The weekend of June 15-17, 2012 – a sampling of Caribbean Jazz from the Woodshed

This past weekend in Caribbean-Jazz – a sampling

Another one of those busy times for paternal Jazz fans all over is Fathers’ Day. The Woodshed abounds with listings planned for that day, June 17. However, the Father’s Day concert of the Jamaica Ocho Rios Jazz Festival and Abstract Entertainment’s 2012 production of PanJazz, “Music – The Original Social Media,” stood out from the heap.

As a prelude to the Jamaica Ocho Rios Jazz Fest’s Father’s Day concert, a Dinner Jazz session was held at Glenn’s Jazz Club, Tower Isle, St. Ann in addition to the Sonny Bradshaw School Band Competition and Jazz Treasures at the Two Seasons Guest House, Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth on the Saturday. Then on Sunday, June 16, Jamaican fathers celebrated the Closing Father’s Day concert in the Turtle River Pk., Ocho Rios.

More here…

This weekend, on Saturday, June 16, the eighth annual presentation of Abstract Entertainment’s Pan Jazz 2012′s production of Music – The Original Social Media took place at Frederick P. Rose Hall at Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th & Broadway, New York City.

For this show, vocalists Alison Hinds of Barbados and Thandiswa Mazwai were backed up by an All-Star band led by Trinidadian trumpeter Etienne Charles, whose participation in PanJazz was his seventh overall and his fourth as musical director. Notable band mates were Jacques Schwarz-Bart playing saxophone, Leon Foster Thomas and Victor Provost of St. John, USVI playing steelpans.

Returning, after an exciting collaboration last year, was the legendary South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela, St. Lucia’s famed guitarist Ronald “Boo” Hinskon and Suriname’s Etienne Stadwick. Appearing for the first time with PanJazz was the multi-faceted Martiniquan percussionist Mino Cinelo.

This year’s production was dedicated to Ralph MacDonald, Grammy award-winning percussionist, songwriter and producer.

Trinidad and Tobago had its Saturday night action too, mind you. Saxophonist Jesse Ryan fronted a band of Theron Shaw (guitar), David Richards (drums) and Rodney Alexander (bass) at the Fiesta Plaza, Movietowne.

The ever-present Blackberry Bro, Nigel Campbell, lamented that Jesse’s original compositions like “Algun Dia” although fleshed out with “dissonance, swing, improvisation, rhythm and time changes, alternative chording,” had little impact because local audiences, save for a selected core of a few dozen fans, are not comfortable with new music and do not reflect that accepting energy to the artist.

Also on Saturday, June 16, Trombonist Reginald Cyntje of St. Thomas, USVI helped promote an appreciation for African-American history and culture at the fifth annual Juneteenth celebration at Watkins Regional Park in Maryland.

Juneteenth commemorates the abolition of slavery in the US.

On the lighter side, Smooth Jazz saxophonist Eric Darius, whose heritage is traceable to Haiti and Jamaica (the birthplace of his father and mother), flamed the Red Cat in Houston, Texas while Shirley Crabbe, a descendant of the British Virgin Islands did her thing at Old 76 House in Tappan, NY.

Related articles

• The weekend of June 08-10, 2012 – a sampling of Caribbean Jazz at the Woodshed (woodshedentertainment.wordpress.com)

WoodPick of the Day: Reginald Cyntje at Urban Eats Music Café, MD., October 14

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. Source: Reginald Cyntjie Facebook Profile Sunday October 23, 2011, I will be in concert with the energetic Blacknotes at Bohemian Caverns 2001 Eleventh St NW DC. Source: Cyntjie’s Facebook Profile 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 at CD Baby (also on itunes, Amazon and other online retailers). Humbly, Reginald Cyntje Peace When  Friday, 14 October 2011 Where  Urban Eats Music Café, 3311 Rhode Island Ave, Mt Rainier, MD. (Open larger map and click on green down arrow) Going? Yes – Maybe – No more options »

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“Freedom’s Children: The Celebration” by Reginald Cyntje – a preview

USVI

“Freedom’s Children: The Celebration” by Reginald Cyntje is out. The CD, long-awaited as it is, was released on August 23, 2011. Ten tracks long, this Lenny Robinson production features Amin Gumbs on drums, Herman Burney on bass, Warren Wolf on vibraphone and marimba, Victor Provost on steel pan, Christie Dashiell on vocals, Tosin Aribisala on percussion and vocals, James Richardson on percussion and Reginald Cyntje on trombone.

