Barbadian sax lion, Arturo Tappin, has been invited back to Dominica, no doubt because of the hit charity show he put on there two years ago and the resounding reputation he has garnered over several decades.
Tappin will once again give of his time this Saturday, August 18 in support of Children’s Heart Fund of the Commonwealth of Dominica. Also travelling to Dominica for the event is St. Lucian guitarist Ronald “Boo” Hinkson who will make an appearance as a guest artist at the show.
The CHF-organised fundraiser, captioned All That Jazz is also slated to pool the collective talent of the most prominent Jazz tribes in Dominica at the bedrock Old Mill Cultural Center, situated at the southern entrance of Canefield, three miles north-west of the capital Roseau. These are saxophonist Quanti Bomani & Friends (Quanti seemed to have gotten stuck in the Nature Isle); Armstrong James & Jazzwalk Quartette, once the leader’s house band at the now defunct Jazz Walk club and the young upstarts, Breve, a promising group buoyed by the Finnish saxophonist, Yussi Paavola, now resident in Dominica to learn to play the indigenous music of the island.
ALL THAT JAZZ with Arturo Tappin with special guest Boo Hinkson, Quanti & Friends, Breve, Armstrong James & Jazzwalk Quartette +
Old Mill Cultural Centre DOMINICA
8.00pm, Saturday 18th August 2012
Tickets $50 and VIP $100 are available at…
Fadelle’s on Kennedy Avenue, Dr. Rhonda McIntyre’s office at Harlsbro , Kai K Boutique and Heart fund directors
One sports commentator, an anchor at iMc (International Media Company), the official broadcast carriers of the Olympics to the Caribbean islands, shared the sentiment the other night that one would have had to be hiding under a rock not to be aware of the feats by our Caribbean athletes. Not so well publicised and for good reason – the Olympics are sucking all the oxygen from the air – are the cultural events being put on by some Caribbean countries and entities.
One particular show did, however, catch our attention here at the Woodshed: Caribbean Soul Fusion at Grosvenor House in London. Caribbean Soul Fusion is sponsored by the Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) as part of its London Engage Initiative that will, on Thursday, August 09, bring together a number of Caribbean artists representing a broad range of indigenous Caribbean styles, namely Reggae, Soca, Zouk and Kompa, folk, Afro-Haitian…and Caribbean Jazz.
The artists chosen to perform, according to the organisers, are a mix of six emerging and two headline acts, Jamaican Reggae singer/songwriter Christopher Martin…and Jazz and Reggae saxophonist Arturo Tappin of Barbados. Supporting Martin and Tappin are multi-talented petite from Dominica, Michele Henderson who straddles everything from Jazz to Zouk to Cadence to Rhythm and Blues; BelO of Haiti; Hezron Clarke from Jamaica; St. Lucia’s Claudia Edward; Mr. Dale, Barbados; and Xiomara Fortuna out of the Dominican Republic.
Grabbing a quote from our main source, Caribbean 360, Pamela Coke Hamilton, Executive Director, Caribbean Export put it this way: “One of the best identifiers of the Caribbean Brand and its uniqueness is our music. Its ability to have global appeal is unquestionable. What we are seeking to do with Caribbean Soul Fusion is to showcase that authentic Caribbean culture and widen the market appeal for our regional music. As such, the artistes that will be performing will represent the diverse nature of musical genres across the Caribbean. Not only will the entertainment industry benefit from the increased demand for the products on offer, but also performers will have the opportunity to display the export potential of their craft and its appeal to an international audience.”
Original post, February 08, 2012
Update 2, May 02, 2012
On Thursday, January 26 2012, the twentieth edition of St. Lucia Jazz was launched live on radio and television – for the first time. Stakeholders of the festival gathered ‘in-studio’ at the Sandals Grande St. Lucian Spa and Beach Resort on the Pigeon Island Causeway to await the much-anticipated announcement of the line up for the purportedly pared down event.
As background, St. Lucia Jazz actually started in 1991 as theSt. Lucia Jazz Festival, as it was called then. It was – and still is – a marketing ploy to boost tourism in the off-season.
In the ensuing 20 years of its existence, St. Lucia Jazz has become a world-class event that has featured the biggest and heaviest names in Jazz, Cadence, zouk, reggae, pop, R&B and everything in between. Name them and they have been to (Anita Baker, Boys II Men, Kenny G, Rihanna, Santana) and performed at (Boo Hinkson, Luther Francois, Shane Ross, Teddyson John) St. Lucia Jazz.
Speaking at the launch, St. Lucia’s Director of Tourism, Louis Lewis stated that the country has “…every reason to be proud… It has not been an easy road. We have many challenges.”
Referring to the idea of carrying the launch live, the Director of Tourism rationalised that the goal was to “…reach out to people who cannot participate in the Jazz Festival.”
As for the festival, Director Lewis revealed that St. Lucia Jazz has now opted for a wider embrace of the so-called fringe events – he prefers to call them “community events” – by bringing together the ancillary community organisations that have produced those ‘outfests’ at venues in Castries, the East, South and elsewhere on the island under one banner, one festival, St. Lucia Jazz.
This fresh approach comes with some well-needed changes to the format, the point being that St. Lucia Jazz is no longer living up to the original objectives. To address this issue, a different track is proposed, one that focusses on a tighter festival. The result is a reduction in the number of acts to address the problem of the increasing length of the festival days. With shows ending as late as 10:00 pm at the Main Stage on Pigeon Island for instance, it is felt that the character of the national park has been so stultified as to eliminate the lure of a picnic and the child and elderly-friendly atmosphere it fosters.
Regarding the so-called Community Events like Jazz on the Square, it was noted that they have steadily outlived their usefulness. Singling out the Derek Walcott Square (Jazz on the Square), complaints abound that it is hot, parking is limited and the businesses in the area have not embraced it. Apparently, the surrounding business houses are harping on the noise and the perceived disruptions to their mercantile activities. So…the action has been moved to Pointe Seraphine just outside central Castries.
The St. Lucia Jazz producers claim to recognise that the Jazz Festival is not living up to the original objectives, hence the formation of a core group of people who were tasked with the responsibility of doing some brainstorming. They have concluded that the Jazz Festival is not living up to the original objectives and that the focus should be on tightening it up. Therefore, the decision was made to reduce the number of acts in part because the increasing length of the festival days has stultified the event.
As an added incentive for patrons interested in attending the weekend of concerts at Pigeon Island National Park and to cater to the high demand for an “up scale” VIP corporate experience that gives patrons a premium view of the stage, a Gold Pass is being reintroduced.
Looking further forward into the future, St. Lucia Jazz believes some bold steps need to be taken if for no other reason but to reinvigorate the festival and transit this marquee event to something that is more truly St. Lucian.
The expectation is that they will continue to enjoy the logistical support of the sponsors, particularly Platinum Sponsor, Digicel, which has just renewed its association with St. Lucia Jazz for a second three-year term. Digicel’s Country Manager for the Eastern Caribbean, Geraldine Pitt, told the launch party that Digicel is “excited to put on a show as never before” this year, stressing that their sponsorship is gratitude for the support of the St. Lucian people to the company. That relationship, she noted, strengthens the company’s resolve “to provide an avenue to market the event throughout the Caribbean… This is the commitment of Digicel!”
The launch was impressively choreographed and MC’d in spirited fashion. However, if I am afforded one pet peeve, it would have to be the appearance of Mervin Wilkinson and 1090 who was a waste of time, playing pop and reggae at the launch of a Jazz Festival. The chatterboxes on Scruffy TV agree.
