Jamaica,
W.I. -
Simply Pan. Passionate. Artistic. Natural. (PAN) was the theme for this year’s UWI
(University
of the
West
Indies) Panoridim Steel Orchestra’s annual summer concert season (PANFEST). The
orchestra normally hosts its concert at the Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts on the UWI Mona campus, Panoridim’s base, but this year, in part, they took the show on the road. The season began in Kingston on 2 July and ended in Jamaica’s second city Montego Bay at the beautiful Half Moon Hotel Conference Centre, on 10 July.
The orchestra is sponsored by the Insurance Company of the West Indies (ICWI), and largely comprises students and graduates of the University. It is made up of a diverse membership, much like the University itself, with members from various Caribbean nations including, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad
& Tobago and Jamaica. The players are also talented arrangers who have for the most part developed their skills within the orchestra.
The audience was treated to a wide variety of music, with something for everyone from various eras. The band paid tribute to music from its Caribbean neighbours with performances of ‘Magic Drum’ by pan great
Len ‘Boogsie’ Sharpe, ‘La Vida es un Carnival’ by Victor Daniel popularized by Cuban Celia Cruz, and Utsav-Ki-Awaz (Festival of Voices) a fusion of calypso and Indian folk music, by world renowned steel pan arranger,
Jit Samaroo.
In line with its outdoor nature theme ‘Simply Pan’, the orchestra soothed its audience with performances of Yiruma’s ‘River Flows in You’ and Jimmy Cliff’s ‘Many Rivers to Cross’. The band also paid tribute to reggae icon Jimmy Cliff with the piece ‘We All Are One’.
Pop music also featured in the show, with a medley of chart topping songs from the international sensation Bruno Mars. Local sensation, Chino, featured with the song ‘Never Change’ that put him on the map throughout the Caribbean. From the much-loved animated movie Shrek, the band played ‘Halleluiah’ and from the Broadway musical Annie the band performed a
Bomb-style arrangement of ‘Tomorrow’. The disco hit ‘It’s Raining Men’, left the audience breathless and hungry for more.
The orchestra also played a unique arrangement of Jamaican folk songs, done in the rondo form, typically used only in classical music, ‘Rookumbine’. The season ended on a high in Montego Bay as it was hard for the audience to remain seated for the final two songs ‘Dead or Alive’, Shurwayne Winchester and ‘Band from Space’, from another member of the musical Samaroo family,
Amrit Samaroo. The band received calls of encore at all its show with two calls at its last show! From the overwhelming response, one can only conclude that ‘Simply Pan’ was
- Simply
Fantastic!
The Simply ‘Pantastic UWI’ Panoridim Steel Orchestra |
