Pan Jazz to the world0

You can’t help being enthused and inspired by our affiliate Pan Jazz International which is a truly global music community that brings young people of all backgrounds together from across the globe with music.

Not just any music, they play funky jazz with orchestras built around the Carribean-style steel pan drum. They are a collective of music enthusiasts who starting with only six youngsters in the 1980s have managed to grow into a global family that spans three continents and boasts a wealth of diversity.  Their community comprises the founding UK-based Porchester Panyard; the South Africa Pan Jazz Project and Pan Jazz Project India.  These three groups are funded in part by the proceeds from their own performances and other fundraising efforts.  In the spirit of cultural exchange and global community a contingency of 45 members of the Porchester Pan Yard has recently returned from a tour in South Africa.

There they had the appropriate honour of playing concerts as part of (and in the spirit of) the just ended football World Cup festivities alongside members of the South Africa Pan Jazz Project. Through interaction and cultural exchange based around the medium of music; the two groups have developed lasting bonds in a web which will continue to perpetuate as the Pan Jazz fervor continues to grow with more and more exchange programmes. Their work is especially poignant in a place like South Africa; where social divisions from the past have left inevitable scars.

Pictures and a testimonial from one of instructors on the recent trip are available after the ‘read more’ jump.

We arrived in the Western Cape and after meeting with local musicians from the Xhosa speaking Langa and Guguletu townships of Cape Town and the Cape Coloured communities of the Franschhoek wine growing region; we began intensive rehearsals for 3 days before our first concert. Most of us had not played the tunes before and none of us had performed together with such a diverse group of people. Getting the repertoire together helped bring people of all ages, backgrounds and musical experience together with a real sense of community. I feel this is what PanJazz is most effective at. The message and hope that the project brings is truly life changing for the musicians involved and the audience that enjoy the performances.

…I have attached some pictures of the concerts to show you some of the children that benefited from the event. Some are well-off and going university in January. Some live in shacks with no parents. All came together and enjoyed performing. These children will go back to their communities knowing that they have friends all over the Western Cape and the UK, and they will teach these tunes to their schools and music groups, many of which are supported by PanJazz International. As you know, music really does have the power to change peoples’ lives.

As well as the work in South Africa, PanJazz works in India with similar ambition. In the autumn half term we are flying out to Calcutta with some South African and English musicians to record with Indian musicians. This will be a unique sound bringing people from around the world together. I hope you get to hear this, along with some of the recordings we made on this trip.”

More videos up-to-date videos of and information on the Pan Jazz projects are available here and on the websites listed above.

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