share the accomplishments of the EJC and our calendar for the 2015/16 season.  November events include presentations by leading pannists in Trinidad and Tobago every Saturday in November at our home, the Jazz Studio, on 51 Cornelio Street, Woodbrook, Trinidad and Tobago. Email us at ethnicjazzclub@gmail.com or call (868) 622-8062 for tickets and info.

Natasha Joseph – Saturday 7th November

Darren Sheppard – Saturday 14th November

Kyle Noel – Saturday 21st November

Douglas Redon – Saturday 28th November

EJC Calendar of events

A Jazz Experience: Joslynne Sealey writes about the April 2014 presentation “Bim, the music of Andre Tanker” at the EJC’s Jazz Studio. June 15, 2015

On Saturday 18th April my friend and I made our way to the quiet district of Woodbrook to The Ethnic Jazz Club’s Jazz Studio. And what an experience it was!  As we arrived the patrons of the earlier show were leaving with many hugs and much camaraderie.  They seemed to be seasoned jazz enthusiasts by the insightful comments and smiles and so we entered in anticipation of something special.

EJC patrons enjoy the Sunday performance of “Bim: the music of Andre Tanker” at The Jazz Studio. 51 Cornelio Street Woodbrook. Photo Courtesy Maria Nunes Photography.

The musicians at the Saturday evening performance of “Bim: the music of Andre Tanker” Left to Right; Chantal Esdelle, Douglas Redon, Natasha Joseph, Tamba Gwindi. Photo courtesy Maria Nunes Photography.

This was a small, intimate ambience which lent itself to the evening’s fare. The show started promptly at 8:30 p.m. as our host, MsEsdelle, announced the programme which was to be the music of BIM by Andre Tankar.  The following selections were chosen Bim’s Theme, Carapichima, Round and Round, Afro Indian Rap and Jumbie Call.  On Percussion/Drums was Tamba Gwindi, on Double Seconds was Natasha Joseph (whom  some will remember from Phase II and from Panazz days), Douglas Redon was on Bass Guitar with Chantal Esdelle on Keyboards. The opening bars were the most hauntingly earthy sounds emanating from a wonderful array of percussion instruments skilfully played. And so with a crescendo, these sounds swelled into the beautiful, folk-like music that is Andre Tanker.

Throughout the evening what was outstanding was the musicianship of this quartet as they played. They were so sensitive to each other, falling back into supportive mode as each in turn took the spotlight to improvise . The improvisations were of a very high standard indeed, beginning with some masterful work on drums, crisp clean folk rhythms and a variety of percussive sounds. Tamba  is a very precise and skilled musician and his contribution lifted the music throughout the evening.

What I remember vividly as one of the high points of the evening was the impressive solo by Redon on bass during the selection Carapichima. There was a wonderful flow of developmental ideas here as he developed a masterful imitation of the sounds of the Sitar!  Of course, at the end there was spontaneous applause.

Natasha Joseph on double seconds had the happy task of stating the well-known themes, (melodies) of these songs which I thought was fitting as this is the national instrument. She went on to give us many wonderful improvisations also, skilful playing on her instrument. These four instruments were a perfect blend, well chosen for good balance and for this intimate, jazz experience.

Another highlight for me was Ms Esdelle’s solo during Round and Round with its free flow of improvisational ideas on the theme and with such subtle harmonic progressions and resolutions! All these musical solos moved seamlessly through the evening with the ebb and flow of the individual offerings in the quartet.

It goes without saying that there was enthusiastic applause as the music came to an end.  Someone said to me “Imagine that, they made a Suite of Andre’s music, the music flowed continuously” to which I replied, “Wherever he is, I am sure that his soul is happy”.  Ms Esdelle’s next Jazz Workshop will be in June when she will feature the saxophonist Emir Santa Cruz from Cuba.  See you all there.

Behind every good thing is a good woman. March 2, 2014

Len Boogsie Sharpe and Phase II won Panorama 2014 with Sharpe’s arrangement of his original composition Jump High.  It was Sharpe’s seventh Panorama win (’87,’88,’05,’06,’08,‘13,’14).  For Natasha Joseph it was her second Large Band Panorama win in two consecutive years as the drill master of Phase II Pan Groove.  The drill master is not listed on a steelband’s banner but in today’s major carnival steelband competitions in Trinidad and Tobago, and diasporic steelband panorama styled competitions, it is a crucial position that must be filled for any band to be successful in any competition.  To understand the nature of Natasha’s job in Phase II we should consider the size, constitution, and situation of the band and detail what she is required to do.

