Pannist Annise Hadeed closes Jazz Artists on the Greens 2012 on a question mark

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

Jazz Artists on the Greens 2012, March 24: Act 5

Annise Hadeed with Richard Bailey, Theron Shaw & Douglas Redon

Hadeed: steelpan

Bailey: drums

Shaw: guitar

Redon: bass

I am putting this out there: it is uncommon, in my personal experience, for the pan to be utilized as a lead instrument on a strictly straightahead set in the context of a Jazz Festival. All the more reason why I was taken aback – and pleasantly so I might add – by pannist Annise Hadeed’s offering at Jazz Artists on the Greens on Saturday, March 24.

Annise Hadeed (courtesy Production One Ltd.)

One may query the wisdom of scheduling a guy like Annise as the final act, after Michele Henderson and her band of Trinidad and Tobago’s finest musicians led by Michael Low Chew Tung aka Ming. We could complain about the quality and dynamics of the sound of Annise’s pan, and that his choice of instrument from the family of steel drums was not quite suited to The Greens. No one would be wrong either in citing Annise for not engaging an audience already on a musical high from having died and gone to musical heaven, thanks to Michele. Frankly, I am not sure if any of the acts on the bill could have topped Michele. Truth be told, none could!

Given this context, I will take Annise Hadeed for what he was worth, a highly skilled practitioner of the pan who presented a remarkable set that included a couple of bona fide Jazz Standards, a Calypso-Jazz standard by a Trinidadian pianist of note and several originals by the leader. That was, however, a blessing and a curse for Annise.

Here is the problem Annise faced: For a pan soloist playing contrapuntal arrangements calling for heavy syncopation and, very critically, more than casual interplay between the instrumentalists, Annise adopted an unacceptable role of (what should I call it?) guest soloist. The guest soloist takes a few choruses here and there and then slinks to the side of the stage, letting the band play on.

This is important. As lead soloist, Annise does not have the luxury of stepping away from his instrument and laying out as much. His job is to bind himself to his instrument like, say, a pianist would, suggesting ideas and patterns to his cohort thus remaining in the fray, ever-ready to take or retake the spotlight to restate or extend the melody and add flavours in harmony. Annise does not do that, opting to play the head, expand the theme some and then side-step to give his band free reign. Whereas Clifford Charles and Llettesha Sylvester could get away with that because of the character of their sets and set lists, Annise could not for reasons now very obvious.

But all that is not to say that the band dynamics are not considerable. I mean, give drummer Richard Bailey his due, pinging the ride cymbals on “How High The Moon” (Morgan Lewis) and “Someday My Prince Will Come” (Frank Churchill), cracking the snare on Brother Valentino’s “Dis Place Nice” and Clive Zanda’s Calypso-Jazz standard “Fancy Sailor” while Douglas Redon keeps the beat and pulse like a buoy marker. Annise, for his part, plays the changes deftly on his originals, “Spur of the Moment” and “Square Up.” And guitarist Theron Shaw gets all abstract on the tail ender, “Cornertalk,” another Hadeed original.

Bailey, Shaw, Hadeed & Redon (courtesy Production One Ltd.)

As usual, the crowd began to trickle out of the WASA grounds as Annise Hadeed drew his set to a close and the curtains began to come down on Jazz Artists on the Greens. That was entirely expected, which is precisely why the producers put on Michele Henderson as the penultimate act.

In spite of the pros and cons I have expressed, there is no coming away believing that Annise was not an the act to help the fans warm down after the blistering show put on by Michele Henderson with Ming and Friends.

My feeling though is there is more to Annise playing live than what I saw between 09:00 and 10:00 pm on Saturday, March 24. Annise whet my appetite; and I would go on a limb to say that the rest of The Greens salivated as well.

 

Related articles

• Carlton “Zanda” Alexander stirred the Coalpot at JAOTG, Trinidad, March 24 2012 (woodshedec.wordpress.com)
• Clifford Charles heats up Jazz Artists on the Greens 2012 (woodshedec.wordpress.com)

Carlton “Zanda” Alexander stirred the Coalpot at JAOTG, Trinidad, March 24 2012

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

Jazz Artists on the Greens 2012, March 24  2012: Act 1

Carlton “Zanda” Alexander & The Coalpot Band

Carlton Zanda: keys

Russell Durity: bass

Makasei Joseph: drums

Anthony Woodroffe: saxophone

All day Saturday, March 24, the winds were stiff, really stiff. One tent sagged to the side as an upright buckled thus calling for some elbow grease to be righted; the backdrop to the Jazz Artists on the Greens (JAOTG) stage flapped like Trinidad’s national bird, the hummingbird, and required a bit of engineering to keep it from being grounded like Redjet; and petite Michele Henderson lamented that the draft would nullify the sound from her flute.

But by show time, 05:05 pm, the flutter from the heavens had subsided only to be replaced by an equal and opposite force of human nature – from stage to The Greens below. Those bearing the brunt of the musical assault were the hundreds of patrons seated on rows upon rows of lily white chairs or otherwise sprawled picnic style on the lawn or in lawn chairs with their “sprinkles” (a term cousin Milton Israel, a far worse Jazz head than I am, coined over twenty years ago) at arm’s length for instant lubrication.

It was a stroke of genius, in my view, to strike up Jazz on the Greens with as strong an act as keyboardist Carlton ‘Zanda’ Alexander rather than going the traditional route of building up the programme for the headliner.

Carlton “Zanda” Alexander is an accomplished Pan-Jazz arranger and one of the more prolific composers in that realm. Carlton Alexander & The Coalpot Band has been his vehicle for Pan-Jazz experimentations for the past thirty years to date.

ZANDA & Coalpot (courtesy Production One Ltd.)

