Kemah,
Texas,
USA
-
Two of
New
York’s
well-known
panists
-
Freddie
Harris,
III and
Mustafa
Alexander
-
made the
trip
down
south to
Texas
not too
long ago
as the
headline
act in
the
annual Kemah
Pan Jam
Festival.
Both Freddie
and
Freddie
looked
back at
their
experience
and
share with pan
folks.
“I had a
great
time at
the
Kemah
Pan Jam
Festival
with
Mustafa,”
says
Freddie.
“It was
a
pleasure
to see
all the
universities
in Texas
come out
with the four
different
steel
bands;
it is
also a
great
pleasure
to see
different
pan
players
from all
walks of
life as
well...
white,
black, Mexican,
college
students...
etc.; it
was very
diverse. There
were
various
vendors
selling
Caribbean
artifacts
and
culture
to
people
who were
not
aware of
Caribbean
culture
in
Texas.”
Freddie Harris, III
The
well-known
steelpan
musician
continued,
“My
objective
in Texas
was to
broaden
the
spectrum
of my
listening
viewers
by
playing
many
different
genres
of music,
to show
them
that the
steel
drum has
no
limitations.
The
crowd
was
definitely
wowed by
the
music
Mustafa
Alexander
and I
provided
as
headliners.
Mustafa
definitely
did his
thing;
he
played a
little
jazz,
some
classics,
calypso,
and some
contemporary
pieces
which
took the
crowd by
surprise.
Mustafa
is
definitely
one of
the
upcoming
pan men
to watch
out for.
For his
first
pan jazz
festival
-
I think
he did a
really
great
job.
Being
that we
were
both
coming
out of
New York
city, I
figured
I would
look out
for him
a
little;
and make
sure
that
things
went
well for
him. We
looked
out for
each
other...”
“The food
was
great;
everything
they do
in Texas is
definitely
‘big.’
When we
first
got in -
five
hours
later -
we were
already
playing
with the
house
band for
the
tailgate
party.
We
played
country,
rock,
blues,
and
other
southern
genres
of
music. This is
where we
sat in
with the
band and
Mustafa
performed
“I Shot
the Sherriff.”
Being
that I’m
so
accustomed
to the
country
music,
and this
is my
style of
music...
funk,
rhythm
and
blues,
jazz,
and
country
and
western
-
I fell
right in
the
groove
and
performed
the
whole
second
set with
the
band...
They
didn’t
want me
to
leave.”
“The
crowd
was
definitely
into it.
We took
that
same
energy
into the
next
day,
which
was
Saturday
- the
first
day of
the
actual Pan
Jam
Festival.
I played
at 12:45
to 2:30
p.m.
The
crowd
loved it
so much
they all
came to
the
second
performance
where
Mustafa
played
at 7:30
p.m.
It was a
beautiful
‘relay’
race;
and
Mustafa
passed
me back
the
baton;
where I
finished
the rest
of the
show
from
8:45–10:00
p.m.
The
crowed
left
with a
roar,
reminiscing
in my
rendition
of “The
Star
Spangled
Banner,”
which by
the way,
I played
3
performances
in a row
by
request!”
“Sunday
was a
more
laid
back
day. The
concert
ended at
6
o’clock
and as
headliners,
Mustafa
and I
ended
the
show. We
jammed
together
and
traded
fours,
it was
exciting.
I
performed
more
gospel
songs,
being
that it
was
Sunday,
a day
for
praise,
which
were
received
extremely
well by
the
audience.
The show
was a
success,
and the
event
planners
were
definitely
pleased
with
Mustafa
and me.
They
rolled
out the
red
carpet
for us,
and the
hospitality
was
great;
we were
treated
like
ROCK
STARS!!!!!!!! These
guys in
Texas are
definitely
handling
Pan with
care -
and I
second
the pan
movement
at Kemah
Pan Jam
Festival!”
Mustafa
Alexander
Mustafa
Alexander
himself (who also
plays
trumpet)
is a
talented young
man, but
one of
few words
-
so
though
he
usually
lets his
‘sticks’
do the
talking,
he
articulated
just a
bit, his own
thoughts
on his
participation
in the
Kemah
Pan Jam
festival, for the
pan
community.
“The trip
to Kemah,
Texas
was a big
eye
opener;
the
places
pan has
reached
have
astonished
me, and
it feels
so good
to be a
part of
the
future
as a Panist
in this
Steel
pan
movement. Freddy
Harris,
III was
down
there, also
headlining
at this
two-day
Pan Jam
festival
and
I learned
a lot
from
him. I
often
think of
that
trip as
‘Musician
101’ because
this was
my first
gig like
that, and
I
definitely
learned
a lot
about
this
music
business
and how
to
market
myself. So this
trip was
great. The
people
treated
us
very
well
down
there
and I’m
looking
forward
to doing
it
again,”
declared
Mustafa.