Coop Steel play Coop Winter concert

Over the last decade I have been a peri at the Primrose/Cooperative School/Academy, been acting Head of Music during a maternity leave, and been the part-time second music teacher. And on a regular basis the Sparrows have played the Awards Evenings and International Days.





And each time I look at the set of pans that Xanthe bought for the school with our help from the Music Service help nearly twenty years ago. And give them a little stroke of love and hope.







Now with the arrival of Sharleen pans, and hope, are back on the agenda. Yippee!

excitement in my back room

We had the pans tuned in September. Grafton and I went to the school one Friday evening: G tuned the basses and guitars on the spot. I took the seconds and soprano pan home where Grafton tuned the soprano, but, in the excitement of doing StClair and Melvin's pans, we missed the double seconds.

Carrying one half, trolleying the other

I took these to London in the van when the Sparrows played St Paul's, gave them to Grafton, then he brought them to Kings Cross when I went down to an NUT meeting and staggered back to Leeds with them on the train - to the surprise of my union colleagues.

Awards Evening 2014

Awards Evening 2015

International Day 2015

All these efforts were more than rewarded by the arrival of Ellie, Ronita and Jess on the scene. They started learning on September the 19th and played the winter concert on December 14th. We performed as a quintet: me on the tune, the girls on chords and bass and Ben on kit. All I can say is power and accuracy. What a team!

I teach steelpans through Leeds ArtForms Music Service where I am

Steel Pan Development Officer and Head of Steelpans

Foxwood Steel, Sparrows, Steel Rising do Sunday at Rhythms Carnival Village

 

Most of Foxwood was on holiday and Sparrows at work. So these two bands together nearly numbered less than East Steel on its own. Yo. Thankfully by the time we are on, the stage has been floored, and the sound installed, and the eight/nine/ten of us are miked up.

 

 

 After us a few acts including amazing Gospel choir, just back from not performing in the Park. 

 

  

 

For the afternoon set we were me [Victoria], Bex, Vicky, Yi Bai, Claudia, Gig, Charlotte [guest from Nostalgia], Wanda [Steel Rising], and just as we were starting to play up comes Ash. And then, the entire Keir family hoves into view.

 

 

 

Tamanna makes it onto stage for the rest of the set. After six years. That is brave. [But she did say, "Is Heat, I don't know that". I said, "You played it at the Albert Hall!" LOL]

 

  

 

 

The last set as the day darkens, is me, Bex, Vicky, Yi Bai, Ash, Milly, Charlotte, Wanda and now Sophie. Also featuring Andrew the Photographer on tambourine. Does that make a percussion section? Well, I like to think so.

 

Marcus and Connor are still on the sound; Ifty is making some cool vegan burgers. Grafton has now appeared. He has been tuning pans in London for Panorama bands and just driven up to Leeds. Partner, Charlotte is playing the single guitar pan that Grafton made for one our players a few years back.

 

 

Because Charlotte is used to playing with marching band, Nostalgia, she is happy with a single guitar pan.  In Leeds, because we don't march very often the single pan is often seen as either inferior because players think, as it has only nine notes, it must be in some way easy! Or they can't handle the fact that for some chords the root note is not an option, and sometimes neither is the third. Easy! Not at all!

 

I would like to thank Hilary, George and Mexican for this opportunity to play Carnival. It means an awful lot to us. I have been playing pans for over thirty years; Bex, Georgia, Wanda for over twenty years;  the others today for over a decade.  Between us, we have played some prestigious venues from Leeds Arena, Leeds Town Hall, Leeds Civic Hall, London Southbank Festival Hall, London Royal Albert Hall, Birmingham Conservatoire, Leeds Carnival mainstage and float, Manchester, Huddersfield this, that and the other. But, of all of them, playing your hometown Carnival is just the best. And, it has to be said, we were ace.

 

 I know.

This week I have mostly been playing Redemption Song

 
 
 It's Black History Month, and Mr Stewart wanted some steel pannistes playing all the different year assemblies at Allerton Grange School, Leeds.






So we did. We played Redemption Song [one of my favourites] every morning for four days. At first it was just me and Claudia, then fortunately Josie and Sophie appeared and we were a quartet.





Can't show the audience as this a school assembly, but I can assure you there always was one.











By the end of the week, we had got quite good, and received our first round of applause [thanks, Year 11]