Narell set to enthrall local audience at Botswanacraft
Maureen Odubeng | Tuesday July 29, 2014 11:03
Narell has set up a band comprising of popular musicians namely Louis Mhlanga on guitar, Peter Sklair on bass, Thomas Diyani on percussion and Robert Watson on drums. According to Oliver Groth of Botswanacraft the legendary steel pan maestro from New York will feature these other popular musicians as part of his band, explaining that none of the musicians will do solo performances on the night.
The show will also feature local jazz sensation Kearoma Rantao, who recently travelled to Texas, United States of America (USA) for the African Musik Magazine Awards (AFRIMMA). Kearoma was a nominee in Best Female Southern Africa category. Kearoma was nominated alongside Southern Africa heavy weights, Lira (South Africa), Toya De Lazy (South Africa), Judy James (Mozambique), and the winner in the category, Zahara.
About Andy Narell:
Narell’s first solo album was released in 1979 and the album was credited for taking the steel pan out of the steel band and into the jazz band. In 1999 Narell became the first foreigner to compose for Trinidad’s Panorama steel band competition, guiding the100 players Skiffle Bunch Steel Orchestra to the finals of the 1999 and 2000 Panoramas. In 2007 he collaborated with Trinidad All Stars for a concert of his steel band music at the Trinidad and Tobago Steelpan and Jazz Festival.
Narell’s DVD package Alive, was released in 2011. The DVD package includes two full-length documentaries about his work. Andy and the Jumbies takes the viewer from the pan yards of Trinidad to the streets of New York and follows his musical journey with Trinidad All Stars Steel Orchestra and projects with great calypsonian Relator. It also features interviews with David Rudder, Ray Holman, Peter Minshall, and Kim Johnson. ‘Calypso Fever’ documents Andy’s collaboration with the WDR Big Band, merging the Andy Narell Steelband with the WDR to create a new 40-piece orchestra. As a band leader and soloist, Narell has played in a number of concerts and jazz festivals in his home country and several other countries in Europe, Africa and South America. He has also performed in Canada, Japan and the Caribbean.