sgi20 Dated Panorama Perceptions? A recent Express article, written by Gary Cardinez, indicated that Liam Teague had been contracted to arrange for Silver Stars for Panorama 2014 (replacing the ailing Edwin Pouchet). Cardinez also wrote that Teague had expressed views to the effect that: arrangers were unwilling to break new ground; virtually refusing to expand their respective musical vocabularies and becoming predictable. To me, Teague’s sentiments sounded like a throwback to an earlier period; when ‘Amoco’ (BP Renegades) and ‘Catelli’ (Neal and Massy All Stars) were kings. At that time, many of their detractors would rave about Boogsie’s ‘sublime jazz passages’ and Bradley’s magic; while simultaneously alluding to Jit Samaroo’s music as ‘cheap’, and sneeringly averring that “Smooth” was ‘damblaying the same music every year’. Now, I had always disagreed with these assessments. For one, I could not see any overwhelming musical similarities between, say, Smooth’s “Unkown Band”and his “Woman On The Bass” (incidentally two of the best three Panorama pieces ever). Moreover, I considered a Panorama piece to be a work of art; and therefore the forms and structures employed were far less important than the extent to which the music catapulted listeners into a blissful dimension (of sweetness, excitement, exhilaration etc.). Indeed, I found it quite revealing that, even after Orville Wright and Co had revised the judging-criteria, Jit had proceeded to win the very next Panorama; and “Smooth” remained as the man-to-beat in this competition. Also consider this: two nights before Silver Stars won for the first time, a girlfriend who heard them in the panyard had confidently predicted that result. Her reasoning was simple: “They sound exciting like All Stars at their best”! That too was instructive. Still, I guess it’s never too late to learn. As a layman musically, I stand corrected; and willingly defer to the views of Teague, who, after all, is an Associate Professor in a College of Music (and aka ‘The Paganini of Pan”). Maybe the Panorama desperately needs a broader range of musical forms. I suspect however, that when the lights go up, and the band from Tragerete Road is announced on stage, people like my girlfriend will be eagerly anticipating being thrust into musical heaven; on the wings of an exciting arrangement that somehow reminds them of All Stars.
Posted on: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 00:14:10 +0000
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