A Spoonful of Sugar - Trinidad and Tobago Showboat Orchestra



All of the week we are listening to covers that use instruments that are not often found in popular music. This is Unconventional Instrument Week. Today's unconventional instrument is one that is actually pretty conventional in Trinidad and Tobago, in fact it is their national instrument! I'm talking about the steelpan.

The steelpan is also known as the steel drum, referring to the fact that the original steelpans were made out of steel oil drums used for shipping large quantities of oil. The instrument is actually called a steelPAN as it does not fall into the drum/percussion family of instruments.

Each steelpan can carry a different tone depending on its size. The larger and longer the barrel, the lower the tone. Different notes can be played on one steelpan depending on where on the playing surface the mallets strike.

Although they are not often heard in popular music, steelpans are used on occasion, the first instance being Carrie Anne by the Hollies in 1967. Steelbands have grown significantly in number since the formation of the first steelbands in the late 30s, and now there is even the World Steelband Music Festival that has been held in Trinidad every year since 1964, the largest steelband gathering in the world!

Take a listen to the excellent steelband style of the TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO SHOWBOAT ORCHESTRA as they play Mary Poppins' A Spoonful of Sugar, which can be found on BEAUTY AND THE BEAT: FAVORITE DISNEY TUNES IN STEELBAND STYLE.

Labels: beauty and the beat, mary poppins, spoonful of sugar, trinidad and tobago showboat orchestra

  ¶ 10:17 AM 1 Comments Links to this post

  Exit Music - On the Record Cast
Today track is the Exit Music from the short lived Broadway production On the Record from 2005. This medley features a variety of songs:

Mickey Mouse March (Mickey Mouse Club)
Colonel Hathi's March (Jungle Book)
Cruella De Vil (101 Dalmatians)
A Spoonful of Sugar (Mary Poppins)
Winnie the Pooh (Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree)
I've Got No Strings (Pinocchio)

Like most of the music in this production, the arrangements in this track is what makes it so special. The songs just seem to flow into each other as if they were all written by the same person.

I know there is not much the Colonel Hathi's March part of this medley, but it's the only cover of that song I've got.

Exit Music On the Record Ensemble 2005

Labels: colonel hathi's march, cruella de vil, i've got no strings, mickey mouse march, on the record, showtunes, spoonful of sugar, winnie the pooh

  ¶ 11:45 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Mary Poppins Medley - Erich Kunzel & the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra

Since this Wednesday is the forty-fourth anniversary of Mary Poppins, I thought it would be fun to declare this week Mary Poppins Week! All of this wee will feature songs from the classic movie!

To kick off the week, I'm sharing with you the Mary Poppins Medley that was recorded by the CINCINNATI POPS ORCHESTRA, conducted by ERICH KUNZEL, with the Indiana University's Singing Hoosiers providing the vocal work, from the Grammy nominated album, A DISNEY SPECTACULAR from 1989.

The medley is well put together and includes a good variety of the different songs featured in the film. Here is what you will hear in this medley:

Chim Chim Cher-ee
Jolly Holiday
A Spoonful of Sugar
Let's Go Fly a Kite
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Step in Time

Mary Poppins Medley Erich Kunzel & the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra 1989

Labels: a disney spectacular, chim chim cher-ee, cincinnati pops orchestra, erich kunzel, jolly holiday, let's go fly a kite, mary poppins, spoonful of sugar, step in time, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

  ¶ 2:54 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  A Spoonful of Sugar - Harry Connick, Jr.
Today is the birthday of a very important person in Disney history. RICHARD M. SHERMAN celebrates turns 80 today!
To celebrate I am sharing a version of a song he wrote for Mary Poppins. This is HARRY CONNICK, JR. singing A Spoonful of Sugar.

Richard M. Sherman is one half of the ultimate songwriting duo known as the Sherman Brothers. Together, the brothers have written songs for over two dozen films, both Disney (Mary Poppins, Jungle Book, Winnie the Pooh) as well as non-Disney (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Snoopy Come Home, Charlotte's Web), as well as countless other songs for musicals, theme parks and TV shows over the last forty years.

The Sherman Brothers have 9 Academy Award nominations, 2 Grammy Awards, 4 Grammy Award nominations and 23 gold and platinum albums. And even though Robert Sherman now lives in London and Richard is still in California, they still collaborate on many projects together.

A Spoonful of Sugar Harry Connick, Jr. 2001

Labels: harry connick jr, jazz, mary poppins, songs i heard, spoonful of sugar

  ¶ 3:54 PM 3 Comments Links to this post