The trombonist spent his formative years on St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands before moving to mainland USA where he is now based and from where he delivers his debut recording ‘Kickstarted‘ online with donations strictly from his endearing fans.  

Having previewed the tracks several times at Cyntje’s beckoning, my hunch is that “Freedom’s Children” may, to the uninitiated, sound too uncomplicated for the idiom under which it is captioned.  But that would be to miss the thematic point being made on the recording, which is to my way of thinking, an appeal to the souls of our beings, the spirits of our imaginations, more so than ‘merely’ shifting sonic hairs.

And that is why an advanced marketing plan is an imperative.  For to sell a wholesome appreciation for this document by the trombonist, the new leader must, of necessity have us capture and understand what it is that motivated and informed each piece.  Indeed, embedded subliminally betwixt the notes, passages and progressions is a philosophy of life that promotes “commUNITY” and social empowerment across gender and age, constantly driving home the tenets of hope, aspiration, cultural integrity to the impressionable minds – the young at heart.

Herein lies the challenge that Cyntje faces in putting the CD to hand and ear.  I am the first to plead guilty for not knowing what kind of Jazz audience is out there, dollar in hand, ready to pick up Caribbean Jazz fare.  By that, I could not say I am confident I know what percentage of the market is made up of mind-listeners as opposed to ear-and-foot listeners who simply want tuneful melodies to dance to.

The question is, how many of us listen to Jazz like we watch dance, seeking to find meaning from musical gestures and arrangements, choreography and tone…feel?  How many of us would set aside an hour of our lives to digest an album and open up long enough to be moved by it, or not.

Cyntje’s job is to find that slither of an audience wherever it might be. So it is no coincidence that Cyntje and the 21st Century Band, of which he is a member, have returned to their Virgin Islands base often to reach out to the youth with their music.

That is where I have pinpointed the good news, which convinces me that Cyntje gets it.  

Follow him @cyntjemusic and @vimovement in parallel, to internalise the message behind the music.

To bring home the point, Cyntje would say something like:

“There are special moments in life when the unexplainable happens. On May 26, 2011, we experienced this phenomenon.  From the engineers and producer to the musicians, the entire cast used words like spirit, energy, vibe and special to describe the recording session. The spirit walked in the room and inspired the musicians with pure crystal light. (Reverbnation)

Sit back, relax and feel the time change as we experience a new day together.  And if you know someone you think should hear this music, link them up.

As you await your copy of “Freedom’s Children: The Celebration” to arrive in your post office box or your computer, continue listening to the Reverbnation playlist.  Link to it via the cover art image below.  While listening, read the liner notes as you go to appreciate the rationale and inspiration behind the ten compositions.  After all, When you listen to music, don’t you want to know the back story or just imagine whatever comes to mind?

Thank u for supporting the release of my (our) debut album.  Music…Message…Movement.”

Click to play…

Track listing:

1. Children’s Parade
2. Relaxing
3. Sankofa
4. Queen Mary
5. Sweet and Sour
6. Peace and Love
7. Daybreak
8. Freedom’s Children: The Celebration
9. Strollin’
10. Ancestors

(All songs composed by Reginald Cyntje except Queen Mary)

“Freedom’s Children: The Celebration” is available at Amazon, iTunes and CD Baby. Pick up a copy and tell a friend. Now, what do you think of the album and the concept behind the music?  Share your reviews, large or small, in Comments.  Cyntje would like to know how you feel.

“Freedom’s Children – The Celebration” by Reginald Cyntje is Funded!

USVI

“Freedom’s Children – The Celebration” is Funded!

“The project is funded!  Thank you to my family, friends and supporters.  This was a difficult process but I’m thankful for all your support.  Each one of you played a crucial role in bringing this dream to life. With online and offline contributions, “Freedom’s Children – The Celebration” will be recorded then distributed to the community with love and humility.” By Reginald Cyntje ¹ ²

Kickstart Reginald Cyntje’s debut CD, “Freedom’s Children – The Celebration” (updated with video pitch)

USVI

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, Provost may 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.