In the three to five weeks preceding the first Panorama performance there could be as many as one hundred and fifty people flocking to Phase II’s pan yard to play.  In this number some people play well but only play at carnival, some play all year, some are just beginning, some have been playing for years, some have come to lime cause this is what they do at carnival, some might be passing for a smoke, others may have a romantic interest, some may be players from outside of Trinidad and Tobago who have come for the experience of playing, some may be musicians, some may not, some people can come from 5pm others from 8pm, some might be mothers, some may live close by, others may live far away; different people living in different places, with different levels of skill, different levels of commitment and different kinds of financial and physical resources.  Of this number only one hundred and twenty are chosen to play. Natasha’s job is to get all of these people to execute the funky, well orchestrated, technically challenging, oral historical sonic story of Len Boogsie Sharpe’s arrangement and, perhaps even the more socially challenging task, be one of the lead people in deciding which players are most capable of delivering this performance.

Natasha’s prowess as a musician with a comprehensive knowledge of harmony, in depth practical knowledge of the various steelpans and exceptional playing skill, not to mention her gift of perfect pitch, all make it easy for her to listen to Phase II’s nightly playing and discern who is playing, who is not, what needs to be worked on and what needs to be adjusted to suit people’s varying playing skills.  The challenge lies in dealing with the players, conveying to them whether or not they will be allowed to perform, and where they will be placed, after all everyone wants to be front stage on the Panorama stage in one of the leading bands in Trinidad and Tobago.  She faces this challenge adequately, sticking to her guns, knowing that all will be forgotten with the Panorama win.

Sharpe knows well that his work needs to be drilled and he has taken great care in choosing drill masters having enlisted the help of Ray Holman, Douglas Redon, and Junior Edwards, to mention a few, and also relying on many, many talented players to hold their own in the band over its more than forty year existence.  For the last two years though he has clearly settled on his own advice, Woman is Boss.

Chantal Esdelle

Applause Please: Pantastic Players @Trinidad All Stars Pan Yard July 9, 2012

Yohan Popwell

Yohan Popwell is a Trinidadian steelpan player and steelband arranger. Popwell’s success as an arranger is probably best represented by his numerous wins in the medium band category of Panorama with the steelband Sforzata but his passion, I think, has always been performance.  This was evident when he played in All Stars and even more so when he played a leading role in Panazz Players.  It is not surprising then that his latest project,  Pantastic Players, a new ten-piece steelband ensemble, allows him to engage in his two loves.  With this group he gets to arrange and perform, as well as pass on his skill and his love for the steelpan tradition to this band of pre-dominantly young adults.

In the Players’ performance event on Saturday night at All Stars pan yard Popwell did not stray very far from the familiar steelpan practice of playing well known calypsos and popular songs on pan.  As is usual with most bands when this is done he used the standard changes but did not always use the originally scored accompanying horn or bass lines.  Seeing his young band, including his daughter, play and take well placed solos in songs like Nelson’s, Meh Lover, Stevie Wonder’s, Sir Duke, Michael Jackson’s, Ben, standards like Blue Bossa and Tico Tico and a medley of Kitchener’s calypsos had us all smiling, listening and in good spirits. Our enjoyment did not end there as Renegades Steel Orchestra followed and had us dancing to Ella Andall, Steel Pulse, and several 2012 soca hits, all skillfully arranged by Duvonne Stewart and tastefully intertwined with a few Jit Samaroo classics.  The hosts, All Stars kept the lime going with their usual well-rehearsed set.  As Pantastic Players closed the event I thought, it would have been nice for more people to have been here to experience this.

Amidst the camaraderie and heartwarming  connections that I always get to notice and enjoy at a steelband event I wondered why more people had not attended.  Popwell invited me a few weeks before so I had a reminder on my calendar, but it seemed that some people had forgotten and others had only heard about it, or had been reminded about it, by members of the performing bands.  Apparently there was some radio advertisement, but not very much. And while Gary Cardinez and Peter Blood were there to cover the event, I’m not sure if they were asked to print anything before the event. There were lots of young players in all of the bands but they were not followed by a young audience.  All of this might lead to the usual general conclusion that the less than desirable attendance may have been due to not enough advertising but I think that we are up against a lot  more in that public enthusiasm for cultural events has diminished.

