| |
Super Sonics the
most scintillating
Soulful
renditions had pan fans dancing at Pan is Beautiful IX
SUNDAY EXPRESS - October 18, 1998
By
DEBBIE JACOB
SUPER Sonics stole the show when Pan is Beautiful IX
opened Under the Trees at the Hotel Normandie in St
Ann's on Friday night. The steelband, the last ensemble
to perform, gave a scintillating performance at 1.50
a.m.
Sadly, the band performed to only a handful of people
and steelbandsmen who lingered to the very long end of a
sometimes lacklustre show which began at 8.30 p.m.
Earlier, the show had been packed with standing room
only. Half of the patrons were tourists, many of whom
were from a Trump Tour staying in Chaguaramas.
Unfortunately, the audience was robbed of the
opportunity of hearing a bunch of talented musicians
play "Land for All" by Mark E Loquan for their piece of
choice and an amazingly soulful performance of David
Rudder's "Calypso Music" that perked up and impressed
diehard fans who remained to the bitter end. Shouting
"Give we some more music like that with sweet notes and
volume", two pan fans began to dance to Super Sonics
soulful rendition of David Rudder's "Calypso Music"
filled with riffs that built to a spine-tingling
momentum.
Super Sonics' brilliant interpretation never deviated
from the heart of the original score where every note
could be heard ringing clearly.
With amazing unity, the band members managed to perform
as though the house were still packed. They used their
drummer more effectively than any other band integrating
the drum with the pan effectively and capturing a
mesmerising Baptist beat.
The panmen led the audience to exhilarating heights
several times in the song. In the end, they were awarded
504 points.
Their nearest competitor was The Southeast Port of Spain
Prison Youth Club (Sepos PYC) which erupted into
thunderous applause and hugs when their score was
announced. Third place went to a flamboyant Flabej
Ensemble led by John Douglas who performed a folk melody
and Rossini's "Barber of Seville" and earned 473 points.
Eight ensembles in total competed in the Northeast
preliminaries for that category. Ten soloists competed.
Pint-sized Mia Gormandy, a crowd favourite from Trinidad
All Stars who played "Voices of Spring" from Johann
Strauss tied with her fellow pansman Bruce Roberts who
played Chopin's "Minute Waltz" for first place 250
points.
A
second place score of 246 earned Jamal Jasani Glynn a
place in the semifinal leg. He played a melodic up-tempo
version of his own composition entitled "Reverie". Third
place went to Ronnie Ross of Serenaders who capitalised
on some dramatic runs when he played "Invention in A
Major" by Martin Sheafe.
Of
the four entries for duets, Desiree Myers and Rudolph
Williams of Petrotrin Invaders won with a well-paced
"Turkish March" by Mozart.
Second place went to Roxanne Christian and Eion Charles
of Flabej Ensemble who played "Sonata in A Major" by
Geo.Philipp Telemann.
Third place went to Dwayne Ifill and Aqua Leith of Sepos
PYC Steel Orchestra with a slow, clear rendition of "Pan
in the Meadows".
Only one quartet performed, Bruce Roberts, Charmaine
Evans, Sule Sampson, and Sherma Babb of Trinidad All
Stars performed a tight arrangement of "La Primavera".
Bands were judged as follows: 40 points for arrangement,
40 for general performance, 10 for quality of sound and
10 for rhythm.
As
with all pan shows, this one lost some momentum with the
amount of time it took to set up each steelband.
Pan is Beautiful IX continues on October 20 at the Naparima Bowl and moves to the Centre of Excellence on
October 22. Northern semi-finals will be on October 24
at the Queen's Park Savannah. Finals for everything but
orchestra will be held in the Savannah, October 31.
Orchestra finals will be held in Jean Pierre Complex on
November 7. |