Victor Provost poised for a career shift

USVI

Trombonist Reginald 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).

While we wait, Provost goes about the business of promoting Pan Jazz and positioning himself for a major career shift as a band-leader.  His next best step is as the featured performer at the Fourth Annual Lincoln Park Steel Drum Festival on March 07, 2011.

It seems to me that Provost’s other mission at the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center on the 7th, where the Steel Drum Festival is being held, is to inspire young pannists of school age.  He trains the champion Positive Vibrations Youth Steel Orchestra (PVYSO) that copped a number of national steel drum awards under his tutelage.

Working with youth steel pan orchestras is nothing new to Provost.  He would recall being a member of and touring with Steel Unlimited II of the St. John School of the Arts.  Provost was born on the island of St. John, USVI.  It was there that he began formal studies of pan music when he was age 10.

When not doing his own thing, Provost may 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.

VI and other Caribbean Jazzmen star at Phillips Collection, DC Jazz Fest (updated with review of The Jelly Roll Morton Latin Tinge Project” at the Kennedy Center))

USVI

For the past 27 years, the Phillips Collection has always had a free showing of its works of art during Dupont-Kalorama Museum Walk Weekend in DC.  As of last year, the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival turned DC Jazz Festival was added as a new element, essentially to expose area families to the twin attractions of art and Jazz, in one place.

This very popular weekend-long event, in partnership with the Phillips Collection, celebrated the synergy between jazz and the visual arts.  Featured artists included the Berklee World Jazz Nonet, Reginald Cyntje and the DC Jazz Collaborative, Noble Jolley, Victor Provost and the Sousa Middle School Dance Ensemble and a slew of other international Jazz acts.

Sample photos of the event courtesy of Liz Medina Chiomenti here…

Enter the Victor Provost Quartet, the DC Jazz Collaborative featuring trombonist Reginald Cyntje and the Berklee World Jazz Nonet.  The idea behind the employment of these Jazz artists was to enliven and enhance the experience of visitors to the museum by providing them with pure Jazz entertainment on site, as was the case with the Jazz Nonet, and to have Provost and Cyntje essay improvisatory interpretations of the pieces of art on display.

The boys from the Virgin Islands got to figuratively mingle their sounds with the visual images of the Phillips Collection the first weekend of June.

At mid-month, June 17-20 to be exact, Provost and Cyntje were joined by percussionist Alioune Faye, bassist Reuben Rogers, piano/keyboardist Carlton Holmes, saxophonist Ron Blake and drummer Dion Parson of the 21st Century Band for a stint at Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center.  Trumpeter Nicholas Payton was down as their special guest on Friday 18 and Saturday 19.

In addition to “playing original compositions and arrangements in the spirit of Caribbean Jazz with Virgin Islands roots,” during that Dizzy Club Coca Cola run, the band was due to release its new recording, Live at Dizzy’s.

Victor Provost and his band Synthesis can otherwise be seen at Jo Jo Restaurant & Bar on Tuesday nights at 1518 U St NW Washington DC.  If you missed him on May 25, and June 01 with Nate Jolley on drums and Mark Foster on bass, June 08 and June 29 with Eric Wheeler on bass and Jolley on drums, check back next Tuesday during happy hour.

Victor Provost Synthesis Trio with Jolley & Wheeler, June 29 (photo credit: VP)

The other concerts of note from the DC Jazz Fest were by Trinidadian trumpeter Etienne Charles who gave a free concert at the Kennedy Center Millenium Stage, June 01; Paquito D’Rivera as a special guest of the NEA Jazz Masters in a tribute to James Moody, June 10, with the Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band, June 11 and again on June 13 presenting the Jelly Roll Morton Latin Tinge Project, a world premiere of a work commissioned by DC Fest and the Kennedy Center; the Claudio Roditi Quartet (Brazil) and the Eddie Palmieri Latin Jazz Band, June 12.

In concert: The Jelly Roll Morton Latin Tinge Project” at the Kennedy Center by Mike Joyce, blog.washingtonpost.com:

Judging from the paperwork alone, the musicians who took part in the world premiere of “The Jelly Roll Morton Latin Tinge Project” at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater…had their work cut out for them.  Each performance of a newly arranged Morton composition was punctuated by the shuffle of sheet music, a constant reminder that the pianist’s rich and complex repertoire predates the era of contemporary song forms.

