A shy guy

Talk about being “shy” and you would have just described one of Jit Samaroo’s most striking qualities. The two-time national award recipient and now Doctor of Letters in music awardee said so himself: “I am really a shy person. Talking in public, I don’t know if I’ll ever get accustomed to that,” he said in a People interview. “I never liked the limelight, like what is happening now...it’s too much. I like the quiet side of things.” Add to his qualities modest and simple. Jit, 53, an accomplished pannist, composer and arranger was recently awarded a Doctor of Letters degree in music, steelpan and culture by the University of the West Indies. “It’s great encouragement for pannists in general. It tells you somebody is watching you, people are listening to you and this is what it’s all about. I am grateful for the honour, but it’s all the attention,” he said. He spoke in a very low tone — any lower would require some voice-amplifying device — as he sat across from me in the breezy living room of his D’Abadie home. There was no denying that a panman lived there, since, not only were the steelpans and neat stacks of music sheets in one corner of his living room very conspicuous, but even the design of steelpans etched in the terrazo floor of his porch.

It is said that he is a man of few words. That saying became null and void midway through our conversation. But “a shy Jit” was hard to believe since he grew up around five brothers and seven sisters in a close-knit, friendly and multi-racial village called Surrey, in Lopinot. When the villagers engaged in cultural activities, Jit was rarely missing. He knew about the cuatro, the first instrument he learned to play, the dholak, tassa drum and the steelpan. His mother played the dholak and sang at Indian weddings, his father played the tassa at Hosay celebrations and the village was home to a pan-round-de-neck traditional band. After leaving Arouca Boys RC, he expressed the sole desire to become a musician. He learned the basics in music theory from music teacher Mr Henry in St Joseph. “I learned to play the cuatro and guitar with the Ralph family. Ralph (Sr) had his cuatro there and used to allow us to play. Youths my age, most of us learned to play string instruments through him. He (Ralph, now deceased) was a true ‘soldier.’ He would always tell you something to make you feel good.” Later, he indicated his interest in learning to play the steelpan. “I went to a friend living opposite, the brother of a girlfriend, and told him I wanted to learn to play the pan. He took me to a friend of his in Monte Grande, Tunapuna where the band Sherzando Steel Orchestra played. “I went, they welcomed me and I started to practise. I started off playing the guitar pan. Later we changed the name to “Lever Bros Camboulay.” He was fascinated by the sound he created on the pan. It was similar to what he had heard from the village band. But then the idea of forming a band with his brothers and sisters popped into his head. He suggested to members of Lever Bros Camboulay that they purchase new steelpans so he could take the old ones home.

He pitched the idea to his siblings; the end result was the formation of the Samaroo Jets which still exists today. He explained: “I was ten years old when my mother died... I would never forget her face. I remember most the way she used to laugh and her smile. She had a hearty laugh and the girls (sisters) laugh just like her.” Then life changed for the Samaroos. “Her death was unexpected and it was hard to see all my brothers doing nothing in the night. It was sad and lonely so I thought forming a band was a good idea. We played the cuatro, guitar, pan and made other instruments. It was just to keep the family together. I just wanted everybody to do something rather than nothing. We later realised we could make a living off of it and we went with that.” The Samaroo Jets, which now comprises “a nephew, a cousin, a friend and three brothers, including myself” have been around for more than 30 years. His eldest brother passed away recently, due to an illness. Last week the Jets sailed down the islands for party performances. “Strangely enough our first performance was at a UWI function. I remember we passed a hat after and we got $35, that would be like a thousand dollars now... The band definitely accomplished its purpose in keeping us together.” What made Jit persist in playing pan after all these years? “Well, I’ll tell you something,” he began, “I don’t know, they say pan is a jumbie and I tend to believe that.” Had the thought of singing ever crossed his mind? He laughed: “No. I couldn’t sing. I really couldn’t sing. I can’t even talk, much less for sing.” He remembered when the radio was first introduced in his home. “I used to wonder how the hell they get all these people to fit in this radio and every now and again I used to turn to the back of the radio to figure it out.” Included in his new CD release Jit Samaroo: Original Notes comprising six original compositions are “Song of Lopinot” — a national test piece for the youth, “Jaago” — an Indian test piece and “Coleman’s Jam” named after the late musician Fitzroy Coleman. “This is to get more people interested in local music,” he told People.

Apart from playing with the Jets, and doing musical arrangements for bpTT Renegades Steel Orchestra, Samaroo said his interest now is composing. He also informed of some of his goals. He showed off the computerised versions of scores he wrote by hand. “My goal is to do what you see on paper — create music.” With what result? “I don’t know what to expect; is like the lotto, I have a ticket and I don’t know what could happen.” Jit added: “We have so much talent from the Negroes, East Indians, Chinese, Spanish and if we put all these influences together we can create something good. They doh lock yuh up if you do a bad song. They might cuss yuh, but they wouldn’t lock yuh up. I want to do things, experience things, it doh cost anything, just my time.” Foremost in his list of do’s is “spending all the time I could spend with my family.” Yes, Jit’s a family man! His son Amrit also accompanied him on the “down-the-islands-job” recently. Amrit plays the tenor pan, and as bpTT Renegades youth band arranger, has two junior Panorama wins under his belt. Krishna his eldest son is not as musically-inclined as Amrit and Bobby. Amrita, 16, is his last child and only daughter. It took him a few minutes to remember how many years he has been married to Balmatie Samaroo. “It (marriage) so good ah cyar remember how much years nah!” he laughed. “Marriage was the best thing that happened to me. My wife is one sweet wife; she is co-operative and a true mother... I enjoy spending time with them, sometimes we just go out in the gallery and watch the planes go by.”