Wellspring: Iowa Steel Band & Victor Provost
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1 Won for Wendo
2 Wellspring
3 Song for Chelle
4 Sa Fè Lontan (Long Time No See)
5 Pin Wheel
6 Cocolobo
7 The Alchemist
NOTES:
Victor Provost first came to perform with the Iowa Steel Band in 2016. He was on our radar because of his beautiful composition 20: Ode to Tiny Angels. When my Teaching Assistant, Dr. Ben Yancey, reached out to Victor to purchase the arrangement for our Spring Concert, Victor offered to come out and play with us.
The Iowa School of Music was nearing the end of our exile in temporary facilities caused by the flood of 2008 that permanently closed the original Voxman Music Building. Our recital hall was a former church building. It wasn’t the best place for concerts, but our loyal audience continued to support us there.
That first week of April when Victor arrived in Iowa City, there was still a hint of winter in the air. The day of our first rehearsal was chilly with winds gusting up to 51 miles per hour. Ben, Victor, and I drove downtown for lunch talking excitedly about all things pan and steel band. Just as we stopped at a busy intersection, the wind felled a giant lamp post across the road right in front of us. It looked like a scene from a disaster movie. We paused briefly to consider the calamity we had just avoided, drove around the lamp post, and continued our conversation unfazed. I knew we had found a true kindred spirit, though I wondered if he would ever come back to Iowa City after such an experience. He did come back—many times over the next ten years—to share with us his artistry, creativity, passion, attention to detail, and grace.
Figuratively speaking a wellspring can be described as “a large, plentiful, and seemingly endless supply of ideas, energy, or resources.” A “wellspring of creativity” is a fitting description of this project. These seven compositions were carefully crafted by the composer and performers to give each track a sense of purpose (the joy of making art together), place (Iowa), and passion (that we all share for the steelpan artform).
We hope you enjoy our Wellspring.
VICTOR PROVOST is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading voices on the unique, and often misunderstood, steelpan. Through appearances at concert halls, clubs, and stages throughout the world, he has developed a reputation as a “dazzling soloist, crafting an impressive improvisational voice and style.” With a strong foundation in Bebop, a contemporary sensibility, and deep roots in Caribbean music, he seamlessly melds and mixes genres.
Victor’s recording, Bright Eyes, debuted at #5 on the iTunes Top 40 Jazz Charts and was met with praise from The Washington Post, Downbeat Magazine, and Jazz Times. His most recent album, Island to Island, is the product of two artists bridging geography and tradition—Provost, hailing from St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Grammy Award-winning pianist Alex Brown from the “island” of Manhattan, NY. Together they weave a rich tapestry of sound that draws from their unique perspectives. This collaboration brings virtuosic jazz sensibilities together with musical traditions of South America and the Caribbean, creating music that feels firmly grounded, deeply personal and widely resonant.
Victor has performed and recorded with jazz luminaries such as Wynton Marsalis, Paquito D’Rivera, Hugh Masekela, Monty Alexander, Joe Locke, Nicholas Payton, Terell Stafford, Dave Samuels, Steve Nelson, Ron Blake, and Wycliffe Gordon, among others.
All compositions by Victor Provost Percussion Arrangements by Victor Provost & Dan Moore
Victor Provost plays pans created by Joshema McIntosh & Kyle Dunleavy
Iowa Steel Band plays pans created and blended by Alan Coyle
Dan Moore and Iowa Percussion — Iowa Steel Band play Yamaha Drums, Innovative Percussion sticks and mallets, Sabian Cymbals & Sounds, Gon Bops Percussion, and Remo Drumheads
Produced by Victor Provost & Dan Moore
Recorded & mixed by Dan Moore in the Thomas L. Davis Percussion Suite at the University of Iowa
Mastered by James Edel
Design by Karen Parko
Personnel:
Drew Hansen (lead pan, tamboo Bamboo)
Gabe Albertus (lead pan)
Zoe Dorr (lead pan, tamboo Bamboo)
McKenna Blenk (assistant director, lead pan)
Wil Voelker (lead pan, tamboo Bamboo)
Kimmy Moore (lead pan)
Chichi Dusanek (lead pan)
Peter Grubisich (assistant director, double tenor pans)
Hannah Oberhoffer-Phillips (double tenor pans)
Ava Chopskie (double 2nds)
Charli Otto (double 2nds)
Brynn Holzwarth (double 2nds)
Randall Kinner (double 2nds)
Kraig Leahy (cello pans)
Riley Gesell (cello pans)
Nathan Ortiz (cello pans)
Peyton Flynn (bass pans)
Michael Hill (bass pans)
Ani Perez-Brennan (drums)
Dan Moore (percussion, marimba)
Victor Provost, (steel pans, percussion)
IOWA PERCUSSION — IOWA STEEL BAND
Dan Moore, director
The percussion program at the University of Iowa has a rich history of innovation, performance artistry, educational excellence, and leadership in the field of percussion. Iowa Percussion students have performed as featured artists at four Percussive Arts Society International Conventions (1999, 2004, 2011, and 2013). In 2013 the Iowa East-West Percussion Ensemble was named winner of the Percussive Arts Society World Percussion Ensemble Competition.
To date Iowa Percussion and Iowa Steel Band have released 13 commercial recordings that have been professionally reviewed and are nationally/internationally distributed in both physical and digital formats. Iowa Percussion is known for their remarkable collaborations and/or recordings with diverse artists such as jazz legend, Mike Mainieri, steel pan artists Andy Narell, Victor Provost, Mat Britain, Chris Tanner, and Ray Holman, as well as Ånders Åstrand, Sō Percussion, Caroline Shaw, Steven Schick, Yousif Sheronick, drummer Joe McCarthy, Hip-hop/Jungle drum & bass performer Johnny Rabb, drummer and composer Matthew Wilson, composer Paul Elwood, soprano and Miss Iowa (2014) Aly Olson, and Iconic American composer Robert Moran.
The Iowa Percussion ensemble has been privileged to commission and premiere works by
important composers such as Pulitzer Prize winner and Iowa alumnus David Lang, Robert
Moran, Paul Elwood, Emma O’Halloran, Dave Hollinden, David Gillingham, Jake Romig, Jonathan Newman, Dwayne Rice, Anders Koppel, Christopher Deane, Zach Zubow, Taylor Ambrosio Wood, Peter Naughton, Joe W. Moore III, Katerina Stamatelos, Lawrence Fritts, Dick Schory, Jamie Wind Whitmarsh, Claudia Herreras Guerra, Brian Nozny, Ania Vu, Ivan Trevino, and Gene Koshinski.
The Iowa Steel Band is among the most active and recognized touring ensembles from The UI School of Music. The band performs extensively throughout Iowa and the Midwest under the auspices of the UI Arts Share program. The Iowa Steel Band was formed in 1996 and typically features 15-20 performing members. To date they have performed in 52 of Iowa’s 99 counties and are still counting.
The band has released four critically acclaimed recordings: everywhere Calypso, Noise Brigade, Queen of the Bands, and Jungle Music with Andy Narell, which can be heard on Spotify, YouTube, and most other streaming platforms. Their latest album, Wellspring: Iowa Steel Band & Victor Provost, was released worldwide on November 7, 2026.