By Aviso Paul
The creators of PanJazz Concerts have revealed that the grand 2022 edition of the PanJam: SteelBand Jamboree is scheduled for July 24, at the Georgetown Club.
However, the concert, which usually consists of steelpan and jazz, will differ this year as there will be a clash between the two of the top Guyanese steelbands: the Guyana Police Force Steel Orchestra and the Caribbean Airlines Parkside Steel Orchestra.
According to the creators, the 2022 Jamboree is expected to give Guyanese an exquisite steelpan experience with a combination of different genres of Caribbean music which will be featured by local artistes.
Founder of PanJazz Reo Miller explained, “For the first half, we’re going to have a string band with local artists singing soca, reggae and chutney hits. And for the second half, two large steel bands will be set up side by side on two different stages, performing local hits and they’re going to be going tune for tune, backing local artistes who will be performing with them. This I believe will be the most exciting part this year.”
He also stated that owing to past successes and more built knowledge, persons who attend the event will be fueled with ten times the eagerness and excitement.
A release from the organisation said that PanJazz was created in 2018 while Miller was a law student at the University of Guyana, as a fundraiser for his attendance at the Hugh Wooding Law School. Being one of Guyana’s prominent pannists, he decided to host a concert that emphasised steelpan music along with jazz instruments.
It was a success, and later sired the PanJazz Concerts brand which Miller now hosts annually.
“When I started in 2018, I was pretty young,” Miller said in the release, “but from feedback I received, I was doing pretty well, so I continued and the support kept growing over the years. I believe that is credited to the fact that there is no yearly steelpan event in Guyana that focuses on the steelpan experience like PanJazz would. The ones we have are mainly focused on involvement with bands and soloists competing, but PanJazz focuses on an experience for the audience. And that is the selling point, since there is a huge fanbase for steelpan music in Guyana.”
He said that since the initial idea was to pay school fees, he hopes to launch a PanJazz Scholarship after completing this event, so that other players can benefit educationally.
“Now that I have completed my studies, it’s only fair that part of the proceeds go to someone else who plays steelpan, to pay their school fees too. That’s what I wanna do. Other than that, the goal of PanJazz is to bring an exquisite steelpan experience to the Guyanese public that they can appreciate and enjoy, and always look forward to on a yearly basis,” he said.
The 2022 Jamboree is sponsored by Kabisa, Gupta Distributors, Career.gy, Roje’s, Au Moyeu M&M Snackette, Virtual Solutions Guyana, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and Potsalt Media & Communications.