April 28: Coconut Bay Resort & Spa: Sisterhood (Barbara Cadet), Loula Trio featuring Ricardo Francois |April 29: Black Antz Jazz Combo, Rupert Lay Quartet, Etienne Charles
Tuesday May 01: Rudy John Beach Park – Cameron Pierre (Dominica/UK) featuring Fred Nicholas (Dominica) Ricardo Francois, Emerson Nurse (both St. Lucia); Miki Telephe (Martinique); Alibi (St. Lucia) featuring Richard Payne, Teddyson John and Francis John; Loula Trio featuring Ricardo Francois; Laborie Steel Pan Project (St. Lucia)
Thursday, May 03: Saint Lucia School of Music, Castries, 4pm – 7pm – Master class with Cameron Pierre, UK-based Dominican guitarist, a stalwart of the British jazz scene since the 1980s, who recently released his fourth CD, ‘Radio Jumbo’.
Friday, May 04: Independence Square, Vieux Fort – Mushy Widmaier (Haiti); Alchimik’s (Guadeloupe) Cancelled; Sisterhood (St. Lucia)
Sunday, May 06: Coconut Bay Resort & Spa, Gil Tony’k (Martinique) featuring Tony Chasseur and Gilles Voyer; Sakésho with Andy Narell (US), Mario Canonge (Martinique), Michel Alibo (Guadeloupe) and Gregory Louis; Rupert Lay Qtet (St. Lucia); Black Antz Jazz Combo (St. Lucia)
Wednesday, May 09: Gaiety on Rodney Bay – Ronald “Boo” Hinkson
Thursday, May 10: Gaiety – Luther Francois followed by Mario Canonge
Friday, May 11: Main Stage, Pigeon Island National Landmark – Derek Yarde Project ‘DYP” – En Kweyol
Saturday, May 12: Pigeon Island National Landmark – Alison Marquis Nonet featuring Andy Narell
Sunday, May 13: all-star cast of Richard Payne (St. Lucia), Joel Widmaier and Jean Caze (Haiti), Sonny Troupe (Guadeloupe) and of the The Wespe Pour Ayiti Project; Hugh Masekela
Jazz on the Grill: (Fire Grill and Lounge Bar, Rodney Bay, May 07-09, May 11, May 14)
Monday, May 07: St. Lucia School of Music
Tuesday, May 08: Rob Zii & The Vibe Tribe
Wednesday, May 09: Carl Gustave & BMF Band
Friday, May 11: Luther Francois, Emerson Nurse Band
Monday, May 14: The Encore (Jam Session)
JAZZY RHYTHMZ: (JQ Rodney Bay Mall, May 07-11, May 14)
Michele Henderson with Ming and Friends, Act 4 – The Grand Finale
Michele: vocals, flute
Michael Low Chew Tung (Ming): keys
Richard Joseph: drums
Modupe Folasade Onilu: percussion
Kevon La Fleur: bass
Dean Williams: guitar
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
DOMINICA
The saying goes, “You never know what you’re gonna get till you get it.” Actually, that’s no saying; I am just saying … whatever I want. But it’s true, isn’t it?
Look at it this way: You love Jazz. There is something going on at Farm Road, St. Joseph, Trinidad called Jazz Artists on the Greens. It is your understanding that some female artist from the Commonwealth of Dominica called Michele Henderson is headlining. That name sounds familiar, you think, but that doesn’t matter. At least, you have somewhere to go on Saturday, March 24, 2012.
You get to The Greens on time. The booths form an arc and inside of it, white chairs are lined up in rows and columns. The J-Fans, die-hard and casual alike, are streaming in. The atmosphere seems good.
You are a bit distracted; there are old friends to get reacquainted to and new alliances to forge. There is a stir on stage. Thanks to the artistry of opening acts, Carlton “Zanda” Alexander & The Coalpot Band, Llettesha Sylvester and Clifford Charles Quintet, the show is chugging along quite nicely, building up to the headliner.
Michele Henderson at JAOTG (courtesy Production One Ltd.)
Then Michele Henderson walks on and Ming and Friends strike up with “Agua de Beber” (Antonio Carlos Jobim). Richard Joseph fleshes out the bossa nova beat and the atmosphere changes for you. Didn’t it? The Greens become electrically charged … up. And all those of you who might have been absent-minded for some reason over the previous three hours, sit up (at first) and take notice for the Lady in Red is dancing … with you. Fatal attraction! Smitten!! Mind-blowing!!!
Not letting up on the tempo, Michele re-acquaints us with the well-worn but evergreen Errol Garner classic “Misty” in intoxicating fashion, her pipes flowing notes with fluidity, power and passion.
That’s the word, “Passion!” For it is passion that connects the artist to the essence of a song … and her audience … our soul. Michele has this attribute, Passion, in abundance here.
This characteristic feature becomes more evident on her next delivery, the sappy Rogers and Hammerstein pop songturned Jazz standard that becomes so because of the improvisational and harmonic possibilities it lends itself to. Michele calls on lead guitarist Dean Williams to act as a foil to her immeasurable vocalizations.
One could be excused for hazarding a guess that Ming and Friends is Michele’s longtime backup outfit. They are not of course. However, in witnessing how confident and seamless the players are matching wits with her, one wouldn’t know it. By the end of the command performance, the band will have kept pace with their leader, locking horns with her no matter what she threw at them – Classic Jazz, Latin, Bossa, Zouk, Pop and Reggae.
This brings me to the dawning realization that Bob Marley is after all a staple on the Jazz circuit, eliciting all sorts of interpretations. For the most part, a Marley is played straight, a solo or two passing for Jazz interpretation, which in some instances is hardly credible and boring.
On the night of March 24, Ming and Friends added themselves to the short list that is balking that trend, the easy way out. On “Waiting in Vain,” Richie’s drums and Kevon La Fleur’s bass handle the one drop rhythmic formula, leaving it to Ming on keys and Dean to inject stylistic Jazz sensibilities that set Michele’s cover apart from the rest.
Michele with Ming and Friends at JAOTG (courtesy Production One Ltd.)
I argued in this series of JAOTG reviews that a critical hallmark of a musician is a repertoire that does not exceed her limitations. Michele does not have to worry about that. She can pull a rabbit out of a hat and turn it into vocal gold.
For the purpose of this critique, I have to say that it is one thing for a Caribbean singer rooted in a French Antillean culture to deliver a Martinican call to arms in “Fo Daw Leve,” and a Groovy-Zouk original called “Pani Pawol.” It is an entirely different kettle of fish to pull off Chic Corea’s, “500 Miles,” “Armando’s Rhumba” and especially “Spain” (Concerto de Aranguez).
“Spain,” a staccato adaptation by Corea of the Joaquin Rodrigo adagio for an Al Jarreau collaboration must not, under any circumstances, be attempted at home without professional or parental supervision. Yet, Michele nails it to the door frame and pins it down like a WWF wrestler – the epitome of true and unfettered talent.
Michele does not, however, hug all the glory for herself. She lets Richie and percussionist Modupe Onilu in on the action via “500 miles,” letting them trade for a bit and then giving Modupe room to squeak the inside of his bongo drum while straddling his signature congas to reach the mic.
Modupe squeaks (courtesy Production One)
With all this drama taking place on The Greens, riveting and transfixing “all and sun-dry,” as one notable politician once put it, the best was still one song away. I speak of Stevie Wonder’s “Do I Do.” Michele had the folks on The Greens abandon their chairs and charge to the front of the stage to occupy an area that remained largely unoccupied throughout the previous four hours of the show.
Pumped up by this reaction, the band took its game up another notch, unbelievably so. Zen Master Ming got off his haunches, a wide grin on his face. Priceless! Dean, surged forward, leaned back and threatened to shred his six-string axe as Michele hovered over him, demanding more.
