Eastern Cape, South Africa –
Three years ago six ladies in South Africa put together
an
all-female steelband group with the name Panacea, chosen for
its meaning, ‘a remedy for all problems.’ As band
manager/ director Beverley Scott appropriately puts it:
“…surely steel pan music will cure just about any problem. It just makes everyone feel so good!” Scott is also the
band’s triple cellist. Gail Cohen, Nicole Potgieter
and Gisela
Brauer make up the band’s frontline on tenors, Anne Smith is
featured on double seconds, with Karin Shaw anchoring the
band on bass. Panacea practices out of Scott’s music studio
in Port Elizabeth.
Tuning duties for the band fall to Anthony Caplan and David
Parkin, with most arranging duties handled by the
industrious Beverly Scott. Additionally, sometimes
arrangements are obtained from USA-based Brad Shores.
Panacea lives in and performs around their home base of Port
Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Their
repertoire features an assortment of Calypso, Salsa, Rhumba
and Tango. “We are all passionate about steel pans and for
that reason we have only steel pans in our band. We do not
want the extra sounds of snare drums, guitars or anything
other than the pans in our band. We are quite happy to
declare ourselves purists.”
That outlook certainly seems to work for this professional
steel sextet; it definitely does for their audience. A few
months ago the band played at a function for elderly people. A member of the audience went up to Scott after the
performance and said: “‘My dearie, I am 89 years old, and in
all my 89 years I have never heard music as wonderful as
this. What are these things [steelpan instruments]?’”
Beverly Scott went on to succinctly illustrate that audience
member’s appreciation as follows: “As you say: “When Steel
Talks, everybody listens!”
Contact Panacea at: 082 654 1338;
panaceamusic@mweb.co.za |