Baljinder Sekhon’s Places and Time...

In 2014, I put together a consortium for solo steel pan and percussion ensemble. I had always wanted to work with Baljinder Sekhon after hearing and performing his music with my percussion ensemble. Passageways is written for solo steel pan (tenor – Low C) and 5 percussionists. The steel pan player uses chop sticks, mallets and extended techniques of the side of the pan to add to the complex texture of the piece. After the consortium, Baljinder arranged a recording project and I recorded Passageways with the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet. On April 27, 2018, Innova...

Westside Pan Festival 2017

On March 29, 2017, Drew Holt and Cabrillo High School hosted the 10th Annual Westside Pan Festival at the Cabrillo High School Auditorium. The concert featured steel pan virtuoso Victor Provost and the steel bands from Stephens Middle School, Cabrillo High School and the CSULB Steel Drum Orchestra. The program included works by Victor Provost including Cocolobo, Samba Ouro Verde and a arrangement of Kitchener’s Rain O Rama.

Passageways at University of Kentucky

On April 10, 2016, I had the opportunity to perform Baljinder Sekhon’s Passageways with the University of Kentucky Percussion Ensemble, conducted by Matthew Geiger. James Campbell has been the director of percussion at UK for over 30 years and it was an honor to perform with his ensemble. During my residency, I also presented my lecturer called “The 21st Century Percussion: Today, Tomorrow and the...

Biden enjoyed the sweet sound of the Ste...

On May 28, US Vice President Joe Biden “applauded the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force which serenaded him and his family with the sweet sound of the steel pan upon his arrival in Trinidad last night.” (StabroekNews.com). Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar presented a steel pan to the Vice President that was made at Gill’s Pan Shop in Curepe. In 2009, President Obama was presented with a tenor pan made by Panland, based in Laventille. He also purchased two mini pans for his daughters. For the complete story, please visit Trinidad and Tobago Newday....

Steel Drum Composition: Samba de los Cha...

Last February, I wrote a new steel drum piece for my trip to the University of Texas at Austin called Samba de los Changitos. It was published and released by Box Fish Music at PASIC 2012. It is now featured on the front page of the Box Fish Music website. For a live recording of the CSULB Steel Drum Orchestra, click here.

Samba de los Changitos

I just got the recording back from UT Austin and I am very happy about the performances of my tunes with the UT Steel Band. Check out the recordings of Samba de los Changitos and PanSon. Thanks again Tom Burritt and David Saad! Samba de los Changitos will be published this Spring. PanSon is available from Bachovich Music Publications. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. [soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/1724534″ height=”200″ iframe=”true” /]

UT, Austin Residency

It has been a busy couple of weeks! Last week, I was in Austin at the University of Texas. While in Austin, I worked with the UT Steel Drum Band and Percussion studio. During the residency, the UT Steel Drum Band premiered a new piece I wrote called Samba de los Changitos. (I will post the audio and/or video when it becomes available). I would like to thank Dr. Thomas Burritt for bringing me to UT Austin and David Saad, director of the UT Steel Drum Band! I would also like to thank my sponsors Yamaha Percussion Instruments, Zildjian Cymbals, Innovative Percussion, and...

Bossa de los Changitos

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been working on a new steel drum piece called Bossa de los Changitos. The piece will be premiered while during my residency at the University of Texas at Austin on February 21, 2012. Here’s a midi realization: [soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/33518847″] I hope you enjoy the recording. In the next couple of weeks, I will be refining the piece and adding percussion. ——– The photo in this post is used under the Creative Commons License: Attribution – NonCommercial – No...