3rd crown for Tobago band –Katzenjammers are medium pan champs

SCREAMS of jubilation echoed through the Parade Grounds, Dwight Yorke Stadium, Bacolet, early Monday morning as Katzenjammers Steel Orchestra was announced the winner of the National Panorama medium conventional bands competition.

In winning the title, the band from Black Rock, led by Pan Trinbago president Beverly Ramsey-Moore, dethroned the 2020 champions, Couva Joylanders, who placed second in the competition. Third place went to Santa Cruz outfit Pamberi.

Katzenjammers, playing Kersh Ramsey's arrangement of calypsonian Timothy "Baron" Watkins' Tell Me Why, scored 286 points, while Couva Joylanders' rendition of The Fete Ent Over Yet and Pamberi’s The People’s Champion, scored 284 and 277 points, respectively.

In claiming the title on home soil, Katzenjammers made it two wins in a row for Tobago, after Uptown Fascinators won the small-band competition on January 15.

Sunday night’s victory was Katzenjammers' third win in the competition and first since 2012.

THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine presented the trophy to Katzenjammers’ captain Maxson Ramsey. He was accompanied by Secretary of Tourism, Culture, Antiquities and Transportation Tashia Burris.

Ramsey-Moore also celebrated the band’s success but did not want to be interviewed.

An emotional Ramsey was overwhelmed by the success in his first stint arranging for Katzenjammers.

“To be quite honest, it hasn’t even sunk in yet,” he said.

“Right now, I am trying to stop smiling but I can’t. I’m like, wow. We win Panorama and it’s in Tobago. Katzenjammers Steel Orchestra, we did it. Thank you, Jesus!”

Saying the band always had the potential to deliver, Ramsey said he always tries to do his best.

“Most times, I do my best. When I am creating music, I go off of my vibe. The secret to winning is just to put down your best music and hope that the band execute it and give the judges what they want.”

He said after the preliminaries, the judges “made certain comments and we went and did our homework.

“So with the finals we just had to perform because we had the home crowd advantage and I put a little jig in the flavour and I think that was the edge we got over the other bands.”Ramsey said he has a busy season juggling commitments to several bands.

“From 2020 I did one band and this season I am doing four bands and I am collaborating with Ojay (Richards) in the large band category, which we have to go and battle for next week.”

Richards produced the winning arrangement for Uptown Fascinators in the small-band category.

Ramsey said he does not pay attention to the naysayers on social media.

“We let our music speak for itself. We don’t try to throw no talk for nobody. We just go and do our job and let that speak for itself. The music shall prevail at the end.”

The medium-band competition, which featured 12 finalists, returned to Tobago after an absence of two years owing to covid19. It attracted a sizeable crowd, which included National Carnival Commission (NCC) chairman Winston Peters and members of the THA.

The bands, many of which were dominated by young players, delivered solid performances, comprising a mixture of contemporary and vintage selections.

Having emerged the winner of the semi-finals of the competition on February 5 at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain, Katzenjammers, playing in position nine on Sunday, delivered a seamless performance to the Baron classic.

But even before the band began its set, pan lovers erupted into a frenzy when a recording of the original tune was played.

Minister of Sport and Community Development and Tobago West MP Shamfa Cudjoe and several assemblymen were seen singing along to the lyrics and dancing with patrons.

The excitement grew when Ramsey, dressed in black, appeared on stage in a brief theatrical presentation with a young woman portraying his jilted lover. They later danced a jig to the delight of the crowd.

Couva Joylanders, the third band to appear on stage, also delivered a lively performance to the Sylvester Lockhart (Poser) tune as did Pamberi with Rodney Le Blanc’s (Benjai’s) The People’s Champion. The latter was the final band to grace the stage.

The competition featured three ties: Siparia Deltones and NGC Steel Xplosion (ninth place);

Courts Sound Specialists of Laventille and Sforzata (seventh place); and Pan Elders and Carib Dixieland (fifth place).

Many people, though, appeared disappointed with Dixieland’s placing and felt the band could have been in the top three. The band played Winston Henry’s (Explainer’s) Lorraine, arranged by Richards.

Earlier, Peters, speaking on behalf of the NCC and Minister of Culture Randall Mitchell, assured Tobago it will again be transformed for the 2023 October carnival.

“You will have more pan, more mas, my brothers and sisters, and more economic value for your money,” he said.

Peters also applauded the work of the Ramsey-Moore-led Pan Trinbago, which he described as visionary planning.

“Hadn’t it been for her, all of this would not be taking place the way that it has taken place from 2020 and indeed, tonight.”

Augustine said Pan Trinbago was able to do culturally what TT has been struggling to do politically – have pan in all parts of the country.

Ramsey-Moore said pan must be celebrated throughout the country.

“We have been to all the regions and as such Tobago plays a very important role. It is Pan Trinbago. I had to make the point, it is not pan Trinidad versus pan Tobago.”

Describing pan as “happy music,” Ramsey-Moore said the instrument carries a unifying element that cannot be disputed.

OFFICIAL RESULTS

1. Katzenjammers Steel Orchestra – 286 points

2. NGC Couva Joylanders – 284 points

3. Pamberi – 277 points

4. Curepe Scherzando – 274 points

5. Pan Elders and Carib Dixieland – 273 points

7. Courts Sound Specialists of Laventille and Sforzata – 272 points

9. Siparia Deltones and NGC Steel Xplosion – 271 points

11. Potential Symphony – 268 points

12. Arima Angel Harps – 264 points