Pan tribute to Philmore

HUNDREDS of panmen turned up at the NLCB Fonclaire panyard to pay tribute to pannist and arranger Ken "Professor" Philmore' on Tuesday night in San Fernando. It was Panorama all over again as pan music ruled the night at the farewell party for Philmore, who was involved in a road on September 24 that eventually proved fatal.

Fonclaire played many of Philmore's compositions, among them Pan by Storm, Pan Ecstasy and Pan in the Party.

Mayor of San Fernando Junia Regrello told pan players on Friday the national flag will be flown at half-staff in respect for Philmore's passing. The public may view Philmore’s body tomorrow at Guide's Funeral Home at Coffee Street, San Fernando, and the funeral will now be held on Friday at 10 am, at the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts.

The mayor said the government will be looking into ways to honour Philmore soon. “We have lost a son of the soil and someone who took pan music to an international audience,” he said.

Many panmen who live in other countries, he said, made the journey back to TT for the tribute to Philmore.

The assistant manager of Fonclaire and organiser of this event, Darren Sheppard, said it was overwhelming to see the outpour of love.

“Philmore would spend endless hours training and practising pan in this very panyard and today we I felt that his presence,” Sheppard said.

South TT, he said, needs a pan institution where young people can earn a certificate in pan music.

“Naming a street after Philmore is a good gesture, but he was heavily involved in training pan players and I think this will be a fitting tribute for him,” Sheppard said.

The younger players are calling for the authorities to develop pan.

“They are calling for an institutional strengthening for pan in south TT,” he said.

Manager of Fonclaire Milton "Wire" Austin said the government had failed pan players.

“Philmore has gone to the Maker, but he struggled a lot for panmen in south Trinidad, and up to this day the people who spend their lives promoting pan music are always given a raw deal by the government,” Austin said.

“In 1960 one could have purchased a tenor pan for $25. Today you pay $6,000 for a chrome instrument and the sound of the instrument remains the same.”

Government after government give lip service, he said, but no one is steering pan in the right direction.