As a young person I enjoyed being taken regularly to the Little Carib to see Uncle Claude (Claude Reid) in plays, going to Queens Hall for All Stars’ Classical Jewels, going to the Hollows to hear pan, going to Pan Festival and Music Festival, and seeing my dad’s family Best Village group from Morne Diablo perform.  It is true that I was six and seven when this started (yes I was present for Carifesta ’81 in Barbados and can still remember the Cuban dancing), but I clearly remember that the spaces were always packed and I know that it was because everyone wanted to go, loved that this was ours and could not dream of being anywhere else.  Of course at that age I was unaware of the amount of advertising done to promote these events and, therefore, cannot analyze its impact on attendance then, but I will surmise that the upward trend now would more readily lead a family to choose a visit to Movietowne over an evening enjoying dance at Best Village and might also label Classical Jewels as too intellectual or boring an exercise for a young person below the age of ten or twelve.  It does not help that many young people are no longer involved in the creation of art.  Perhaps now more than ever we need more accessible samples of Caribbean performance art so that we might once again acquire a taste and love for it. Many believe that free concerts are a no, no.  For me musicians should not play for free but I think that as a society we should find ways for our people to experience music in free spaces.  Many more daytime family events might help….maybe Pantastic Players with Renegades and All Stars in the Hollows or a play park… whatever we can figure out we need to give it a try.

Sounds like… (Dean Williams @ Blue Culture’s Jazz Quarters) July 4, 2012

   Beautiful people on stage and in the audience, that was my first thought as I entered Casa de Ibiza last night.  Guitarist Dean Williams and the three young men, Rodney Alexander (bass), Alpha Simpson (drums), Anthony Woodroffe (sax) were definitely worth a second look, while the music, played to a young, attractive, progressive-looking, mature-looking audience, made me not just take a second look but also a closer listen.  As I did, I found myself thinking, “this sounds like Stevie Wonder”, “this sounds like Marcus Miller”, “this sounds like Steve Coleman”, “this sounds like the horn lines from Etienne Charles’ Douens”, “this reminds me of Omar Hakim”, “that calypso soca groove sounds like Kid Creole”.  These references were not necessarily a good or a bad thing, simply and interesting one.

In the first set these musical styles and references were more apparent since Dean presented standard material first and they actually played Stevie’s “Isn’t she lovely” into John Legend’s “Ordinary People”, followed by Ralph MacDonald’s “Just the two of us”, and ended with Gershwin’s “Summertime”. They played all of these in Funk/R&B style so it would be hard to navigate away from the style of drummers like Hakim, bassists like Miller and guitarists like Benson who have defined that style of improv for decades, or to resist quoting themes from popular songs like Maniac from Flashdance.  So they stayed close to the flight plan and did a good job of it.  The problem, though, was balance.  Bass, drums and guitar is a hard rhythm section format.  The middle/chords/colour that we get from an extra guitar or keys can easily be and, in this case for me, was missed.  I tried to figure out why, since this is not a new combination, Theron Shaw, Douglas Redon, and Sean Thomas did it quite successfully in their group Three in One. I settled on a few possibilities.  Maybe the bass took up too much and the guitar took up too little of a presence in the mix, maybe the obvious skill gained by the drummer and bassist from study and transcriptions should now be harnessed into thinking well about establishing a smoother and less static underlying groove when playing together in this combination.  Anthony’s solos on sax and his and Dean’s singing on Just the two of us and Summertime, respectively, took my attention away from the thinking and allowed me to enjoy the last two pieces in this set.

After the break during which I had a taste of some pretty good chicken, we were treated to originals.  Dean let us know that they were his originals re-arranged by Jesse Ryan.  Jesse joined Anthony in the sax section for the second set.  The additional sax made a marked difference to the sound.  Perhaps the background lines and solos gave Dean a chance to fill in the middle.  Whatever it was it did change things.  Although most of the originals were clearly built around familiar musical examples; Dean’s song for his daughter, was reminiscent of Stevie Wonder’s song for his daughter (Isn’t she lovely) in several respects, the horn lines in Tanzania were a bit too close to the ones Etienne wrote for his original Douens, and the Kid Creaole take used to establish the groove for Dean’s Caribbean inspired piece was a bit shaky (timewise);  I was glad to have them.  I was glad to have them because I could feel the enjoyment and excitement that the group and the audience felt in experiencing them.  Rodney and Alpha had a really good time with their solos in this half, especially in the last piece, Super Speed, and I really appreciated their approach to playing with the time.

All in all it is clear that these musicians are listening and transcribing and I believe that they will come more and more into their own.  They also have a really nice audience to grow with.

Modupe Onilu and his group are on next week at Blue Culture’s Jazz Quarters, Ibiza, Tragarete Road, Port-of-Spain, Tuesday 10th July, 9pm.