Ray Holman’s Pan on the Move marks 50 years with film

Carnival 1972 was a standout year in Trinidad and Tobago’s festival history, not just because of its postponement from February to May in response to a polio outbreak. It was also the year Ray Holman revolutionised Panorama with his ground-breaking Pan on the Move.

Now, 50 years later, the story of the song’s creation; the professional challenges it created for Holman; and the ways in which the piece became a turning point in steelband history are all being showcased in a new documentary that premieres on March 13.

A collaboration between Mark Loquan Music and Sthenic22, the seed for the documentary was planted not long after Holman released his 2020 album First Love. Loquan knew well the significance of the song. Holman had defied the status quo at the time, where steelbands had exclusively performed arrangements of calypsoes, like those by the Mighty Sparrow and Lord Kitchener, at Panorama. Holman’s composing and arranging Pan on the Move for Starlift Steel Orchestra was a seismic shift – one that generated a significant amount of controversy and pushback, said a media release.

Loquan heard the new recording of Pan on the Move on First Love, and was taken with the melodic structure of the song. “I called up Ray and asked to learn the chords on my guitar, and there we were – outside by his garage with guitars in hand learning the progressions, which had a lot more chords than I thought, but I loved the changes,” he said in the release.

In the process, the two began to talk about Holman’s journey before, during and after it was performed at Panorama 1972, and what the piece had come to signify since. It was a conversation that stayed with Loquan. The next morning, he woke up with a strong impulse to capture the story on film, and to put together an acoustic performance with himself, Holman, percussionist Kenneth Clarke, and the inimitable Len “Boogsie” Sharpe. Until 1972, Sharpe had been a player with Starlift, where Holman was arranger. And it was later that year, after Pan on the Move, that Boogsie founded Phase II Pan Groove, distinguishing himself by also composing and arranging in his own distinctive style, the release said.

Loquan reached out to frequent collaborator Gerelle Forbes of Sthenic22, and together they produced the recording at Holman’s home, revisiting the site where the original Pan on the Move was born. It was something Forbes was thrilled to do, given her own long and meaningful relationship with Holman.

“Ray was the one who transitioned me from the stage of paying your dues to being respected as a professional musician in the industry,” she said in the release. Following the shoot, however, Forbes felt there was more to the story that they needed to get on record in order to do the project justice. She brought on board Tyker Phillip, and together they conducted extensive research and interviews, including with New York-based Singing Diane, who had recorded the first vocal version of the track in 1972; Alvin Daniell, composer of the lyrics; as well as members of Starlift who had performed the song.

The live recording of the song (featuring Holman, Sharpe, Clarke, and Loquan) was also enhanced by A-list studio musicians like Douglas “Dougie” Redon on upright bass and Etienne Charles on cajón, with additional vocals by Holman and Loquan as a final touch, the release said.

The challenges and delays in getting the 47-minute documentary made ultimately proved providential – its premiere will come nearly 50 years after the original was first performed.

Loquan said, “For me, “it was about learning to play a beautiful song, preserving its history, and shining a light on one of pan’s icons — and by extension Boogsie, as both he and Ray earned their honorary doctorates while the project was being done.”

Forbes noted, “To be able to archive his efforts like this, I don’t take it for granted. He deserves all the flowers. He’s inspired me even now during these times to push through, and don’t look for the benefits now. The benefits of it might come 50 years down the road.”

The landmark Pan on the Move documentary premieres on Sunday, first during Duvone Stewart’s Pan Chronicles programme on Facebook in the afternoon, then later that evening on the Mark Loquan Music YouTube channel.

The channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCez00cyYrOE1yChuOnwIM0g) also features Loquan’s previous projects – including the A Better Tomorrow video series featuring Kareem Brown; the My Home collaboration with Etienne Charles; and the recently-launched A Better Tomorrow anime-style music video featuring vocals by Terri Lyons.