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Special Brew
Various Artistes

THIS collection of instrumentals on pan will serve well on two fronts. The listener will be treated to selected works from some of the world's top steel orchestras. The best pan music arrangers are also featured on the CD, including Clive Bradley, Ray Holman, Pelham Goddard and Leon "Smooth" Edwards.

Recorded and packaged by Simeon Sandiford on his Sanch label, the Special Brew collection is part of an effort to generate revenue for the Pan Development Fund. The target is $500,000, which will be used for, among other things, the Panwagon project.

Designed by Sandiford, the Panwagon features a high-tech sound system, capable of delivering digital quality, amplified pre-recorded as well as live pan music, in either enclosed or open-air settings. The Panwagon, which is a registered trademark itself, is capable of accommodating groups up to a full Panorama orchestra.

There are several potential applications for the Panwagon, including the amplification of pan music during the Carnival season and other festivals. The Panwagon can also serve as a roving concert facility as well as a means through which arrangers and music teachers can teach music to students across the country.

Neal and Massy Trinidad All Stars opens the collection with their interpretation of "Jump For Joy" as arranged by Edwards. This track will take you back to the Big Yard and have you jumping joyfully, too, as the tenors ring out above running basslines. Bradley then treats the listener to his arrangement of David Rudder's "Panama", performed by Harmonites.

The title track is delivered by Carib Tokyo under the direction of Holman,the tune's composer. The reigning Panorama champion, Exodus Steel Orchestra, brings to life the
Goddard composition "The Band Plays On", which is one of the best pan tunes ever composed.

Annise Hadeed is still one of the most underrated musicians of our time. He is yet to be given the recognition he deserves for his part in bringing out the lighter textures of the instrument. Here, the PCS Nitrogen Starlift Steel Orchestra perform a Hadeed interpretation of Oba Synnete's "Picture On My Wall."

To close, the Harmonites return with a reprise of "Panama," ending 72 minutes and 23 seconds of this truly special musical brew

Wayne Bowman
CD review