Yet arranger-trumpeter Michael Philip Mossman wasn’t preoccupied with matters of tradition and fidelity when the 6th annual DC Jazz Festival came to a close.  His commissioned suite incorporated modern Afro-Caribbean rhythms, bop-inspired flourishes and flamenco dance in both elegant and stirring ways.

A chamber jazz setting, prominently featuring Mossman, clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera and cellist Akua Dixon’s Quartette, often served as the framework for orchestrations that evoked big band dynamics and interplay.  Dixon’s string quartet, for example, sometimes substituted for a robust reed section when D’Rivera’s fluid clarinet and Mossman muted trumpet were carrying the melodies.  Percussionist Pernell Saturnino, meanwhile, underscored the ties that bind Afro-Caribbean rhythms with seminal jazz works – in this instance, “King Porter Stomp,” “Wildman Blues,” “Finger Buster” and other Morton gems.

21st Century Band and Izaline Calister now part of The Pure Jazz Movement in Holland

USVI | Aruba

The 21st Century Band of Dion Parson and Curaçao’s Izaline Calister were just in Holland sweating it out before going on stage at The Pure Jazz Movement.  The 21st Century Band helped Kick Off The Pure Jazz Movement at the Theater aan het Spui (Spui Theater) in The Hague on Saturday, September 12, 02:00pm Caribbean time. Calister was one of those capping off the Movement on Sunday 13.

One of the finest drummers around, this St. Thomas born musician rallied a seven-piece band around him for the gig. In the line up, was Parson‘s countrymen in trombonist Reginald Cyntje and pannist Victor Provost.

Provost (far left), Parson (center) Cyntje (second from right)

As an aside, trombonist Reginald Cyntje headed back under the lights at 08:30pm on Friday, August 28, 2009 with Thad Wilson.  The show took place at Twins Jazz at 1344 U St. NW,Washington, DC.

Next up for Cyntje was a gig with the D.C. Jazz Collaborative at the Amin Gumbs Harman Center at 610 F St. NW, Washington at 11:00pm on Saturday, August 29.  Performing with Cyntje were panman Victor Provost and bassist Herman Burney.

Victor Provost on Facebook – had a great show tonight…the room was beautiful, audience was engaged, listening, and appreciative. Thanks to those of you that came out!

Cyntje and Provost then flew off to Holland to hook up with Dion Parson and the 21st Century Band for the September 12 performance.

September 19, it was back to the Bohemian Caverns on 2001 11th St. NW, Washington, DC for an 08:00 o’clock with the Reginald Cyntje Nu Group.  The “Nu” Group is Cyntje (trombone), John Lamkin 111 (drums), Victor Provost (steel pan) and other fine musicians.

Reginald Cyntje has another couple of shows coming up. One is on September 21, 2009 at Vicino in Silver Spring, MD, the other on September 25 at Metro Macy, Washington, DC.

Come November, Cyntje will be in the United States Virgin Islands where he grew up to continue playing the groove.

Calister, who is taking a break from promoting her new album Speransa, fronted the Peter Beets Trio for a set of contemporary arrangements of music from George Gershwin’s famous opera, Porgy and Bess, that she and Beets put together for the Movement.  Calister is fresh from a stint at the Aruba Caribbean Sea Jazz Festival in the first week of September.

By the end of the two-day event, The Pure Jazz Movement will have put 150 artists on five stages at eight Locations around The Hague.  Apart from the ticketed shows, a free programme and an after party was on tap.

Sources: (1)purejazz.nl; (2) purejazz.nl

Jazz and Blues Greats born of the West Indies

Hey, J-Fans, feel free to contribute to this list, in Comments…

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We are doubtless well aware that West Indians have been emigrating to the North American continent for generations. But it may not be as well-known that West Indians also developed a rich heritage in the context of American Jazz.

Jazz scribes have made that connection before.  However, an article published in All About Jazz on March 01, 2008 really brought the point home.  Richard Van Pelt was actually speaking to the imminent Monty Alexander expose with the Lords of the West Indies at Jazz at Lincoln Center, but delved into the subject of how Jazz became infused with Jamaican Mento and Trinidadian Calypso – or the other way around if you prefer – and how it came about that West Indian musicians would make a mark on the American Jazz landscape.