Then it was all over, though not quite. Michele had earned a standing ovation – although it could be said that everyone was already on their feet. “The Diva,” quoting a member of my party, graciously offered a reprise to end the pandemonium on Farm Road.
Surprisingly, no one saw it fit to call the Fire Brigade. Maybe Production One Ltd. would be wise to have a tender on standby if ever Michele’scraftlands on The Greens again.
Most Memorable Moment in technicolour (courtesy Production One Ltd.)
Legendary Caribbean-Jazz pianist Raf Robertson wraps it up best. “This is the first time that I have experienced Michele and what an experience! And she plays the flute. This girl serious.” Do I Do, Raf…Do I Do.
The JazZ BuddZ initiative, Production One Limited’s signal of decade number two in the business of mounting Jazz Artists on the Greens (JAOTG), will be a yearly music education programme for the benefit of Trinidad and Tobago’s at-risk youth. “We are focused on giving thanks and giving back as we strive to cultivate a new generation of Caribbean musicians. We are passionate about this venture that aims to bring a rewarding experience to the lives of young people who may not otherwise be afforded such opportunity.” So said Production One Chairman, Anton Doyle in a company press release dated February 28, 2012.
The JazZ BuddZ programme is aimed at coalescing the efforts of the community, its Classical and Jazz musicians and Production One to provide ten music scholarships to under privileged youth from rural Trinidad and Tobago who will benefit from attendance at workshops in voice, steelpan, drums and percussion, piano, wind and string instruments as well as music appreciation.
The programme was launched officially on Friday, March 23 in the lobby of the Little Carib Theater. Present at the function was a small gathering of dignitaries and academics and aficionados mingling with yours truly and the principals of Production One Ltd.
Kicking off the proceedings half an hour after seven was Secretary of Production One, Maria Wellington. In her presentation – “short and sweet” as she was referred to, figuratively – Maria touted JazZ BuddZ as a “an exemplary beacon” of Production One. Walters, Programme Leader of the BFA Music Area of the University of Trinidad and Tobago’s Academy of the Performing Arts, added that JazZ BuddZ was conceptualized, not as a tool of music theory and practice for young musicians – I guess there are ample avenues and houses of learning already in place – but as a means for the young musicians to learn self confidence and social skills while excelling in academics.
That said, Derron Ellies, was ushered to stage front. Ellies, now engaged full-time in the promotion of the PHI, otherwise known as the Percussive Harmonic Instrument, across Trinidad and Tobago, had the unenviable task of demonstrating the dynamics of this ground-breaking instrument that will undoubtedly take more of a position of prominence in steel orchestras in the twin-island republic to begin with and the world over in time.
Derron’s ten-minute clinic with accompanying soundtracks covered Ralph McDonald (Just The Two Of Us) and John Legend (Save Room), using harp and traditional pan settings – a sampling of the extension range of the PHI.
BuzZed by Ellies’ wonderful performance, the guests, including Michele Henderson, Goodwill Ambassador of the Commonwealth of Dominica and headliner of Jazz Artists on the Greens, mingled around the Carib Theatre lobby briefly before dispersing for the night, all pumped and ready for an evening of Caribbean Jazz and other improvisations at Farm Road, St. Joseph on Saturday, March 24.
Percussive Harmonic Instrument
The PHI is a MIDI-based electronic pan that can virtually access synthesized tones of any number of other instruments and a full range of effects in addition to allowing the practitioner to customize own sounds.
There is nothing like listening to the PHI played live – the warmth of the instrument was lost on me on YouTube. The ring of the traditional steel drum is actually dampened by the electronic impulses conveyed by silicone pads housed in a fiberglass dome, soon to upgraded to plastic within the next eighteen months to two years.
Talking to Marcel Byron, one of the innovators of the instrument under the leadership of Dr. Brian Copeland, I discovered that the PHI is not quite ready for prime time hence the all-out marketing campaign now being undertaken within Trinidad and Tobago.
Egged on to tell me more, Byron eagerly pointed out that the PHI, at a couple thousand bucks a piece, (US$2,250 is the unit cost quoted at the Panadigm Innovations Ltd. online store) has the potential to reproduce the sound of a large steel orchestra – without the numbers – never mind the multi-functionality of the instrument.
Travelling by air from the northernmost end of the English-speaking Caribbean to the southernmost tip, as it were, can be a logistical and frustrating nightmare, what with the seemingly endless stops on this island and that. This sort of journey is made more hazardous to good health and well-being by LIAT, the Caribbean’s commuter in the skies, which has done away with the mouse-bits of nutrition one used to enjoy in that bygone era when island-hopping was heaven to a pleasure-seeker.
I have been told that LIAT has earned a sound reputation for not taking you to your destination on time.
So when this Jazz fan willingly endured seven hours of flying – on and off of course – on Thursday, March 22 and was not given time to refuel while in transit at V.C. Bird International, Antigua and Grantley Adams in Barbados because LIAT was turning around its stops on the button, the prospects for Jazz Artists on the Greens in Trinidad began to look good; the stars had aligned themselves in perfect harmony.
The outlook for JAOTG, Production One Limited’s flagship event, became brighter still when on Friday, March 23, the scheduled four-hour rehearsal for headliner Michele Henderson (Dominica’s Cultural Ambassador) with her Trinidadian backup band Élan Parlé started and ended bang on time. What kind of miracle is this?” I thought.
Wait, let me not forget driver Massey Williams who showed up atThe Cascadia Hotel and Conference Centre frighteningly early to take me to “Ming” Low Chew Tung’s studios out there in Diego Martin and again on the morning (03:30 am) of Sunday, March 25 headed for Piarco and the commute back to the British Virgin Islands.
There is also something to be said about the creative process that evolves during remote practice sessions – the singer one way, in her home country, while the back up band works on the charts over in Trinidad. Moreover, it is a wonder to witness the two parties come together in person and weld their repertoire in the same musical space, as Michele & EP did on that Friday afternoon, with such precision and apparent ease. Again, perfect timing?
It is a rare treat as well on being permitted free rein to meet the musicians and other fans on the grounds of the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) on Farm Road, St. Joseph Trinidad, during the Saturday sound check. A most welcome challenge it was trying to identify the Trinidadian artists hanging around on the Greens going by their Facebook profile pictures, You Tube videos and such. I felt no shame or embarrassment though for erring when distinguishing Dougie Redon fror Russell Durity; or for failing to recognize Richard Bailey; or for repeatedly introducing myself as the Jazz blogger from the Woodshed; or for the few clueless people who did not readily make the connection, leaving me speechless. Thus, within the first forty-eight hours, I pressed the flesh repeatedly with Jazz Artists whom I was previously acquainted with only in the Cloud.
Finally, the clock struck 05:05 on Saturday, March 24. The Greens were still partially full, but the music struck up anyway. Jazz Artists on the Greens was under way. Precisely five hours later, Carlton “Zanda’ Alexander& The Coalpot Band, Llettesha Sylvester, Clifford Charles Quintet, Michele Hendersonwith Ming and Friends and Annise Hadeedwith Richard Bailey, Theron Shaw & Douglas Redon finished their musical workout. The Jazz picnickers folded up, packed up and turned away, some for the tenth time with no illusion, I am sure, about returning next year.
If there were organizational challenges, one could not readily tell for the event ran like clockwork from start to finish. That was stage production at its finest.
It was an honour to cover the 10th celebration of Jazz Artists on the Greens as presented by the Production One. Ltd. team of Anton and Rolf Doyle, Maria and Martin Wellington, Nigel Campbell et al – an experience never to be forgotten.
Dominican musicians, home-grown and foreign based, have for decades flocked into label studios in Barbados, Trinidad, the French Departments of Guadeloupe and Martinique, North America and the UK as well as home studios on island to produce everything from Cadence-lypso, Calypso, Country and Western, Bouyon, Dub Poetry, Folk (Chorale and Jing-ping), Pop, Reggae etc. Taken together, the artists have made the Nature Isle a fountain of musical innovation and transformed its shores into a musical capital of sorts.
