The 2007 Panorama Championship Title is His and Trinidad All Stars Arranger Leon 'Smooth' Edwards, one day after
When Steel Talks spoke with a quietly delighted Leon 'Smooth' Edwards, winning arranger for the prestigious 2007 Trinidad and Tobago National Panorama Championship on the Sunday after the competition. Trinidad All Stars Steel Orchestra's execution of his arrangement of De Fosto's “Pan Lamentation” earned the orchestra the ultimate title of panorama champions - in addition to a one-million dollar (TT) prize purse, simultaneously denying the defending champions Phase II Pan Groove their much-desired hat trick. Full Story
Hat Trick Eludes Len 'Boogsie' Sharpe and Phase II Pan Groove Trinidad & Tobago Steelband Panorama 2007
Len 'Boogsie' Sharpe and Leon 'Smooth' Edwards definitely have one thing in common, post-panorama - their concern for the young players in their bands. In the case of Boogsie Sharpe, the bitter taste of the loss of the 2007 Panorama championship manifested in the despair of his Phase II Pan Groove musicians, particularly the young. Chalking up 286.5 points to Trinidad All Stars' 288.5 in the final round of competition, it was a crushing blow to the Woodbrook-based band when Leon 'Smooth' Edwards and Trinidad All Stars went home with the championship, and Phase II had to settle for second place. This was also the first time in many years that an aggregate system of judging was implemented where the scores of all three judges were taken into account. In recent years, a bank of judges was selected, and the highest and lowest scores discarded, with the remaining tally as the official result.
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Withfield Weekes, Chairman, Pan Trinbago South/Central talks about the Historic Staging of the 2007 Panorama in San Fernando In the aftermath of a successful and historic Panorama finals staged for the first time ever, outside of its traditional home at the Queen's Park Savannah in Port-of-Spain, Withfield Weekes - Chairman, Pan Trinbago, South/Central region looked back on the Saturday February 17 event with a sense of accomplishment. Working in tandem with the office of San Fernando Mayor Kenneth Ferguson, Alderman Junia Regrello, who is also the captain of Skiffle Bunch Steel Orchestra, and the Pan Trinbago executive headed by Patrick Arnold, who were all responsible for the 'infrastructural' arrangements, Weekes and his crew took charge of the timely arrival of participating bands and the efficient transition from band to band throughout the evening at Skinner Park in San Fernando. |
Just Published... Unheard Voices
The Rise of Steelband and Calypso in the Caribbean and North America
A. Myrna Nurse
Originating in the 1930s, the steelband (a.k.a. steelpan) movement began in the Caribbean, was transplanted to and grew in North America, and has transcended the boundaries of class, race, and gender. Based on a compilation of narratives from Caribbean and American members of the steelband movement, Unheard Voices: The Rise of Steelband and Calypso in the Caribbean and North America traces the history of this unique percussion invention of the twentieth century.Full Story
