tap/click for bioDr. Jit Sukha Samaroo (Musician, Panist, Composer, and steelband arranger) was born in Surrey Village in the Lopinot Valley, Trinidad, on 24 February 1950, the sixth of Sookram and Lakia Samaroo’s thirteen children. His love for music manifested itself at a very early age, influenced perhaps by his mother, who played the Dholak, and by ‘parang’, a Spanish-derived musical art form for which Lopinot is famous. Jit played the cuatro and guitar and at Christmas time, would accompany the village paranderos in their traditional house-to-house serenading.
When his mother died in 1961, the young Jit, appointed the task of taking care of his younger siblings, formed a little combo to keep them together. He had played Pan with ‘Village Boys,’ a Pan-around-the-neck steelband in the village but his true love affair with the instrument began at age 14, when a neighbour took him to join the Lever Brothers Canboulay steelband in Tunapuna. The musical director of Canboulay, Landig White, recognized Jit’s potential and encouraged him to take music lessons; he also allowed him to try his hand at arranging. Sometime afterwards, Jit took home some discarded pans from the band and began to teach his younger siblings to play. They eventually formed a family band, the ‘Samaroo Kids’, which made its debut on 23 August 1967, at a concert held at the University of the West Indies.
Additional info below posted with special permission from the BestOfTrinidad.com by Ronald C. Emrit
| PLACE OF BIRTH: | Lopinot, Trinidad |
| EDUCATION: | St. Pius Boys' RC School, Arouca |
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| SPECIALTIES: |
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CAREER:
Samaroo
grew up in the village
of Surrey, Lopinot, an
environment that had a
long-standing tradition
of 'parang' music:
yuletide singing with a
Spanish twist to the
accompaniment of guitars
and cuatros. He began
his steelband career at
the age of 10 with the
local Village Boys where
he learned to play the
tenor-pan and, at 14, he
joined the Camboulay
Steelband in Tunapuna
where he later began
arranging. He learned to
read music as a young
man and enhanced his
knowledge under the
guidance of Dr. Gordon
Maliphant, former head
of the Citrus Research
Unit, University of the
West Indies at St.
Augustine. After
teaching his four
brothers and three
sisters to play, he
formed a family
steelband, the Samaroo
Jets, in 1967 with pans
tuned by Bertrand
Kellman of the Renegades
Steelband. The Samaroo
Jets went on to tour
North America, South
America, Asia, Europe,
and the Caribbean. In 1971, Samaroo became the arranger for the Renegades Steelband on the recommendation of Kellman. In 1972, he won the soloist competition at the Steelband Music Festival. Between 1982 and 1997, Renegades won nine Panorama titles with Samaroo's musical arrangements. During this period, Samaroo also arranged Panorama selections for other steelbands such as Our Boys (Tobago), Trinidad Nostalgia, Deltones, and Cordettes. Over the years, Samaroo has composed several pieces of music including: A Day in Surrey; Song of Lopinot; Steelband Coup; Panman Vibration; The Gaping Season; La Trinite; Iron Band (2003); and Pan on the Road (2004). In addition to the Panorama tunes, he arranged several selections that were recorded by the Pan Vibes Steelband. In 2008, Samaroo gave up his arranging duties to his son, Amrit, when he was appointed Musical Director Emeritus for Renegades in recognition of his long service to the band. The following is a summary of Samaroo's success in the steelband Panorama competition with the Renegades Steelband:
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AWARDS:
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| Compiled by Ronald C. Emrit | |