But there is one style of music that Dominica is not known for…Jazz. All that changed in the latter half of 2011 with the release of Radio Jumbo, a guitar-led date by Dominican-born, UK-based guitarist Cameron Pierre. Maybe not coincidentally, this ground-breaking CD is a collaboration between Pierre and Martinican pianist Mario Canonge, Martinique having helped wean Dominica’s Cadence-lypso, create a much-needed gateway to the French market and launch its subsequent ingestion internationally.
CAMERON PIERRE
Radio Jumbo
featuring Mario Canonge
(Destin-e World Records 77754462011)
From the first spin of Radio Jumbo, it’s impossible (I say, impossible) to miss the conversational style that Cameron Pierre eschews on his axe. That said, take it from me, you do not want to be on the receiving end of a diatribe by the likes of “Ma Molly”. Don’t believe me? Take a listen to the transcription of said telling off by Pierre whose flurries of single notes and chords, configured into shifting patterns and time signatures, at once frenetic or otherwise stilted; and those supple runs up and down the fret board, never straying too far from the melodic hook which he deposits in the middle of his conversation.
Pay attention and you won’t miss Mario Canonge, egging on the leader by just doing the simple things right, that is not letting the intensity drop when Pierre clutches to change gears. Canonge adeptly fills in the brief spaces between Cameron’s phrases by slightly raising his volume, hinting to the soloist as it were, that he is ready to enter the fray…whenever.
Get into the zone and the strings will seep unobtrusively into your consciousness. Largely remaining flat under the rhythm – the violins, viola and cello bubble up here and there – adding harmonic fills that make you think this recording could not possibly succeed in their absence. This is important for it tells you that the string quartet is not on the date as window dressing.
Being aware of Pierre’s reverence for the music of Malavoi, Canonge’s alma mater by the way, it is to be noted that by suppressing the strings on “Radio Jumbo”, Pierre does well not to copy Malavoi’s typically predominant string arrangements.
The mark of a well-thought out record is in the style: is it discernible on Track 1 and manifest through Track 10? “Radio Jumbo” is constant throughout, due in large measure to the virtuosity of Cameron’s featured soloist in Canonge who throws his enormous arsenal of chops at the project.
The pianist can be heard essaying pop-like strums on “Big Foot”, rolling Blues figures on the title track and hints of avant-garde measures on both. With regard to the latter, the left hand is not used merely as a bearer of chords. But because the track, “Radio Jumbo”, is based on traditional Antillean dance, the integral element of which is always the drum, Canonge puts on his percussive hat here.
Canonge does not stop there though; he goes on to inject some Salsa sensibilities into this performance as is pretty much the norm in the French Caribbean where Latin is more prominent in the language of music when compared to the English-speaking countries like Dominica and St. Lucia where French patois is widely spoken.
This brings us to the concept behind this recording. As Pierre explains – and I do recall – “Radio Jumbo was a French (Martinique) radio station based in Dominica [that] flooded its listeners with heavily-syncopated beats, Konpa from Haiti, Mazouk and Beguine from Martinique, Kwoka Drums from Guadeloupe, Merenge from the Dominican Republic and Columbia, Afro Cuban from Cuba and Cadance Lypso from the Commonwealth of Dominica…” Cameron’s stated intention, therefore, was to draw from these formative influences in defining his CD. By the evidence on this outing, Canonge got it. So too does drummer Wesley Joseph.
Joseph under girds “Radio Jumbo” with the Beguine shuffle accented on the snare drums, the Quadrille tambou via “Traditional”, Kadans hi-hats sans the off-beat snare on “Solomon” and with the typical clave rim shots added on “Like I Remembered”, “If Only”, “Room 115” and “Another Star.”
“Traditional” and “Solomon”, taken together, are arguably Pierre’s way of paying homage to the core rhythms that shaped his musical identity early on in Dominica. His approach from song to song varies. In so doing, he avoids replication while adding something fresh to the tracks.
“Traditional” is for the most part a narrative of headline issues of Dominican life inhis youth. “Solomon“? Pierre stumps those of us who know the hook of this trad song by delaying the statement of the melody with a faux intro for a minute-and-a-quarter only to deviate from it just as quickly. However, it is the inventiveness of this piece that is really off the chain.
To balance out the album – and I might add, for good measure – Pierre throws in an all-out vocal by Michele Henderson, arguably the most outstanding Dominican female of the modern era, doing Stevie Wonder’s “Another Star” and a straight rendition of “Soul Eyes” [Mal Waldron], showing off the guitarist’s tender and contemplative side.
Don’t forget the strings, which are ever-represent, lingering appropriately under the mix – outside of providing strong harmonic counterpoint – with bassist Bailey and percussionist Gamble for company.
Credit must of necessity go to engineers Courtney Pine and Cameron Pierre for dulling Gamble’s cowbells and Courtney Pine’s keyboards (Track 4) to distinguish Pine’s playing from that of Canonge’s acoustic piano and capturing Cameron’s picking as he switches from a soft and mellow tone to sharp and edgy, from guitar to banjo.
While writing this review, I listened to Radio Jumbo for six hours straight, hoping to pick up on any nuances that might be lost in the excitement of the first few spins. You may not be so inclined, but beware, you will have a hard time hitting either pause or stop once you strike play. Go ahead…prove me wrong.
“I love Jazz music and its tradition for it offers me the unique opportunity of self-expression unmatched by any other art form,” says the Dominica-reared Pierre, who had only one day of rehearsal with the musicians prior to recording the live album. Radio Jumbo consists of ten tracks, two of which see vocal contributions, one each by Dominicans Michele Henderson and Dave Joseph.
Henderson, hugely popular in the French West Indies, masterfully covers Stevie Wonder’s “Another Star,” while Joseph gives a stirring narration on the track “Traditional.” Pierre debuts his banjo playing skills on “Traditional” as well as the title track “Radio Jumbo.” A staple of the Jing Ping bands he listened to as a child; Pierre says he always dreamt of incorporating the traditional African instrument into his music.
Recorded in just one day at London’s Holodeck Studios, and featuring renowned French pianist Mario Canonge, Cameron Pierre’s Radio Jumbo is a mix of French Antillean rhythms and influences fused against a backdrop of jazz interpretation.
The album was named after a radio station from his teenage days in Dominica called Radio Jumbo and reflects the Creole heritage of both Pierre and Canonge (who hails from Martinique). Sharing a love for sounds such as zouk, cadence, kompa, and beguine and influenced by bands such as Tabou Combo, Magnum Band, Malavoi (of which Canonge was a member) Grammacks, Exile One and others, working together was easy. Pierre, who first saw Canonge perform at a party in Paris in 1994, found his way to the Canonge’s band’s rehearsal the following day. It took 16 years, though, for the two to actually get together to record any music.
During the recording of Radio Jumbo, Canonge was instrumental in getting Pierre’s ideas across to the musicians (including a string quartet) who were not familiar with some of the French-influenced rhythms. Still, they all shared a Caribbean sensibility: drummer Wesley Joseph is of St. Lucian descent, and the bass player Michael Bailey and percussionist Donald Gamble have a common Jamaican heritage.
Pierre is hopeful that a European and Caribbean tour with Canonge can take place this year. In the meantime he plays the UK jazz circuit with his own Cameron Pierre Band, and tours with Courtney Pine, who produced the album with him.
