After Summit Jazz in Tobago
The Tobago Jazz Experience hopes to attract spill-over visitors to the Summit of the Americas when it opens on April 22 – three days after the hemispheric conference has ended.
Tickets are priced much lower – from TT$150-$300 – than the annual predecessor show, The Plymouth Jazz Festival. And there is the allure of free jazz concerts on the beach.
This festival, which will be over five days, is a rescue act by the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) after C.L. Communications, a subsidiary of cash-strapped C.L. Financial abruptly cancelled the Plymouth Festival several weeks ago.
The THA had to act to save the island’s tourist industry, already reeling from a poor winter season, from further financial disaster.
The THA’s Tourism Division swung into action and has assembled a Festival containing a commendably high quotient of jazz unlike in the previous years when there were several big name pop, rock, soul or adult contemporary music artistes. And not one drop of jazz.
Plymouth Jazz was an outrageous misnomer, the Tobago Jazz Experience has more of the real thing from right here in Trinidad and Tobago with acclaimed pannists such as Boogsie Sharpe, Andy Narrell, Rudy “Two Left” Smith and Liam Teague, also guitarists Theron Shaw, Mike Boothman and pianist Clive Zanda.
Other local artistes include David Rudder, Shadow, Calypso Rose, Mungal Patasar and Pantar, Ella Andall, Shurwayne Winchester, Mavis John, and top steelbands Silver Stars, the national panorama champions, Redemption Sound Setters and Invaders.
The “headline act” is Grammy Award winning guitarist George Benson who will perform at the final concert, Beach Jazz Fiesta, at Pigeon Point Heritage Park on Sunday April 26.
There will be free concerts entitled Jazz On The Beach concert at Mt Irvine, the Beach Jazz at the Speyside Beach facility and The Street Beat at Plymouth.
These free shows will be held on April 25 and April 27.
There will be altogether nine concerts.
Other international artistes include Maxi Priest, Cane Fire of Canada, and Bellitay su Jazztumbata of Cuba.