Barbara Ellington, Gleaner Writers
From left: Minister of State in the Ministry of Industry and Tourism, Wykeham McNeill; regional sales manager, Air Jamaica, New York, George DeMercardo and executive director of Turn Key Productions, Walter Elmore, took time out to discuss business during the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival.
WESTERN BUREAU:
TRUE BELIEVERS still call the 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Fair which drew more than 450,000 people to a Sullivan County pasture, the core of an era devoted to human advancement. Cynics say it was a fitting, ridiculous end to an era of innocence. Then there are those who say it was just one hell of a party.
Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues 2006 on Thursday night almost saw the reincarnation of the 1969 historic Woodstock camping under the stars, hours of music, ready for three days of little or no sleep, memories of humankind at its generous and harmonious best and musical icons at their best. And confirmed figures say well over 8,000 persons crammed the festival venue on the first night.
The annual jazz festival has become a cultural lexicon of no mean order, the right vibes, 'free love,' and magical lyming; an event that takes on even greater life than the acts being performed on stage.
Thursday's event boasted the best opening night since its inception, with corporate Jamaica in tow going overboard, outdoing themselves exceptionally, and patrons behaving as if the 18-hole Cinnamon Hill Golf course was their own private property.
MAKE-SHIFT 'HOMES'
Make-shift 'homes' and creatively arranged beds, blankets and easy chairs showed ownership of the Rose Hall Resort and Country Club lands, making a bold statement to the organisers - Turn Key Productions, "Security manned aisles are now long overdue so patrons who wish to walk can move freely."
Outside of those who selfishly held their 'space', the corporate tents were an interior designers paradise, as Jackie Bird of Jackie's Treasure, Montego Bay; Kingston's Bert Rose and Company; Lee's Food Fair's Michelle Lee and Ingrid Peralto competed for the best decor, showcasing their work through the inspiring conversation pieces at each location.
The evening proved that a marriage between Air Jamaica and the Jamaica Tourist Board makes the perfect honeymoon setting. This booth didn't need music to have the right vibes, the party people who flowed in and out made the difference.
Anbell offered free Internet and international calls, the National Commercial Bank recreated a New Orleans jazz lounge with Harold Davis and Friends, Pan Caribbean gave generously of blankets, chairs and umbrellas, RJR Communications Group served up a tasty treat of chicken wings and the innovative Digicel had their own festival in the middle of the event. Talk about brand understanding, they have it down to a science!
The year's renewal of the festival saw an invasion of Kingstonians, New Yorkers, east coast party fanatics and west coast aspirants. Let's just say, anyone who was absent from the festival was either lost in transit or on another planet.
We spotted: Sydney Roberts, Bridgette Jones, Michael and Sheena, Eddy and Bridgette Edwards, Winsome Charlton, Sadie McBean, Audley Carter, Donovan Lewis, Brian and Sheilagh Jardim, Alister Gordon, Claire Robinson, Joan Boxer and Campbell Rudder were on the lawns of Cinnamon Hill, so too were Mitch Watson, Marcia McLaughlin and Owen Campbell, Zein and Chris Nakash, Muna Issa, Dollis Campbell, Dahlia Mathis, Carole Guntley, Brian Boothe, Sheree Martin, Fae Ellington, Judith Thompson, Courtney Hamilton and Judy Farmer, O.K. and Angella Melhado, Sandrea Falconer, Godfrey Dyer and Odette Soberam, Metty Scarlett Jones, Emily English, Richard Lue, Captain Gary HoYan, Carol Sardinah and David Shields, Paul and Dorothy Pennicook, Dr. Wykeham McNeill, George DeMercardo, Sonia Rickards, Joan Lee, Winston and Denise Dear, William Rodgers, Marjorie Robinson, Parsha Buddho, Andrea C Whyte, Dawn Smith, Shernett Robinson, Brian George and Georgia Gray, Paul and Sue Hoo, Donovan and Michelle Perkins, Saleem Lazarus, Aubyn and Tamara Hill, Lorna Robinson and Gail Lobban.