Composer, producer, arranger, teacher, Cameron Pierre is a respected staple on the UK Jazz scene. Pierre taught himself to play the guitar at age sixteen and began his musical career in the reggae genre playing for artists such as Barrington Levy, Al Campbell, Dennis Brown and Wayne Marshall. He found his niche with jazz and cites George Benson, Charlie Christian, Wes Montgomery, Miles Davis and Charlie Parker as some of his greatest influences.
His music unabashedly reflects his rich Caribbean heritage.
To date he has released six albums: Friday Night (1997), Return To The Source (1999), The Other Side of Notting Hill (2002), Devotion (2003), Pad Up (2007) and now Radio Jumbo featuring Mario Canonge (2011).
Pierre has also worked with Pee Wee Ellis, Orphy Robinson, Alex Wilson, Jazz Jamaica, Dennis Rollins, Omar Puente, Junior Walker, Joe Cocker, and numerous others in the jazz genre.
In 1994 he formed ‘Creole’, a multi-cultural mélange of musicians from Africa, Haiti, Cuba and the Caribbean, enjoying wide critical acclaim for their performances at the Glastonbury and Womad Festivals. He is the first artist signed to saxophonist Courtney Pine’s Destin-E label and has toured Europe and the Caribbean with Pine. Pierre’s own The Cameron Pierre Band has performed at the London Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival in Holland, Brecon Jazz Festival in Wales.
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îlOJazz – carrefour des musiques créoles, édition 2011 is on again, for the third time. Centered in the municipalities of Pointe-à-Pitre and Abymes, Guadeloupe, FestivalîlOJazz is a well-rounded event that is not only about live music.
More broadly, this festival, which runs from December 12-18, 2011, is on a mission to “enhance Caribbean musical expressions and facilitate their dissemination locally and eventually internationally.” This goal is enhanced by the creation of the Caribbean Network for Kreyol Creative Industries that unites all territories sharing the common Creole language– Martinique, Guyane, Haiti, Guadeloupe, St. Lucia, France and for the first year, Dominica.
The network is Lamentin Jazz Project, Biguine Jazz Festival and CMAC, Martinique; Jazz Collective, Guyane; Jazz in the South (Len LEONCE), Saint Lucia; Festival International de Jazz de Port-au-Prince (Milena SANDLER & Joel WIDMAIER), Haiti; Jazz n’Créole (Daphne VIDAL & Colin PIPER), Dominica; Vibration Caribbean, Paris.
Starting on December 12, 2011, la Communauté d’agglomération Cap Excellence, with the sponsorship of university lecturer and musician Fred Deshayes and the unqualified endorsement of la Direction régionale des affaires culturelles de Guadeloupe, is meeting its stated goal of supporting the development of Jazz in the French Department by putting on a series of master classes, film screenings and conferences along with the usual menu of concerts dubbed3 scenes…3 Colors. In this vein, there is the Afro Caribbean Scene at le Centre culturel sonis, Caribbean Urban Jazz Scene on the campus of l’Université Antilles Guyane, and the International Sceneat la Place de la Victoire. Two more workshops were due to take place on Friday and Saturday of this week.
Also on that first day was a conference on Jazz Festivals that brought together cultural personalities, academics and social scientists to address matters pertaining to the market economy the festivals generate; their goals in terms of cultural development and impact on the public, including the development of amateur and professional performing artists, their status and social roles; the issue of Jazz in the festival setting; teaching methods of improvised music; the sharing of Live music and works; Creole and Jazz.
Workshop facilitators were Incognito, Shiela E, Erol Josué. Festival îlOJazz ends on Sunday, December 18 following three consecutive days of quality performances by homegrown acts, Jacques Schwarz-Bart and Bwakoré and their distinguished guests, Incognito.
Taking a cue from the festival website, it is clear that these workshops were a manifestation of the need for sober reflection on the state of culture in Guadeloupe and its future in the face of the phenomenon of globalisation.
Headlining Scène Afro Caribéenne were Jean-Christophe Maillard, Karim Ziad & Ifrikya featuring Linley Marthe on bass and Guadeloupean saxophonist Jacques Schwarz-Bart who brought his most recent project, JACQUES SCHWARZ-BART & JAZZ RACINE HAÏTI, to le Centre culturel sonis on December 16. Jazz Racine is Schwarz-Bart; Matew Hoenig (drums); Milan Milanovic (piano); Sam Parham Minaie (bass); Lee Tatum Greenblatt (trumpet); James Jean-Baptiste aka Tiga (percussion); Erol Josué (vocals).
l’Université Antilles Guyane is playing host to Scène Caribbean Urban Jazz on December 17 when Incognito, Claudel Atride with drummer Eric Danquin and Bwakoré are down to appear. Atride, a bass player, offers something new in the musical landscape of Guadeloupe with his mixture of Jazz & rap to produce an entrancing groove. Bwakoré (Claude Césaire – piano); Alwin Lowensky – saxophone); José Zébina – drums); José Marierose – basse); Max Télèphe – saxophone, flute and vocals), is a group of old friends who, in looking for a new way to play that leaves plenty of freedom for each musician, has taken the traditional rhythms of Martinique and mixed them with modern music and Jazz.
Festival îlOJazz – carrefour des musiques créoles, édition 2011 calls it judged on Sunday, December 18. Bringing down the curtains is vocalist Leeddyah Barlagne Project and Shiela E.
I overheard myself say emphatically, “That was great” after the very first listen to Barbara Bully-Thomas’ new CD release, Creole, Christmas and Jazz. Perched on my favourite couch several hundred feet above the Caribbean Sea, I thought I was on vacation in paradise somewhere…I thought it was “National Day” there…I thought, no, it must be Christmas time.
As I came around and the ambient sounds of the real world began coursing again through my unconscious mind – by then the CD had come to a stop in the carousel – I welcomed the sensation that I might have been to this wonderful place at those celebratory times of the year.
I could have been in a dream state or in a trance. Whatever it was, I seemed to recall hearing a folk ditty, “Selebwe Nwel,” inviting me to give thanks for everything because Christmas is nigh and the year is coming to a close. I distinctly heard the call to clean house, do the mandatory painting, then gather around to serve up the kindness, love and prayers along with the seasonal feasts.
There was also that sense of longing for a “Christmas Kiss” from you. It’s just one of those things, I guess, that the season is embodied by anticipation and hope, that you will return home for the holidays in a spirit of forgiveness. Carried on a lilting samba, prosecuted by Fred Nicholas’ bubbling bass lines and Rob “Zi” Taylor‘s emotionally charged soprano waves, “Christmas Kiss” exudes the pure joy of knowing that we can leave the past behind and write a new page into life.
Still not fully recovered from the trance, a story emerged of a reunion of the lovers taking a walk, hand in hand, on the Caribbean sand, resolving their issues. “Maybe ‘Cause It’s Christmas” was the song that kept being replayed in my head. Of course it was. I do recall Barbara swinging and scatting with the big band and St. Lucia’s Ronald “Boo” Hinkson taking the time off from the arranger’s chair to sing a couple of choruses on the guitar.
Love lost…love found, it was time to rejoice. “Gloria”– no more sullenness. This thirty-odd year old Alwin Bully composition in the hands of producer Cornell Phillip is smelted into Bouyon gold.
Originally done in the playwrights’ “Folk Nativity” easter musical (1977), Barbara’s arrangement of “Gloria,” as well as “Come to Dominica” and “Dou Dou Mwen” are reminders to some of the Bouyon practitioners of how the Jing ping sensibilities that inform the Bouyon is still relevant in spite of the harshness they have imposed on the style.
And what better place to celebrate Creole, Christmas and Jazz with Maxine, Tasha P and BARBARA BULLY-THOMAS than in Dominica. So go to Dominica. No, “Come to Dominica” “Dou Dou Mwen,”…the most beautiful island in the world.
