panjumby

PANJUMBY pan - spirit
The pan is the Trinidadian national instrument, the steel drum, and a jumby is a traditonal Trinidadian word for a ghost or resident spirit.
PANJUMBY are possibly the country's only pan-lead Jazz quintet playing contemporary Calypso and Caribbean Jazz. As well as Jazz standards and Trinidadian Calypso, the band play Brazilian Samba and Bossa Nova, and Soul tunes by popular artists such as Stevie Wonder, George Benson etc. All three lead voices (Nesbitt, Ormrod, McKay) are lyrical improvisers who have spent a decade building a close rapport with this material and one another. Hobbs and Higgins have learnt the art of Calypso from a master in his field and the whole band plays with the professional gladness of craftsmen at work. Panjumby is upbeat, melodic, infectious and relaxed - as a great Caribbean band should be.
DUDLEY NESBITT is Britain's foremost exponent of steel pan. He learnt to play as a young man in Trinidad and went on to arrange for some of the top steel pan orchestras in Trinidad at the highest level, including arrangements for the annual steel pan competition and festival PANORAMA, which is held at Carnival time. He moved to England in the early 90s to arrange for the North Stars steel band, before going on to promote steel pan across the country by performing and teaching at all levels. Nesbitt continues to play with a fire and brilliance unmatched by many men half his age, fed by his passion for steel pan and Jazz.