Pan scores at Fire Festival

A member of the steelpan band of El Cobre performs at the panyard at El Cobre in Cuba as part of the annual Fire Festival.
A member of the steelpan band of El Cobre performs at the panyard at El Cobre in Cuba as part of the annual Fire Festival.

SANTIAGO de Cuba is regarded as the cultural capital of Cuba, and just recently has deepened its mix of “frenetic, passionate and noisy beauty” with the pan.

They love the pan,” declared pan aficionado, pioneer and arranger Merlin “Mutt” Gill, who was in Cuba for the annual Fiesta del Fuego (Fire Festival) last month.
He also donated two tenor pans to an ensemble comprising players between the ages of seven and 13, and some adults.

“My heart went out to them when I heard them play,” Gill told Newsday. “They love the pan, they love music. I will make the band a very big one. I also promised them a tuner and I am willing to pay for someone to go to Cuba and tune their pans.”

Adults from the steelpan band of El Cobre perform at the Caribbean House in Santiago de Cuba.

Gill’s magnanimity did not end with his presentation of the two pans to the young Cubans.
He has already made two more tenors, two pairs of double seconds, two pairs of double guitars and one six-bass available to enable the band to blend and spread its own infectious music complemented by the sound of TT’s national instrument. And so on any given day in an area called El Cobre in Santiago de Cuba, the young musicians can continue to play and improve on their version of Lord Kitchener’s Pan in A Minor, and David Rudder’s The Hammer, among their favourite numbers from TT.

TT’s national instrument was one of many presentations incorporated in the recent Caribbean Fiesta del Fuego which celebrated its 38th anniversary this year. The annual festival, hosted by the La Casa del Caribe institute, ran from July 3- 9.

The festival brings together dance, musical, theatrical and cultural expressions from the Caribbean and the Americas including the US.
This year was extra special for the group in that they met Gill. On hearing them perform, he complimented the Cubans on their musical talent.

The Cuban pan players surrounded Gill, asking for his opinions and ideas, and thanked him for his generosity saying they hope to continue collaborating, spreading and facilitating meetings and events to further TT culture in Cuba.

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