Come and see what we have here Come to Dominica Come we’ll welcome you Come to Dominica Come and hear what we say here Come to Dominica Come and see what we do And you can do…you can do almost anything You can come for Creole Festival You can come to spend Christmas and all You can come to jump up for Carnival Just come to Dominica
Creole, Christmas and Jazz is, to this scribe, a portrayal of Barbara Bully-Thomas, the singer/songwriter. She sings and does it remarkably well on “Maybe ‘Cause It’s Christmas”. But apparently, she is comfortable letting Dominica’s Maxine Alleyne-Esprit and Tasha P (reigning Calypso Monarch of Dominica) vocalize her songs and Cornell Phillip and Boo Hinkson produce them for her. Honourable mention goes to the Sixth Form Sisserou Singers of Dominica who provided the chorus on “Selebwe Nwel.”
The other striking feature of this piece of work is its accessibility. Additionally, it is a document to be sustained beyond the first listen or radio play. There are tracks here for Christmas, lent, Independence and all occasions in between. The Francophone crowd will appreciate the beguine embodied in “Dou Dou Mwen.”
As I regain consciousness and my legs, I find that I thoroughly enjoyed being in that 20 minute trance, much too short by any measure. I am hoping, therefore, that Barbara will consider reissuing a full-length CD when the time is right for her.
…and I still hear myself exclaiming, “That was great.”
Ah go play it again. You can too.
Pick up your copy at Cartwheel and Choices in the Commonwealth of Dominica.
Creole, Christmas and Jazz with Maxine, Tasha P and BARBARA BULLY-THOMAS
Catching up on The Jazz in most Caribbean festivals nowadays can be quite the juggling act. Either it is buried somewhere in the middle of the roster or the bands are “disposed” of at the top of the schedule before the fans start showing up in earnest. To be fair, so to the modern and indigenous dance troupes and the “Dub Poets” at Creole in the Park, Commonwealth of Dominica in the week leading up to the World Creole Music Festival.
A tidbit of Jazz was slipped into the four-day event between midday and 05:00 pm on October 25, 2011. The lucky souls were Shades of Green, a Dominican band which has been part of the Jazz revival in the Nature Isle.
I got to the Botanic Gardens ahead of time not to miss the performance of this band, which I had only heard about but never seen live, braving the inclement weather and the muddy conditions resulting from days of torrential showers.
Fortunately, on this particular afternoon, the umbrellas could well have been left tied up or bagged as Shades, dressed all in black, broke through the murmur with a mind-awakening piece drenched, not in rain, but in Mazouk. Great! After all, it was Independence time and everyone was expected to eat creole, talk creole, dress up in madras, dance the quadrille and bélé, tell the unbelievably tall tales in the ‘kont‘ tradition, listen to and play recorded Jing ping music, Cadence-lypso and Bouyon music…and, yes, take in The Jazz spiced up with creole rhythms.
I am being carried away here…
Quanti Bomani
That opening song was all the creole Jazz Shades of Green would play. They quickly turned to what they are probably most comfortable doing, Smooth-Jazz. But theirs was less clichéd than expected mainly because of the addition of rock guitar and the straight-ahead tenor saxophone of fleeting guest, Yusufu Quanti Bomani, the Dominican Jazz troubadour visiting from the US.
Still in this edgy vein, Shades presented a curious composition called “Arise,” a composition with a funky back beat, bridged by Salsa and Latin sensibilities underneath a lead guitar reminiscent of Carlos Santana.
The band cooled down the pressure by bringing on the wonderful Tiffany to do my one-time radio theme song, “Smooth Operator” and “Route 66.”
To close, Shades of Green completely transformed “My Favorite Things” into a Jump-Blues romp setting the stage beautifully for the rest of the Creole in the Park acts to follow.
This month, there are a lot of exciting events happening. Here are a few:
Friday, October 14, 2011, I will be hosting a listening party at Urban Eats Music Café, 3311 Rhode Island Ave, Mt Rainier, MD. CDs will be on sale. Please come out and support. Let us keep music alive in Mt. Rainier.
To close out the month, I’m performing with the Kenny Rittenhouse Septet at Bohemian Caverns on Friday October 28 and Saturday October 29 at 8:30pm.
I’m looking forward to seeing you out and about around the DC area in October.
I am blessed to be a working musician. Give thanks…
I appreciate you supporting the debut CD ‘Freedom’s Children: The Celebration.’ If you have not had a chance to listen to the CD, please check it out today atCD Baby (also on itunes, Amazon and other online retailers).
The Jazz scene in Dominica is picking up again after being in the doldrums for years. Over the past twenty years, measured attempts were made to return the genre to the live stage with the occasional tour and a most valiant move at a Jazz club, which held on for a bit. Through it all, a small core of do-or-die musicians with a penchant for the art form, kept the faith against the odds and with little recompense.
Inspired by the World Creole Music Festival, a pre-festival event has received generous sponsorship from a major business house in Dominica to the benefit of the music industry in general and of course the fledgling Jazz fraternity on the island.
Then in the past couple of years, a number of indoor and open-air events took place in the Dominica capital, Roseau and at the Cabrits National Park situated to the northern-western end of the town of Portsmouth. Speaking of the Cabrits, the site of an old English garrison called Fort Shirley overlooking the magnificent Portsmouth harbour, it was host to Creole ‘n’ All That Jazz, featuring Trio Laviso out of the French isles, in May 2010.
Creole ‘n’ All That Jazz, a name borrowed by the producers, Discover Dominica Authority, was renamed Jazz ‘n’ Creole for the second edition on June 12, 2011.
Barbara Cadet at Jazz 'n' Creole 2011, Dominica (Credit: Celia Sorhaindo)
This time around, Dominica welcomed the legendary Martinique pianist Ronald Tulle along with double bassist Alex Bernard who backed up Dominica’s own Michele Henderson, St. Lucian saxophonist Barbara Cadet and Alfredo de la Fe from the United States. Opening for them were a pair of Dominican Jazz outfits, Pan and Sam and Shades of Green.
Michele Henderson at Jazz 'n' Creole 2011, Dominica (Credit: Celia Sorhaindo
USVI trombonist Reginald Cyntje has composed a collection of songs, “…from playful child-like melodies to compositions expressing adult awareness” that he believes are finally ready for release. Going by the working title, “Freedom’s Children – The Celebration,” this CD project is one Cyntje feels will clearly articulate his very own musical view of life, of culture, heritage and experience thereby uplifting the community he is indebted to.
Reginald Cyntje was born of the Commonwealth of Dominica but raised on St. Thomas, VI before making the big move to the US mainland. He has been vigorously charting a course as a bandleader in Maryland while simultaneously developing a musical movement with some of his compatriots under the banner of the 21st Century Band. Cyntje has also rubbed shoulders with great musicians like Amiri Baraka, Ron Blake, Dion Parson, Reuben Rogers, George Duke, Illinois Jacquet, Nicholas Payton, Larry Willis, Gary Thomas and Dr. Billy Taylor.
This journey has birthed a concept of music that Cyntje says is meant to “spread love, peace and social justice” embodied as it were in a fusion of Jazz and Caribbean traditions, configured with a combination of different instruments that will add a fresh sound to your ear.
To bring this concept to life, Cyntje has undertaken to fund the production of the CD through donations from the very community he feels compelled to say thank you to with his gift of song. That community is YOU.
Cyntje needs to raise about US$7 grand in the next two months to meet and cover the musicians fees, funds for the rehearsals and the design of the CD artwork, CD packaging and presentation.
There are several ways to give to Cyntje’s Kickstarter effort. Here they are:
For as little as $1, you can become a part of this ground-breaking movement, albeit at the ground level.
A pledge of $10 or more will earn you a digital download of the CD.
