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.
[caption id="attachment_944009" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Ray Holman, second from left, revolutionised Panorama with his ground-breaking Pan on the Move which he composed and arranged for Starlift Steel Orchestra in 1972. Now, 50 years later, the story of the song's creation will be showcased in a documentary premiering on March 13. -[/caption]
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 t
