The hypnotic power and majesty of the steelband was clearly evidenced at Skiffle through the Years, a musical journey reliving the outstanding work performed by the San Fernando-based steel orchestra, staged at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s, last week. The 21-item programme highlighted just how broad and colourful the steelband’s musical palette really is, as patrons heard high-class music, accurately and beautifully played by the young pannists.
The playbill opened with the 34-member orchestra offering an inspired four-minute version of the hymn How Great Thou Art, which gained worldwide popularity during the crusades of American evangelist Billy Graham. It followed with How Can I Live Without You, in which the arranger had beautiful melodies and countermelodies constantly vying for attention.
Lydian singers Eddie Cumberbatch and Joann Pyle then lent their rich, powerful voices to All I Ask of You, the song from the Andrew Lloyd-Webber musical version of The Phantom of the Opera, with the orchestra offering controlled, but sometimes too loud, accompaniment.
Guantanamera, the best-known patriotic Cuban song, and Wanna Make Love To You, sung by Nadia LaFond in 1977, were joyfully executed by the band, after which vocalist Nadia Madhoo took centre stage to switch mood and melody with delicate renditions of Indian selections Ra He Na Ra He Hum and Suhani Raat.
Summer Time, the aria composed by George Gershwin for the opera Porgy and Bess, served as precursor to the Humming Chorus from the opera Madame Butterfly, in which Skiffle’s G-pans played a significant role.
Under the direction of guest conductor Dr Jeffrey Alan Jones, music teacher at Sweet Briar College in the USA, featured G-pan players Joshua Regrello, Shaquille Forbes, Aaliyah Reyes and Telisha were able to successfully produce the muted sound of human voices sought after in the music’s long orchestral passages. Upbeat, percussion-driven renditions of Amparita Roca, conducted by band manager Junia Regrello, Andy Narell’s Coffee Street, and Adrenaline City brought the opening segment to a close.
The programme’s second half provided patrons with extraordinary entertainment. It opened with the band doing the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah, said to be the first selection Skiffle learned to play. Pounding renditions of Ray Charles’ Georgia on My Mind and Kitchener’s Pan In A Minor paved the way for Ray Holman, one of the most innovative and respected composers of pan music, to front the orchestra for its propulsive interpretation of his composition Red Beans and Rice.
Then came an eight-member brass section to complement the pans in a joyfully clashing showcase of Stevie Wonder’s 1981 classic Lately. The combination was retained to accompany rapso group 3Canal, which raised the bar with their energy and precision in offering popular compositions Blue and Talk Yuh Talk, and Black Stalin (Leroy Calliste) with his masterful performance of We Can Make It if We Try and Black Man Feeling to Party. It was refreshing to see 3Canal singing the chorus for Stalin.
With unbridled joy, the band played its choice for Panorama 2013— The Dream, composed and arranged by Holman—which earned it fifth place in the competition. Under the direction of Victor Prescod, the aggregation then accompanied Eddie Cumberbatch for a stirring interpretation of Nessun Dorma, from Puccini’s opera Turandot, to close the concert.