The lost Tobago lime
Veteran calypsonian Mighty Chalkdust may not be too unhappy about the cancellation of the Plymouth Jazz Festival.
He attacked the Jazz Festival , in his calypso “Ah Not In That”, which he sang at the Calypso Monarch semi-finals at Skinner Park, San Fernando, last weekend.
The organisers of the Plymouth Jazz Festival spend some $50 million annually on the event but there is not a penny in this impressive budget for the calypsonian and not much for the panman.
Perhaps, Chalkdust should realise that while foreign entertainers are hired, there is no genuine jazz artist. No Wynton Marsalis, Herbie Hancock, Arturo Sandoval or Happy Williams on the cast over the three nights of the festival.
The entertainers, over the past five years, have all been leading pop, rhythm and blues, rock or soul performers – Rod Stewart, Sting, Whitney Houston, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, John Legend, Diana Ross et al.
For this years’ extravaganza the likes of Gloria Estefan, Toni Braxton and Legend had been contracted.
The festival, which was scheduled for April 24-26, was aborted, according to C.L Communications Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Anthony Maharaj because there are early indications were that there will be a poor attendance this year and it would have been “reckless” to go ahead with the show.
In fact, earlier this month, after parent company C.L. Financial’s money troubles were publicised, the organisation announced that it was pulling out of the event which it has co-sponsored with the Tobago House of Assembly.
The festival, which is a major tourism event for Tobago, has, in the past, attracted thousands of people from Trinidad, the Sister Isle and also from abroad.
Tickets are very pricey and hotel rooms are at a premium so that a package of tickets for three nights plus accommodation carries a price tag in excess of US$1,000.
The cancellation of the event is a body blow to Tobago tourism. Hotels are already in as bad way, complaining about low occupancy which industry observers believe has been caused by a combination of rising violent crime and the global recession.
Like most “Jazz Festivals” in the Caribbean there is little or no jazz and more popular music.
Patrons don’t care one bit: few of them care about or understand jazz. On the whole, it is a great weekend “lime”- like the UWI All Inclusive fete. An upwardly mobile social gathering where one can mix with the people that matter.
However, it wasn’t always that way: in the 1980s, this country pioneered what was then called “Pan Jazz” featuring top jazz musicians from the United States and Europe and also steelband music.
St Lucia and Barbados saw a good thing and began producing their own jazz events in the 1990s.
The Queen’s Royal College Foundation and the Ministry of Tourism have combined to develop their own jazz event around October-November each year. In San Fernando, impresario Dawad Phillip, for the past five years, has been producing “Jazz At The Top” on the scenic San Fernando Hill.
From all indications, these jazz shows will be held this year.