$20 plus and you can have the digital download in addition to a printed compilation of excerpts from Cyntje’s blog “The Thoughts of Reginald Cyntje.”
$50 or higher and an autographed CD, the download and the printed blog entries will be yours.
Donate $100 and up and gain 2 free passes to the CD Release Party in the Washington, DC metropolitan area and all of the above.
Want to listen to the band in rehearsal and get all of the above, then give $200 and over and you’re in together.
Should you wish to have your name listed in the liner notes of the CD as a project backer, $500 or above will do the trick.
And now, the big one. $1,000 to infinity and you will take all the bullet prizes and (AND) be able to sit in at a workshop led by Cyntje himself, and enjoy a private performance by select band members anywhere in the NY, NJ, PA, MD, VA and NC areas and the VIs.
Cyntje: This CD will paint a colorful musical landscape that will take you from drinking your favorite wine at an elegant jazz club to enjoying a refreshing daiquiri on a beautiful Caribbean beach.
Following the link here will point you to the donation page. This one here will point you to Cyntje’s rationale for the Kickstarter CD project. Oh, before you do, check this out…
If you are in St. Thomas, or will be there on March 18, you may want to take a run to the Jarvis House Museum on 7172 Dronningens Gade (Polyberg Hill) where Cyntje will do a Live Jazz concert to raise funds for the CD project.
Cyntje is not the only USVI boy who has written original material this millennium. Nor will he be singular in putting out new music on the market this year. Homeboy, Victor Provost has been at it just as hard, more so after losing his regular gig at DC’s JoJo Restaurant and Bar in 2010.
Provost, a pannist from St. John, United States Virgin Islands, will be in the studios any time now to record his debut CD. Supporting him in this venture are fellow VI musicians, Reuben Rogers (bass) and Ron Blake (saxophone).
When not doing his own thing, Provostmay be spotted holding down the chrome pans as part of the 21st Century Band. Another charter member of the band happens to be Reginald Cyntje.
When the calendar rolled over to January 26, 2011 in Bequia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the bold print at the top of it was the 8th Bequia Mount Gay Music Festival. Nestled in the midst of the Music Festival was another festival called the Mustique Blues Festival organised by Basil Charles and Dana Gillespie. Taken together, it was four days of ear candy held at various locations. (Now, name me another festival-in-a-festival, anywhere in the world!)
One could tell that the Bequia Music Festival was not billed as a star-studded event, if you know what I mean. The impression was that the double-festival was more about presenting the local and visiting crowds with honest-to-goodness entertainment in a holiday setting that is Bequia.
The welcome mat was laid out for a steelpan orchestra, Blues and Jazz ‘n’ Blues bands, a Rock, Hip-Hop and Pop band, a Jazz, Blues and Rock band and a String Band.
In came a London Blues Band, a Blues pianist, a trumpeter and a guitarist from the US, a piano and sax duo from out of Europe and singer Marie Claire (Giraud) from the Commonwealth of Dominica. Marie Claire participated in an impromptu Jam Session involving some twenty musicians at the Bequia Beach Hotel in Friendship on the Saturday afternoon.
Well represented on the stages of the double-festival were Vincentian bands, which was a refreshing outcome. The Vincies brought String band music to the festival, their very own Vincentian Blues Band with keyboardist Robert “Patches” Knights and Bequia Blues Band, singer and songwriter from Bequia, Amanda Gooding, and soloists on keyboards and guitar.
But it is to De Reef in Lower Bay on the second big night of the double-festival that we go for the Caribbean Clash. In one corner was the Caribbean’s saxiest man, virtuoso Barbadian saxophonist Arturo Tappin; and in the other was legendary Bajan Blues guitarist Toby Armstrong with panman David “Ziggy” Walcott.
“Arturo Tappin’s individuality and range of material transcended all the musical events I’ve seen in my life,” enthused Duane Arthur. “What he played in 90 minutes spanned about ten music generations. I was blown away!” Many more were lost for words just watching him play. (Source: begos.com)
Watch Toby Armstrong and David “Ziggy” Walcott – duelling guitar & Pan + guest vocalist Philip Scantlebury from Barbados
Some time ago, Iguane Xtet announced a new show for Vieux-Fort on May 04, 2010 at Coconut Bay Resort & Spa as part of the Jazz in the South outfest of St Lucia Jazz. Jazz in the South opened on Sunday, May 02 with a free concert at the Rudy John Beach Park, Laborie with the Wendell Richards Quartet(Mahurney Augier (keyboards), Ron Louis (bass) and drummer Herman Hercules) and Tropix (Michael Seraphine and Shanon Pinel on vocals, Ezra Joseph on bass and keyboardist Shomari Maxwell) of St. Lucia, Dobet Gnahoré, Ivory Coast and Martiniquan band, Bamboolaz.The paid concerts were from May 03 – 05 at Coconut Bay in Vieux Fort.
Jazz in the South has taken on a new image this year with a formula spanning four days including a free beach concert (Sunday, May o2) in the village of Laborie followed by three concerts at the Coconut Bay Resort and Spa, Vieux Fort, May 3, 4 and 5. The Festival also offered master classes for musicians.
The formula may be new, but the emphasis is still the same, Caribbean Jazz but with a welcome foray into the land of the Metal Zouk of Bamboolaz, the headliners for the May 02 concert.
The program is dedicated to Haiti and the musicians of St. Lucia.
Jazz in the South, autonomous as it is from St. Lucia Jazz, is actually hosted some Haitian Jazz greats in the Mushy Widmaier Sextet – Widmaier is a founder of the group Zéklè and Thurgot Théodat, a saxophonist and composer who has performed elsewhere in the Caribbean, at the Festival de Jazz de Pointe à Pitre, two years ago.
The Mushy Widmaier Sextet had their play on Monday, May 03. Opening for Widmaier was the pianist Rhea Drakes Jazz Quartet while Théodat had his say on Wednesday, May 05 with the JATT All-Star Ensemble of Trinidad and Tobago.
Théodat busied himself with two Master Classes in Vieux Fort and Castries on May 03 and 04. The first, on May 03, was for music teachers in Vieux Fort; the second was at the School of Music in Castries with members of the school’s Jazz band. The theme of both these classes was the connection of Haitian Voodoo music to Modern Jazz. (gather.com)
The JATT is a quintet made up of the biggest names in Trinidad Jazz: pianist Clive Zanda, trumpeter Etienne Charles, bassist Douglas Redon and band director, drummer Sean Thomas.
In addition, Jazz in the South staged a collaboration called An tonèl, May 05, between St. Lucian poet, Kendel Hippolyte and the master of Ka, Roger Raspail. That collaboration was created for Festival Vibrations Caraibes 2008 and was recently reproduced at the L’Artchipel in Guadeloupe.
Four days earlier, on Saturday, May 01, Raspail conducted a two-hour Master Class for the benefit of professional and amateur musicians alike at the Blue Oasis in Vieux Fort. The class focussed on techniques and methods to Jazz and Afro-Caribbean (Cuban, Guadeloupe Gwoka and Reggae) drumming as well as the history and morphology of the drum. (gather.com)
The other invited guests for Jazz in the South was the guitarist Cameron Pierre Trio, a native of Dominica living in London and the St. Lucians Ricardo François and Emerson Nurse, the leaders of Kléwé (with percussionist Athanasius La Borde and Gene Leon on bass guitar).
St. Lucia Jazz Notes:Jazz in the South
Dominican guitarist Cameron Pierre met St. Lucian opposite number, Ronald Boo Hinkson at Coconut Bay Resort and Spa at “Jazz in the South” on May 03.
This Festival is organized by Labowi Promotions, the same cultural group which has organized the festival for the past twelve years.
