Out With Shabang!
Ask any Caribbean musician in the Bay Area if he's heard of Harry Best
and the answer is a resounding "Yes." In fact, Harry is a true Caribbean
music pioneer in the area. So why is everybody acting like his band
Shabang is som [+]Out With Shabang!
Ask any Caribbean musician in the Bay Area if he's heard of Harry Best
and the answer is a resounding "Yes." In fact, Harry is a true Caribbean
music pioneer in the area. So why is everybody acting like his band
Shabang is something new on the scene?
Well, for many years, Harry was content to remain in the obscure but
lucrative circuit of corporate events and private parties. But the
"dot-com" crash together with the 9/11 cataclysm changed all of that.
Like a phoenix, Harry Best and Shabang have arisen from the ashes of
these fiascos with a tight fresh sound that has people asking "Who are
these guys?" "Where are they from?"
This summer all the questions will be answered when the group
launches a mini concert tour of cities and counties around the Bay. The
tour coincides with the release of their new CD entitled "Gonna Make It"
which includes five original songs written and composed by Harry. The
other five tunes on the set are refreshing covers that show the group
has not completely cut it's ties with the corporate world. But the new
direction is evident.
Harry's a seasoned songwriter who's music has had more notoriety
than his band. For years he's written hit song's for international
Caribbean Artists such as Arrow. His lyrics are arresting, his melodies
sweet, and the rhythms infectious. He is just as comfortable being the
romantic, the rebel or the mystic. Add to that his accomplished skills on
the steelpan and you have the foundation of the band's music.
But ask Harry and he'll tell you that the real secret to Shabang's charm is
in their emotional approach to their performances.
"We go out to have fun," Harry says. "With each other, first of all; and
that gets projected in the music. The contagion is hard for the audience
to resist."
A feature of Shabang's music is the enchanting sound of their
steeldrums. Affectionately known as "pans", steeldrums are
hand-crafted and finely tuned from 55-gallon oil barrels. Dexter Bruce, a
native of Trinidad and Tobago and a veteran pan-player, formerly of Our
Boys Steel Orchestra brings that special radiance to the Shabang sound.
Bass player Ed (Mac) McCarver is the pillar of the band. Says Harry:
"Most of my compositions are written off bass lines
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