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It's Official

If I can get away with declaring Saturday to be Italy Day, then I can get away with declaring this entire week as Steel Drum Band Week.

As odd as it may sound, our high school music program has a steel drum band, and it's good. It's not like a bunch of white middle-America kids pretending to be from Trinidad/Tobago. I suppose it isn't so odd when you consider Akron University has a well-developed steel band program that produces music teachers with thorough knowledge of the music and the instruments, but still--Ohio in winter and the tropics don't seem to mix at first glance.

Every year about this time, our steel band students are graced with a clinic led by Pan Ramajay, a professional steel band based in California. Three of their lead performers spend four days here and work with the kids, teaching them a few new songs. And on the last day, they all give a concert called Pantasia that is so unlike any high school music concert I have ever attended. It's a big giant party, and you leave feeling as though you have seen a professional group performing for you.

Well, this event begins this Thursday afternoon with the concert being held on Sunday evening. I have had a child in this group for at least four years, so I get to be a part of the whole experience through them. I have always been the kind of band parent who keeps her distance because band is about the kids, not about my reliving my adolescence through them. On this occasion, though, I indulge just a little.

It has been a tradition for the last three or four years that I host a small dinner party as Pan Ramajay and my music teacher friends as guests, so this Friday evening I will prepare a feast. I'll post the menu later in the week, and let you choose which recipe you would like to have. It's always fun, and my kids bring home a few friends who are practically giddy about getting to have dinner with these guys.

So, it's officially Steel Drum Band Week--break out a little calypso and give yourself a treat in this crappy February weather. Eye-eee.

Comments

dive said…
Oooh! Lots of yummy Caribbean recipes please, Robyn!
One of our regular tube buskers is a really hot steel drum player. When he plays, it's like a little bit of instant summer. A lovely sound.
8:24 AM
Anonymous said…
Robyn, I like the sound of steel drums. Most tropical! I need your help adding a song to a blog I am working on. Sassy suggested you could help me figure out how to do it.
10:38 AM
Scout said…
Sorry, Dive. The food isn't necessarily Carribean-a mix of all kinds of things. I'll post it tomorrow.

Prudence, I have recorded a few things using studioodea.com. It's a free recording thing that allows you to record and store whatever you want, and then it give you the code for placing the player onto your blog.
10:42 AM
Anonymous said…
Thanks Robyn I will if I can manage to get it to work.
11:33 AM
Anonymous said…
Well, my browser can find that site? Waaaa!
11:39 AM
Scout said…
Prudence, try just odeo.com and see if, after logging in, you can work your way through to the creating and recording page.
11:41 AM
Neponset River Bridge Dig said…
I love the sound of steel drums. I went to berumuda a few times and they had some really great steel drum bands there.

I think it's all good any kind of music education. ENJOY!! wish I could be there.
12:09 PM
Cheltenhamdailyphoto said…
Reminds me of a holiday in the West Indies...mmmm
6:36 AM
dive said…
Mmm … And those guys who wander along the beaches in Antigua offering "Vitamin C for the Soul" (and don't pretend you don't know what I mean, Lynn).

Oh, and lizards …
6:51 AM
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