Zanda has not confined himself though to those core elements, but has taken the liberty, and obviously so, to fire things up a bit by accenting the soca variation in his repertoire leading naturally to a welcome diffusion of the style. A fine example of this is “Bondodey,” heard at the end of Zanda’s set. This song, built on a vamp architecture (What did you expect? Zanda is an architect.) is a representation of the lore from Zanda’s youth. Yet, dated as what inspired it, Zanda nevertheless houses the composition in some forward-thinking with triggered saxophone effects by Anthony Woodroffe and astonishingly dissonant piano runs bordering on the avant garde.

The spirited and muscular, stick-work of pannist Akinola Sennon fits, hand in glove, with Carlton’s progressive approach to Pan-Jazz. Sennon demonstrated his considerable chops on “Tension” (Shadow) and “Mr. Panmaker” (Stalin). I would like to believe that what I experienced of Sennon on this date was but one side of his personality. I saw enough to want to see the pannist in a more intimate setting where his more sensitive and subtle side would emerge.

It was a deft touch on the part of the leader to bridge Shadow and Stalin with a straightahead original called “Remember When.” I am always impressed by our Caribbean bands who have the gumption to make the statement that while rooted in a Caribbean Jazz sensibility, we have mastered the fundamentals of Classic Jazz and are down with it.

Speaking to Zanda on the backseat of an SUV after his set, I confirmed that he was not feeling well and that the decision was taken to put the Coalpot Band on first in case his condition worsened, precluding him from playing at all. 

Not everyone is in agreement as to the wisdom of opening a Jazz Festival or any musical event for that matter with an act who, in fact, has the credence and credibility to be a headliner in his own right. 

But for JAOTG, it is like a Usain Bolt powering to the front of the field and letting momentum carry him the rest of the race. Put on a powerhouse like Zanda at the top of the programme and let the energy he generates charge up The Greens for the next four hours. My hairs are still standing on my head.

The Coalpot Band live at JAOTG

Now the question is this: Was the act to follow Zanda, Llettesha Alexander, strong, weak, or indifferent? My critique is next.

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• What’s the BuddZ, tell me what’s happening: The JazZ BuddZ (woodshedec.wordpress.com)
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What’s the BuddZ, tell me what’s happening: The JazZ BuddZ

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

The JazZ BuddZ initiative, Production One Limited’s signal of decade number two in the business of mounting Jazz Artists on the Greens (JAOTG), will be a yearly music education programme for the benefit of Trinidad and Tobago’s at-risk youth. “We are focused on giving thanks and giving back as we strive to cultivate a new generation of Caribbean musicians. We are passionate about this venture that aims to bring a rewarding experience to the lives of young people who may not otherwise be afforded such opportunity.” So said Production One Chairman, Anton Doyle in a company press release dated February 28, 2012.

The JazZ BuddZ programme is aimed at coalescing the efforts of the community, its Classical and Jazz musicians and Production One to provide ten music scholarships to under privileged youth from rural Trinidad and Tobago who will benefit from attendance at workshops in voice, steelpan, drums and percussion, piano, wind and string instruments as well as music appreciation.

The programme was launched officially on Friday, March 23 in the lobby of the Little Carib Theater. Present at the function was a small gathering of dignitaries and academics and aficionados mingling with yours truly and the principals of Production One Ltd.

Kicking off the proceedings half an hour after seven was Secretary of Production One, Maria Wellington. In her presentation – “short and sweet” as she was referred to, figuratively – Maria touted JazZ BuddZ as a “an exemplary beacon” of Production One. Walters, Programme Leader of the BFA Music Area of the University of Trinidad and Tobago’s Academy of the Performing Arts, added that JazZ BuddZ was conceptualized, not as a tool of music theory and practice for young musicians – I guess there are ample avenues and houses of learning already in place – but as a means for the young musicians to learn self confidence and social skills while excelling in academics.

That said, Derron Ellies, was ushered to stage front. Ellies, now engaged full-time in the promotion of the PHI, otherwise known as the Percussive Harmonic Instrument, across Trinidad and Tobago, had the unenviable task of demonstrating the dynamics of this ground-breaking instrument that will undoubtedly take more of a position of prominence in steel orchestras in the twin-island republic to begin with and the world over in time.

Derron’s ten-minute clinic with accompanying soundtracks covered Ralph McDonald (Just The Two Of Us) and John Legend (Save Room), using harp and traditional pan settings – a sampling of the extension range of the PHI.

BuzZed by Ellies’ wonderful performance, the guests, including Michele Henderson, Goodwill Ambassador of the Commonwealth of Dominica and headliner of Jazz Artists on the Greens, mingled around the Carib Theatre lobby briefly before dispersing for the night, all pumped and ready for an evening of Caribbean Jazz and other improvisations at Farm Road, St. Joseph on Saturday, March 24.

Percussive Harmonic Instrument

The PHI is a MIDI-based electronic pan that can virtually access synthesized tones of any number of other instruments and a full range of effects in addition to allowing the practitioner to customize own sounds.

There is nothing like listening to the PHI played live – the warmth of the instrument was lost on me on YouTube. The ring of the traditional steel drum is actually dampened by the electronic impulses conveyed by silicone pads housed in a fiberglass dome, soon to upgraded to plastic within the next eighteen months to two years.

Talking to Marcel Byron, one of the innovators of the instrument under the leadership of Dr. Brian Copeland, I discovered that the PHI is not quite ready for prime time hence the all-out marketing campaign now being undertaken within Trinidad and Tobago.

Egged on to tell me more, Byron eagerly pointed out that the PHI, at a couple thousand bucks a piece, (US$2,250 is the unit cost quoted at the Panadigm Innovations Ltd. online store) has the potential to reproduce the sound of a large steel orchestra – without the numbers – never mind the multi-functionality of the instrument.