The video of Massy All Stars' winning performance at the 2024 Panorama competition has been making its rounds on social media, with the spotlight falling on the passion of frontline tenor player Nalo Sampson as she contributed to the band's rendition of Olatunji's Inventor – while wearing stilettos no less.
Sampson, a devout Christian who had last performed with the band in 2016, told WMN she decided to play in this year's competition a week before the preliminary judging.
"I saw Smooth (arranger Leon Edwards) in passing in the panyard and he said the band was playing Inventor by Olatunji...I didn’t know the song as my radio is always on the gospel station 98.1," she said with a smile.
"But when I listened to it I got an energy that I get when I perform Unknown Band, my favourite Panorama arrangement. I also heard parts of Woman on the Bass in between," – Scrunter's song with which the band had won the Panorama title in 1980.
"I also remember telling him, 'the Lord say we're winning Panorama this year eh' even before I had heard a note of the song being played."
She said an urge to play, that she had not felt in the last seven years, started to build up within her.
"I asked myself, 'What is this?' Then I said, 'Lord, we have to talk."
She said she had a discussion with the Holy Spirit and got His "permission" to play.
When the band did a mock stage performance and she took her place next to ace pannist Dane Gulston, she said, she gave the All Stars supporters who came to the panyard a big surprise.
"They saw me in front and everybody started to go crazy. It was a genuine surprise to them."
But, she said, it was an even bigger surprise to her to see how so many people welcomed her back to the stage.
"I thought the welcome would have only been from the people in the panyard. I never thought the video of our performance was going to reach international and people would be sending me friend requests on social media. So much so, that I can't keep up.
[caption id="attachment_1065985" align="alignnone" width="683"] After being away from the Panorama stage for seven, Massy All Stars frontline player Nalo Sampson returned with her pan passion and stiletto heels. - Angelo Marcelle[/caption]
"There were some people who were sceptical about my ability to make it past the prelims round because I had been out of competition for so long, but I felt it was the Lord telling me, 'There is nothing you can't do.'"
Although Sampson, a senior clerical officer at the Port of Port of Spain was forced to take a break from performing owing to a workplace injury in 2016, she said even prior to that there was an internal spiritual battle brewing about whether or not she should continue to play.
"People were saying, 'You're serving two masters' and I couldn't understand what it was about because I didn't think I was doing anything that was ungodly. But they kept saying, 'You have a gift, you have a talent, what are you using it for? To glorify God or to encourage people to revel?'"
But she continued playing un
