TEEN TAKES PAN TO
JAPAN AND BEYOND
Trinidad Guardian
January 1, 2000
Page 14
He signed autographs and received bouquets of flowers from adoring
fans in Japan.
He
also received a standing ovation from the audience at the Boston Symphony Hall.
All
of this, and he is only 13-years-old.
Donell
Thomas, a student at the Aranguez Junior Secondary and one of the youngest and
most renowned musicians with the Panazz Players, has travelled more than any
13-year-old that he knows and in a very short time, has used his talent to take
pan music to all regions of the earth.
Thomas
plays the six base, tenor and cuardro phonics.
And
the man who discovered this unique pannist is none other than
leader/co-arranger of Panazz Players, Barry Bartholomew.
He
explained: "Apparently Thomas lived near the pan-yard and I saw this
little child playing the six base."
"I
was blown away, excited and extremely impressed because he was not watching the
pan. He was looking up in the air as he
played but at the same time he was in control and focused on what he was
doing."
Bartholomew
said that Thomas caught on faster than any player he knew and he had no problem
teaching him.
"He
retains everything very well. He does
not forget a single note."
"We
entered the competition as Potential Symphony and played Errol Garner's Misty
and Kitchener's, Rainorama in an up tempo jazz beat."
"The
very next year we formed Panazz Players and Thomas became one of our most
talented members."
Thomas,
an enthusiastic youngster said: "I have been playing since age four.
"My
father played for Potential and I used to stand on a stool and play his
pan. I watched and I learned, no one
taught me. It just came
naturally."
A
member of Panazz since 1993, Thomas has toured extensively, doing concerts in
England, Memphis, The St Lucia Jazz Festival, Seattle and Japan.
At
the International Percussion Festival in Japan in 1996, Panazz represented the
Caribbean. There were also groups from
France, Africa and Korea.