It is not every day that you hear Frank Zappa played on steel pans. Here’s a video of the CSULB Steel Drum Orchestra performing Zappa’s “Let’s Move to Cleveland.” Enjoy!
Bernard Woma, master of the African Gyil (xylophone), performs live at the Solar Culture Gallery. Bernard presented an incredible clinic at PASIC 2011. “The Gyil is the primary traditional instrument of the Dagara people of northern Ghana and Burkina Faso, and of the Lobi of Ghana, southern Burkina Faso, and Côte d’Ivoire. The gyil is usually played in pairs, accompanied by a calabash gourd drum called a kuor. It can also be played by one person with the drum and the stick part as accompaniment, or by a soloist. Gyil duets are the traditional music of Dagara funerals. The instrument is generally played by men, who learn to play while young, however, there is no restriction on gender.” [1]
Originally posted on DrummChattr.com on January 3, 2012.
Panorama, the National Steel Drum Festival in Trinidad and Tobago, is in full swing. The panorama groups have been preparing for the competition which happens every year on the Saturday before Lent. The groups are made up of 100 performers. For full coverage of the 2011 Panorama Festival, visit Pan on the Net’s website.
One of my all time favorite tunes from Panorama is Lord Kitchener’s Pan in A Minor. This award winning 1987 performance is by the Renegades Steel Drum Orchestra directed by Jit Samaroo. The Renegades, and Jit’s arrangements, are know for there tight engine room (rhythm section) and use of unison hits throughout the arrangement.
Is this the first Panorama video you have ever watched? What is your favorite Panorama tune or arranger? Leave a comment below and let us know.
Originally posted on DrumChattr on January 21, 2011 by Dave Gerhart.
Aaron Bebe performing on a traditional Ghanaian xylophone called the gyil. Filmed March, 2006 at the University of Ghana by Patrick Roulet. Check out the ease in which Aaron plays the gyil. (more…)