Rosemary Parkinson, Gleaner Writer

Delicious Pelau perfect for jazz or picnic. - photos by Rosemary Parkinsonn

Caribbean jazz - hot fah so and seemingly everywhere! Jamaica's own festival is January 21 to 27. My gripes for last year: bumper to bumper cars, more rhythm and blues, reggae than jazz. Allotted food stands inside the hallowed closed-in grounds caused irate behaviour with long lines that ended with hungry bellies 'cause dem run out before de speakers turn on.

Bars not manned properly killed patrons with thirst before the first artiste hit the stage. Soup, corn, jerk stands and all real Jamaican street food were not allowed even outside on the public road to and fro. After the shows, MoBay produced little nosh in the town itself, 'cause traffic created a three-hour drive from Rose Hall to the hip strip. But guess what? I went and had a ball - the show was all-in-all superb and worth going to again. Maybe the food situation will be different this year and yes! Monty will be there to save the jazz!

Preparations for jazz

Mustique is the island of the rich and famous in The Grenadines. Preparations are rife for the Jazz & Blues festival January 20 with Basil Charles well-known for his beach bar chock-a-block with glitterati and his great choices of performers. Although I cannot imagine side-ah-road vendors on this tiny island, knowing Basil, food and drink will not be an issue. St. Lucia is 4th May.

Not to be outdone there's St. Kitts, St. Maarten, Cuba and Puerto Rico. Each island's websites provide all information. Even little Tobago - sister isle of Trinidad - is advertising the Plymouth Jazz Festival but this one sounds more like a Central Park open music fest from April 27 to 29, with Sir Elton John, Diana Ross, Beres Hammond, Gladys Knight, Earth, Wind & Fire, Machel Montano, Sean Paul and others. Caribbean people obviously have their own Jazz thinking and why not? That's what sets us apart from the rest of the world. If de word 'jazz' is what brings people in, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rodgers, Rihanna, Kayana and Lianna as main attractions dusted with a little Shaggy, mixed with Morgan Heritage, splashed with Stevie Wonder, drizzled with Yo! Yo! Daddy Oh! Oh! doing his thing covered in gold chains and topped with Elephant Man will just mean voila! We have our kind of all that jazz!

SET FOR FARLEY HILL

Barbados jazz started with amazing performances by well-known artistes that included Macy Gray and Anita Baker. Last time I heard, these performers are R&B but who am I to judge. Barbados' press were up in arms about the expletives used on stage by Miss Gray - 'rude' words whilst performing here are against the law. Wish all Caribbean islands would follow the Nevis way actually and consider foul language anywhere to be punishable by fines all year round, music or not. Maybe some islands do have profanity laws but, as the law is an ass, the inherent problems and costs involved in taking a man to court for a badword, would stop any cop from taking notice. Jazz bottom line? 'Dutty' words not part of the curriculum of this most extraordinary and complicated art form.

I never attend the 'sit-down-in-a-hall' sessions. I like my Farley Hill set in the undulating grounds of the ever-so-haunted ruins of its great house overlooking the East Coast of Barbados and covered in ancient mahogany trees. Saturday was all about Cuban Arturo Sandoval and Bajan Arturo Tappin - both making mass with trumpet and saxophone respectively.

Sunday, we left home early. I made one hell of a good Trini/Caribbean pelau, the cooler filled with ice, vodka, Pickapeppa sauce, celery salt, pepper, tomato ketchup and lime - all necessary for the mixing of those get-me-started for jazz bloody Marys, Cockspur Old Gold for de rum people dem, a bottle of Veuve Cliquot in case we got high and whitey, challenging the créme de la créme to a, "we can do it too in the grasslands and don't need overly ostentatious and expensive tents. Ha!"

Like the stories of Tanty Merle going to cricket with every imaginable ting in she basket, by Trini Paul Keens Douglas, we were real set for de hill. Getting there early is key for choosing the perfect spot. Not too high up the grading hill, not too close to the speakers but just the right amount of distance from the stage - perfect viewing of people entering, leaving and of course, the performers.

My favourites for the day - the Brazen Bunch out of England. The cast comprising musicians and singers from Africa and England were a refreshing blast of good jazz integrating African folk songs, poems and stories with the use of instruments from the greatest continent in the hemisphere creating sounds that blew your mind with yes! pure funky jazz.

Rain poured, sun shone. Pelau and bloody Mary's landed up being the choice of not only our group but all those around us. Joining us Dr. Eva Seither - from Negril who has after many years serving her community and AIDS patients in Montego Bay, Ochi and Kingston, pulled up her life returning to Germany. A sad loss in the medical profession of Jamaica.

ADVICE

Jazz lovers: first, insist that promoters get real. If it is to be a jazz festival, then let's have jazz. If it's to be reggae/dancehall/ opera/soca or whatever jazz, then say so. Call a spade a spade.

Secondly, if you are going to have an outdoor atmosphere under sunny (or rainy) skies or night stars for extra romance, then let us do it picnic Caribbean style. Bring on those coolers, pack up those picnic baskets, have the little man in the street with his pan or jerk chicken, his soup. Have women roasting corn or making roti, coconut water straight from the freshly cut nut, snow cone, pudding, saltfish cakes, stew chicken and rice and peas and and... everyting dat is ours to enjoy with the sounds of jazz.

And for those who refuse to land up thirsty and hungry after having paid their hard-earned dollars to get into the venue, here are two recipes for the perfect jazz lime. Caribbean Mix-Up Pelau and Bloody Marys with a difference.

Bloody Mary a la Jazz

1 ounce Vodka

1 teaspoon tomato ketchup

3 dashes Pickapeppa Sauce

Dash of mixture of salt,

pepper, celery salt

Squeeze of lime

Dash of Pepper sauce

or Tabasco

METHOD

Place the above in glass. Add ice. Add spicy tomato juice or V8 Vegetable to the top. Drink and enjoy and listen to jazz. If you are creative, a sprig of celery can be placed for garnish.

There were umbrellas galore when the heavens opened.