Van Pelt writes, “Through the years…myriad Jazz artists with West Indian roots made key contributions to Jazz, bringing both subtle and explicit West Indian musical expressions.”

Following is a list of names of “…West Indian musicians whose careers included Jazz.”  They are either from the West Indies or whose familial roots can be traced back to the Caribbean isles.  Excluded for the time being are the tremendous numbers of Cuban émigrés whom we will add, with your help, over time.

• Rupert Cole: Trinidadian alto saxophonist who apparently pushed off for New York from Barbados. Cole worked with Sam Manning, Don Redman (in the 1930s) and Louis Armstrong in the 1940s;
• Blue Mitchell: Bahamian trumpeter;
• Fats Navarro: Bahamian trumpeter; born of mixed Cuban-Black-Chinese parentage;
• Wynton Kelly: Jamaican pianist;
• Kenny Drew: Jamaican pianist;
• Oscar Peterson: Canadian pianist born to St. Croix father and St. Kitts mother;
• Carmen McRae: pianist with a Jamaican lineage;
• Art Taylor: Jamaican drummer who gigged with Howard McGhee and Thelonious Monk, associated with Coleman Hawkins and Bud Powell and recorded with Miles Davis Monk;
• Connie Kay: drummer with Montserrat heritage; replaced Kenny Clarke in the Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ);
• Randy Weston: pianist with a Jamaican mother and Panamanian father;
• Roy Haynes: the drummer’s parents moved to Roxbury, Massachusetts from Barbados;
• Dizzy Reece: Jamaica-born trumpeter;
• Sonny Rollins: parents were natives of the United States’ Virgin Islands;
• Joe “Tricky” Sam Nanton: West Indian trombonist with Duke Ellington

…and may I add names of the new generation of West Indians who are or may join the pantheon of class acts.

• Taj Mahal: Taj Mahal was born Henry St. Clair Fredericks on May 17, 1942, in Harlem, New York, of a St. Kitts father who himself was a musician, a Jazz pianist, composer and arranger.   Henry was raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by a Jamaican stepfather.  He adopted the name Taj after relocating to California in 1964, long before he rose to the Blues surface as one of the cream of the crop.  Taj’s recordings feature him on the guitar, harmonica, piano, bass, banjo, mandolin, fife.  In all, he plays over 20 instruments in a host of musical styles that go beyond the Blues into Zydeco, New Orleans creole music, childrens’ songs, folk tunes, gospel, soundtracks, rhythm & blues, Hawaiian and of course, Reggae (with Ziggy Marley) and other Afro-Caribbean sounds.  However, these forays revolved around and interacted with his Blues core.  Taj, a multi-Grammy winner, has been inducted in the Blues Hall of Fame for 2009.  The Blues Hall of Fame is a program of The Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization established to preserve Blues history, celebrate Blues excellence, support Blues education and ensure the future of this uniquely American art form.

• Norman Hedman: the Percussionist, Composer, Producer and Solo Artist is an artist of the highest pedigree.  Hedman slid smoothly between genres and in so doing fused those styles to create a unique signature for himself.  The conquero, probably best known for his work with R&B singer Alicia Keys, racked up a boundless list of credits that peaked with two Grammy ® nominations in the Latin Jazz category.  They were both for Norman Hedman’s Tropique, his personal music vehicle.  Over the last 25 years of his life, Hedman beat the conga drums for Arturo Sandoval, Nancy Wilson, Bobby Watson, Grady Tate, Pat Martino, Chico and Vaughn Freeman, Arthur Blythe, George Cables, Gary Bartz, Giovanni Hidalgo, Hilton Ruiz, Airto Moreira, Mongo Santamaria, Lew Soloff and Marcus Miller among others.

• Dion Parson: This 41 year old drummer from St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands has enjoyed a steady climb towards the stars since dropping the trombone for the drum kit at 15.  He later gained the favour of the Virgin Islands Council on the Arts which awarded him a music scholarship to attend Interlochen Music Academy in Michigan.   Parson would go on to earn a B.M. in Music Education at New Jersey’s Rutgers University.  Blake has enjoyed a close association with fellow Virgin Islander, saxophonist Ron Blake. Since hooking up, they started their own Tahmun label; and the 21st Century Band they co-lead resides on that label.

