Beres Hammond, Marcia Griffiths, Moses Davis, and Chronixx Nice Up The Fest in Trelawny
Jamaica may be synonymous with reggae, but the island’s biggest music event in terms of its economic impact and benefit to the tourism industry is not a reggae show, but an annual three-night fete known as the Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival… Video After The Jump…
The crowd (including many well-to-do Jamaicans returning home on holiday) tends to be older and better dressed than your average reggae audience, and the vendors – selling helicopter rides and oil paintings as well as clothing, crafts, and vegan cuisine – are notably more upscale. Although the musical offerings are wildly diverse, in accordance with local tastes, the average Jamaican refers to the event simply as “Jazz”, as in, “You goin’ to Jazz?” And you can trust and believe that pretty much everybody wants to go to Jazz.
But don’t get it twisted. This ain’t Montreux – think Kenny G rather than Coltrane. “A little bit of jazz, a little bit of blues, and whole lot of everything else,” is how Walter Ellmore, the festival’s producer for several years, describes the musical mix, which has ranged over the years from the melodramatic ballads of Celine Dion to the country classics of Kenny Rogers to the over-the-top pop of Air Supply continue reading
(via Clash Music UK)
There’s a Patient By The Name of J-O-E:
Joe’s Songs of Freedom:
Toni Braxton Does Biggie
Chaka’s Every Woman
Beres Says “I Can’t”
She Whispered It Was So Nice
The Rebel and The Chairman
