Trinidad and Tobago, WI
– The buzz is in the Newtown Playboys yard where organizer Duvone Stewart shocked the local steelhead fraternity with his return to the competitive single pot arena. With 11 Single Pan Panorama titles under his belt, he dropped off their radar in 2015.
For the post-pandemic Panorama, the 47-year-old champion of both the middle and large group categories is not here at all to brag.
Yes, it is to earn a living. But also to bring new ideas to music in what is truly a master class for young arrangers.
So it’s not strange to see players, arrangers and sometimes bandleaders, standing on the sidewalk at 64 Tragarete street, not only listening to the depth and richness that he has brought back to the music for the single pants bands that were once ” Pan around the neck.”
Duvone Stewart (center) is pictured centering with the Newtown Playboys. Image: Sharmain Baboolal
Because it is the leadership that is required not only to form a group, but to motivate a team, which in practice is lacking from their academics, with the management of people who are not part of the university curriculum.
It is in his honor that Keisha Codrington of the Gonsalves Sheikers, turned up one night to listen, even though she is organizing her own band, competing in the same category.
“There’s something about Duvone that needs to unfold and it’s not about ego. I want people to understand what I’m about,” Stewart said in a brief interview last week.
“Financially, due to the pandemic, the steel pan was drowned and we could not earn with our craft. With a financial status to overcome, I decided to return to use my gift to make my profession respected by everyone I work with. Where they show value for what they get musically.
“To those who are disappointed that I am in a single pan, I will say that instead of begging for money I will use God’s gift,” he said.
Hugging All – Duvone Stewart in the Newtown Playboys yard. Image: Sharmain Baboolal
After a seven-year hiatus, it was not easy for him to organize six minutes of music for a pan competition, compared to eight-plus for other categories.
“I had to get back into that frame of mind of creating, to come up with new ideas.
“In 2015 I bowed out when I felt I was dominant in the category and thought I had left a benchmark to bring them up to their game. At the same time I was leaving the space open for continuation, for the arrangers and the bands to evolve,” Duvone explained.
But that didn’t happen.
“Listening to new arrangers, in 2016, I realized that all 32 bands sounded like me. So it’s like they took a template from one of the great pan arrangers, and yes, it might be good for people to imitate the sound that I had.
“But it’s negative when arrangers create music with a Duvone interpretation, having a lazy mentality, refusing to recreate their brand from what I started.
“A human being has a race to run, no two human beings are alike. It’s about harnessing your greatness and bringing your vibe and energy to the table.
“Now, when they visit the yard, they can see my thought process and what made the bands successful over the last 20 years.
“It’s about a sense of leadership. We need more leaders for those who miss that little inch of growth to build confidence and move forward.
“Don’t let people be afraid of you, use every gift you have to make them comfortable with you,” he explained.
“There are players who go out of their way to say ‘Hi’, for a handshake, photo, selfie, chat,” he said of his Newtown Playboys experience.
“I know a lot of people are asking, ‘How the hell does he have pan sets look rich,'” Stewart said, anticipating the next question.
“It’s about expanding your mind, going where no one has gone before.
Newtown Playboys garden pre-competition promotion
“I use BODMAS math theory in a single pan, where I can replace it to make the chords richer and truer, to enhance whatever song I choose, to compensate for missing notes.
“It’s rich and full and the texture is heavy. For example, there are only five notes in a single pan bass, but you’re hearing all the notes you would get from six basses and nine basses in the conventional set,” he said.
Looking at the bigger picture, Duvone, who also works internationally, sees the urgent need to create symposiums, lectures and open discussion forums so that young arrangers and musicians can sit in a creative space where they can to get ideas.
“There’s a shortage of tuners and trouser players,” he said, adding, “and arrangers are also in short supply.
“Yet we’re all in a barrel fighting amongst ourselves,” he complained.
“We need to empower and grow people. One day I’ll return to the dust, but while I’m here, it’s about change, growth, evolution, new ideas and new concepts,” said the champion arranger, with a sense of purpose.
Duvone will be honored by the T&T Alliance in Brooklyn, New York when they make him their Global Cultural Ambassador on November 20th.
About the Author Sharmain Baboolal
A journalist/editor based in Trinidad and Tobago, with 38 years experience in print, broadcast and digital media. As a founding member of the T&T Mirror newspaper, I have served as a photojournalist, columnist and editor for over 23 years.
My experience in broadcast journalism began and ended at the National Broadcasting Service (Radio 610 AM and Radio 100 FM). I have improved my skills in broadcast journalism at the Radio Netherlands Training Center (RNTC) and am a certified media trainer.
Alone, I established a small but effective news department at Trinidad and Tobago Radio Network Limited (TTRN). As an experienced news journalist, I am skilled in photojournalism, parliamentary and court reporting, writing and production for print, electronic (radio and video), as well as digital media and promotions. Along the way I have mentored and trained several younger writers and producers. For this and more I won a national award in 2012, the Humming Bird Medal (Gold). I am the mother of a junior researcher at Columbia University in New York, and a lover of steel music.
contact Sharmain Baboolal at:
