THERE WAS a raucous wench at the door of the Jamaica Pegasus' Bellasario Suite and a swashbuckling Henry Morgan made the trip from Port Royal to New Kingston (as well as few centuries) on Thursday evening.
The eye-patch-wearing duo was not after the hotel's treasures, but part of the opening of a chest of musical wealth as plans were announced for the 16th International Jamaica Ocho Rios Jazz Festival.
And a surprisingly sprucy Morgan, considering that he has been dead for nigh three centuries, gave the first indication that there will be a twist to this year's renewal of the festival. He complained loudly that every year it was "Ocho Rios this, Ocho Rios that" and that Kingston would be getting the festival this year although they were "still going to take it to Ocho Rios".
"Ocho Rios, Ocho Rios," he muttered, to chuckles from the gathering.
And before he gave the schedule of events and some of the performers, musician Sonny Bradshaw said "for the first time in 15 to 16 years, the Jazz Festival will be opening in Kingston".
OPENING
That opening takes place on Sunday, June 11, with Jazz in the Gardens at the Jamaica Pegasus, where the Jamaica Big Band, Eric Alexander Jazz Quartet, Kevin Mahogany and Trio and Candice will be among the performers. A following Sunday, the festival closes at the Boon Hall Oasis, Stony Hill, St. Andrew, where Shelly Hamilton, the Bare Essentials, Byard Lancaster and his Philly Friends and Houston Person will be among those on stage.
In between, there will be five free concerts in Ocho Rios, as well as four jam sessions in Kingston, with the fourth annual South Coast Jazz Festival at the Sunset Resort in Calabash Bay, St. Elizabeth, where Barbara Walker and the Randy Lippincot Blues Band will be among the performers.
Henry Morgan's visit will be returned on Sunday, June 18, with a tour of Port Royal, covering the Fort, Giddy House, Cathedral and Harbour Marina.
Bradshaw noted that the School Band and Instrumentals Exposure/Competition, which begins at Jazz in the Gardens with the finals at Boon Hall, is "very important. We have been doing it for many years. We want to encourage the playing of instruments", Bradshaw said, noting that those instruments should not only be guitar and piano.
"It is not really a contest, it is an exposure," Bradshaw said.
- M.C.
