Pan! The Steel Drum Odyssey (CD + DVD) on CD

Description

The film tells the turbulent birth of this instrument in the poor neighbourhoods of Port of Spain, capital of Trinidad & Tobago, in a docudrama style that combines fiction and documentary. Directed by Jérôme Guiot and Thierry Teston, produced by Jean-Michel Gibert and Barthélémy Fougea, this 80-minute film puts into perspective the social context in which the steel pan appeared. The common thread is the story of Goldteeth, a young ghetto boy who conceives the first pan using a 55-gallon drum and strives to spread its use despite the scorn of naysayers. The scenes played by actors are interspersed with interviews of witnesses and protagonists of the movement such as arranger Boogsie Sharpe or tuner Clifford Alfred. Furthermore the presence of a Japanese and a French female panman embody the dizzying spread of the practice of the pan worldwide. The CD soundtrack notably includes pieces from Ray Holman, one of the great steelband composers, plus Andy Narell (composer and arranger of the group Birdsong) and Boogsie Sharpe (the brilliant composer for Phase II Pan Groove), these groups being two being representative of the dynamic of both conservation and evolution that is going through this music. The CD is spiced with some bonus tracks of the distinguished King and Queen of calypso namely Mighty Sparrow and Calypso Rose. As evidence of the diversity of pan music, there is also a song by Jamie xx of the English group The xx, and a duo with Fimber Bravo and Hot Chip's Alexis Taylor, showcasing the instrument in a very modernist aesthetic. An extensive 60-page booklet by Kim Johnson, steelpan specialist and author of the film, traces this fascinating history in its most intimate details.