Soufriere Creole Jazz took place at the Mini-Stadium in South St. Lucia on Friday, April 30. The Main act: Jeff Joseph and Grammacks of Dominica, for two nights. Also performing at Soufriere Jazz was Cuba’s Klimax, which according to the official Klimax website, is one of the “most sophisticated and original of timba bands…created by Giraldo Piloto.”
St. Lucia Tourism Minister Allen Chastanet told Helen FM 100 it was a “very, very good decision to bring Grammacks to Soufriere Creole Jazz.” He also promised to take the founding members of Soufriere Creole Jazz to Dominica to learn from World Creole Music Festival. For his part, Jeff Joseph of Grammacks said that “Playing Sulfur Springs is like magic…It was a nice show…It was a pleasure…Just tremendous…People really enjoyed it.”
Soufriere Creole Jazz continued on Saturday, May 01 and concluded on May 02.
St. Lucia Jazz Notes: Jazz on the Square, the Derek Walcott Square
The Main Jazz acts: Michael Boothman & Kaiso Fusion on May 03; the St Lucia School of Music Jazz Band, Macadam and Cuba’s Klimax on May 04; and Freewinds Band featuring Carmel and Dominican songstress, Michelle Henderson on May 05.
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The St Lucia School of Music Jazz Band gave Charlie Parker a confusing calypso/soca treatment, did a fair Tarrus Riley, some Big Band Swing, bass heavy Funk and salsa. The St. Lucia School of Music has in excess of 300 students with about 70 of them studying woodwind instruments. The School of Music has about 40 children from the Primary schools according to Ryan, the Coordinator of the Woodwind section.
Cuban salsa band Klimax was making its second appearance at St. Lucia Jazz in two years.
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St. Lucia Jazz Notes:Jazz on the Pier
The NDC (St. Lucia’s National Development Corporation) produced “Jazz on the Pier” at Duty Free Pointe Seraphine just outside Castries central on May 04. The Main Jazz acts: Red Clay featuring vocalist Kellie Cadogan of Barbados and Trinidad born, St. Lucia resident, Ovid Alexis Rhapsody Band.
“Jazz on the Pier” is dedicated, as it has been since 2004, to showcasing home-grown St. Lucian talent during St. Lucia Jazz. It was usually on the last Friday before the Main Stage events of St. Lucia Jazz. However, Tuesday, May 04, 2010 is the new date for the event.
The official launch of “Jazz on the Pier” was on Tuesday, April 20.
Referring once again to Iguane Xtet, we found them before St. Lucia Jazz at Habitation Birloton (April 17) and Coco Grill, Bouillante, Guadeloupe on April 30; and after the festival, Xtet will be at Green K’fé, Deschaies (May 08) and then at leMarboeuf, La Retraite, Baie-Mahault, Guadeloupe. (Source: artistdata)
Speaking of St. Lucia Jazz, the line-up has an expected fare of international and Caribbean heavy-hitters. In regards to the Caribbean contingent earmarked for this year’s 19th edition of the festival that runs from May 01-09, there is the Saint Lucia School of Music Jazz Band (Black Ants), a group of young and gifted music students whose repertoire consists of, among other styles, swing and bossa-nova; St. Lucia’s Monty Maxwell and guitarist Harvey Millar; and pannist Allison Marquis at the Gaiety on Rodney Bay, Thursday 06; Teddyson John of St. Lucia at Pigeon Island National Landmark, Friday 07; Cubans “Eliades Ochoa” and “Amadito Valdés”, stars from Buena Vista Social Club, guitar hero Ronald “Boo” Hinkson and friends featuring Tempest and Claudia Edward, May 08; and St. Lucian six string bluesman Carl Gustave on finale night, May 09, 2010. (Sources: caribbeannetnews, stluciajazz.org)
St. Lucia Jazz Notes: Fond D’Or Jazz, May 01
The theme for Fond D’Or Jazz is “A decade of music, a blend of cultures”
Main Acts for Fond D’Or Jazz: Shane Ross, Ronald ‘Boo’ Hinkson…
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Arturo Tappin…
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and the Kings of Cadence from Dominica, Midnight Groovers (slide to 05:20:00 for Groovers video).
One other name for Fond D’Or Jazz is that of Linda ‘Chocolate’ Berthier with a fusion of Jazz, Reggae and Dancehall, and gospel.
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St. Lucia Jazz Notes:Jazz on the Grill, the Fire Grill Restaurant, Rodney Bay, Gros Islet, May 02-06
Then there was “Jazz on the Grill,” Fire Grill Restaurant, Rodney Bay, with Rob Zi Taylor Sound of St Lucia Sax, May 6, 2010.
St. Lucia Jazz Notes:Jazz on the Edge, The Edge Restaurant, Rodney Bay Marina, Gros Islet, May 04-06
Rob Zi Taylor moved over to the The Edge Restaurant, Rodney Bay Marina for “Jazz on the Edge,” May 6, 6:15pm. (Fire Grill is at 08:00pm)
The Edge Restaurant welcomed St. Lucian saxophonist Barbara Cadet on May 4, 2010.
St. Lucia Jazz Notes: Carolie Jazz, May 07
Another Jazz event during St. Lucia Jazz was “Carolie Jazz.” Appearing at Carolie Jazz was be St. Lucian, John Polius’ Cosmic Rhythm and brothers Ricardo and Luther Francois with separate bands.
Cosmic Rhythm is a band started by St. Lucian, John Polius while in Italy. The unit comprises of three Italians and three Lucians and a Japanese. However, the Italians (or some of them anyway) cannot make it to St. Lucia for the festival and will be replaced by local Lucian artists.
St. Lucia Jazz Notes:Main Stage, Pigeon Island National Landmark, May 05-09
Monty Maxwell (Jazz/Blues guitar) teamed up with Harvey Millar (guitar) and Allison Marquis (pan) for an all St. Lucian band, Troisem (3M) on May 06 at the Gaiety on Rodney Bay.
“Millar’s musical style is highly percussive and rhythmic reflecting the combined influences of Bebop, Caribbean idioms…hip hop.” (St. Lucia Jazz website)
19-year old Stacey Charles of theTempest crew led by Ronald Boo Hinkson will be at St. Lucia Jazz. TEMPEST, featuring Stacey, Zionami, Cylva J and Alpha, will be hosted by Boo Hinkson for his first St. Lucia Jazz set, May 08. Then Boo goes solo, performing music from his forthcoming CD, on the second set.
The CD tentatively entitled “Shades” follows his ’95 solo debut of “Alive and Well,” “Beyond,” (’03) & “Urban Drift” (’06). It features Emerson Nurse on keyboards (St. Lucia), Arturo Tappin on Sax (Barbados), and vocals by Stacey Charles (SLU), Baltimore native Tracy Hamlin, Sean Paul (JA) and Teddyson John (SLU). The CD was expected to be released in the second week of May, before the end of St. Lucia Jazz 2010.
Charles is the one who did the St. Lucia Jazz theme “Come for the Jazz, Stay for the Cricket.”
Stacey Iman Charles has a new song on Boo Hinkson’s upcoming release. The track features Sean Paul.
Carl Gustave did some “high-energy” tracks from his CD’s “Too Hard” and “Searchin’ ” on the Main Stage at St. Lucia Jazz, Sun., May 09.
Once again LIME is stepping up to the plate and providing support to St Lucia Jazz.
For the 19th year in a row the company is providing sponsorship support to the premier entertainment event in St Lucia and the Caribbean.
LIME is sponsoring five of the St Lucia Jazz side events – Jazz on the Square, Tea Time Jazz, Jazz on the Pier, Jazz in the South and a brand new event created to add a new brand of entertainment to the St Lucia Jazz season, Caribbean Divas…
Woodshed Entertainment Collective 