Filmmaker Mikhail Gibbings speaks with great reverence about pan legend Dr Jit Samaroo. “Jit Samaroo’s quiet, humble and virtuosic nature has meant that, while he helped to establish the musical precedent by which modern steelpan now lives, his life and journey is surprisingly unarchived, especially on video,” Gibbings noted during an exchange with the Express yesterday.
That gap in the nation’s memory is what drove Gibbings’ Pomegranate Studios’ docu-series Iconography to dedicate its third instalment to Samaroo. The film, premiering next Thursday at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s, explores the life and legacy of the late arranger, composer and teacher whose name remains forever etched into the foundation of pan.
Known as founder of the Samaroo Jets and the only arranger to win eight National Panorama Large Band titles with bp Renegades, Samaroo is presented not only as a champion arranger, but as a teacher, innovator and global ambassador for the national instrument. He passed away at his D’Abadie home on January 7, 2016, at age 65.
