Ghanaian Shadrack “Shaddy” Oppong Dominates Stage At The 20th Panama Jazz Festival!

Ghana’s Shadrack “Shaddy” Oppong has been reaching new heights since he was one of just four drummers accepted into the elite Master’s program known as the “Berklee Global Jazz Institute” at Berklee College of Music for the 2022–2023 academic year!

The world-famous Panama Jazz Festival, which was held from January 16 to 21, 2023, at the Ciudad del Saber as its educational site and the Wyndham Panama Albrook Mall Hotel & Convention Center, provided the newest update on the experiences the mysterious Ghanaian power-drummer has already amassed.

Over the course of 20 years since its founding in September 2003 by pianist and Grammy Award winner Danilo Pérez, the Panama Jazz Festival has seen the skill of top performers perform for more than 60,000 music fans.

Shaddy, who took part as the Berklee Global Jazz Ambassadors’ official drummer, performed on stages alongside legendary jazz musicians such as Cuban pianist Chucho Valdes, singer Catherine Russell (the daughter of jazz pioneer and Panamanian native Luis Russell), the band Children of the Light, which included bassist John Patitucci, drummer Brian Blade, and pianist Danilo Perez, and Latin pop star singer-songwriter Erika Ender, a master of the drum set.

Proyecto Acustico from El Salvador and notable national acts including the Luis Russell Collective, Hijas del Jazz Big Band, Anthony Morris Kuna Jazz Quintet, Panamanian folk hero Celsito Quintero, and Idania performed as well.

Additionally, the American Embassy in Panama invited renowned jazz performers Farayi Malek, Nadia Washington, and Chase Morrin as part of the initiative Arts Envoy.

The big gala night held on Wednesday, January 18, 2023, at the Anayansi Theater in the Atlapa Convention Center was the pinnacle of a week of educational music.

On January 19 and 20, a fantastic live jazz performance was staged in the same theater.

During the festival’s week, the Wyndham Hotel hosted small-scale performances every afternoon, and the Ateneo Theater in the City of Knowledge held night concerts on Monday and Tuesday.

The City of Knowledge, where the Panama Jazz Festival’s signature educational events were held, was home to illustrious organizations like the Berklee College of Music and the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, where Shaddy performed admirably while imparting the knowledge and experiences he had gained over the years as a drummer to students and audience members.

Among others, it served as a home for the New England Conservatory and the New York Jazz Academy.

The Festival commemorated the 11th Latin American Music Therapy Symposium, which brought together music therapists from a number of nations, including Panama, Chile, the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic.

The festival also featured other significant symposiums, such as the 2nd Symposium of Native Peoples, the 7th Symposium of Afro-Panamanians’ Culture and Music, and the first Symposium of Panama and the Caribbean in Jazz History.

This just serves as a testament to the unmatched honors awaiting the young man who took a leap of faith to walk on water from Obuasi to Boston with nothing more than his tremendous talent, perseverance, and dream!

Watch his outstanding performance below:

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