• Bobby Sanabria: Bobby is the son of Puerto Rican parents who was born and raised in the “Fort Apache” section of New York City’s South Bronx.  Now he enjoys the distinction of having been inducted into the Bronx Walk of Fame with the naming of a permanent street him after him on the Bronx’s famed Grand Concourse.  This, the highest honour achievable by a Bronxite, was done in 2006 for his contributions to music and the arts.  Sanabria is in the company of other illustrious Bronx notables such as Ray Barretto, and Eddie Palmieri, to name a few.

• Dafnis Prieto: born in Santa Clara, Cuba, Prieto moved to New York in 1999 armed with a conservatory music education.  Since then, he has stuffed his resumé with the tutelage of such notables as Henry Threadgill, Andrew Hill, Steve Coleman, Eddie Palmieri, Chico and Arturo O’Farrill, D. D. Jackson, Michel Camilo, Chucho Valdez, Claudia Acuna and Brian Lynch and many others. Now he is sharing some of that with contemporaries Yosvany and Yunior Terry and Avishai Cohen on his latest release ‘Taking the Soul for a Walk’ under his own Dafnison Music label.

• Rashawn Ross: this St. Thomas born trumpeter and arranger is eight years removed from a four-year Berklee college degree that positioned him for stints with some of the top names in Jazz such as Christian McBride,  Roy Hargrove, Nicholas Payton and Ron Blake. Ross does not, however, limit himself stylistically. As such, he has performed with many other well-established acts representing a wide range of styles outside of Jazz.

Rashawn Ross

• Celia Cruz: the most successful Cuban performer of the twentieth century, Cruz was associated with Tito Puente with whom she made eight albums, Johnny Pacheco, Fania All Stars and Ray Baretto.
• Jon Lucien: born a Harrigan on Tortola, British Virgin Islands and raised on St. Thomas, USVI, Lucien had a storied career in spite of his associations with more established artists such as producer Dave Grusin, Weather Report of the recently departed Joe Zawinul and instrumentalist Andy Narell among many others.
• Ralph MacDonald: this three-time Grammy winner is of Trinidadian parentage whose percussions were integral to the Grover Washington Jr. sound two decades ago and who in more recent times has worked with saxophonist Tom Scott, and pannist Robert Greenidge among innumerable other Caribbean musicians.

• Tessa Souter: New York-based vocalist born to Trinidad and British parents.

• “Soul Man” Dayve Stewart: Contemporary Jazz saxophonist who has a Caribbean background with a Cuban mother and a Jamaican father.

• Reginald Cyntje: born on the Commonwealth of Dominica in 1976.  When he was 6 months old, he moved with his family to St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands and then on to the mainland.

• Yosvany Terry; Eddie Bullen; Monty Alexander; David “Happy” Williams; Onaje Allan Gumbs; Reuben Rogers; Glen Bryan; Mario Canonge; David Sanchez; Jacques Schwarz-Bart; Liam Teague; Rudy “Two-Left” Smith; Tony “Pan-Jumbie” Williams; Marisa Lindsay; Mozayik; Elio Villafranca; John Santos; Omar Sosa;Yunior Terry; Danilo Perez, Dave Samuels, David Sanchez, Eddie Palmieri; Paquito D’Rivera; Gonzalo Rubalcaba; Vanessa Rubin; Hilario Durán; Cameron Pierre; Buyu Ambroise, Dave Valentin; Emeline Michel; Pauline Jean; Earl Rodney; Othello Molineaux, Ron Reid; Miguel Zenon; Papo Vasquez; Victor Provost; Courtney Pine; Michael Boothman; Nestor Torres; Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra; Hilton Ruiz; Jerry Gonzalez and the Fort Apache Band; Papo Vazquez; Bobby Sanabria; Ron Reid; Gary Crosby;

…just added

• Etienne Charles; Luther Francois; Michele Henderson; Sonny Bradshaw; Clive Zanda; Ken “Professor” Philmore; Len “Boogsie” Sharpe; Nicholas Brancker;

to be continued…