PanOnTheNet.com has recorded an interview with long-time Coral Reefer percussionist Ralph MacDonald.

Percussionist Ralph MacDonald is visual and sometimes quietly intense but always expressive, and is a compendium of unique island and conventional percussive rhythms. The When Steel Talks (WST) crew was privileged to sit down with the dynamic musician in his Stamford, Connecticut home and preview Mixty Motions, his newest CD before its release.

MacDonald has done a lot of interviews, but only here with WST, in addition to the detailed look at Mixty Motions, does the world get the inside scoop on his full relationship with the steelpan, and his intimate connection with what is the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago, and hear him proudly proclaim that his favorite orchestra is the mighty Desperadoes Steel Orchestra nestled in the hills of Laventille.

Check out the interview here.

There was talk last week that Jimmy might be interested in bringing a casino to Florida. The Miami Herald says don’t bet on it:

A trail of e-mails between Gov. Charlie Crist’s chief of staff and a lobbyist for singer Jimmy Buffett that mentioned ”the gaming issue” stirred a short-lived flutter of speculation last week.

The talk would have touched on Crist’s contested gambling agreement with the Seminole Tribe and other Florida issues that interest Buffett, Sharkey said, including the environment.

The Key West Citizen reports that Jimmy was in Key West over the weekend:

Singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett waves to fans Saturday at the Key West Bight en route to Sunset Key. Buffett was in Key West over the weekend producing the music of Ilo Ferreira, a young musician he met in Cape Verde off the western coast of Africa.