Jeffrey Osbourne (left) and Chaka Khan
Andrew Clunis, Freelance Writer
DESPITE its early roots in the church, jazz was seen as brothel music in the United States in the early 1800s. The art form, which is the oldest defined black music in the Western Hemisphere, has come a long way since the pioneering days of Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn, Louis Armstrong and others. It's now a sophisticated music form designed to appease the most discerning musical tastes.
Caribbean peoples have long embraced jazz, but the turn of the millennium finds the music branching out across the region tying the scattered islands into popular jazz destinations. Between January and June each year, major jazz festivals take place throughout the region, offering a boost to the winter tourist season.
These events feature some of the world's top contemporary performers. However, there is a view that many of these artistes are jazzists who have sought to help the art form evolve through the influences of other music forms.
This is what Gilbert Rowe believes. He is the organiser of the Barbados jazz festival and a man who is partly credited with the renaissance of the music form in the region.
Jamaican jazz veteran Sonny Bradshaw has a different view. He says that while there is no pure jazz festival, many of the events which are labelled jazz are only masquerading as that art form.
Caribbean jazz
Canadian radio host Al Peabody, who has the programme 'I Just Wanna Play Some' on 89.5 ciut radio in Toronto, Canada, has been following the Caribbean jazz scene for many years. He doesn't feel that the jazz festivals of the region are pure in terms of the music offered.
"I think these are largely pop festivals, but I understand promoters need the pop artistes to pull in the youthful audience. Still, I would really like to see a lot more pure jazz," he said.
The major festivals in the region are: 'The Jewel' in St. Lucia; 'Paint It' in Barbados; Antigua's annual event;
Grenada's 'Spice Jazz' and Jamaica's Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival, which failed to happen this year. "It's a major disgrace that Jamaica is not having that festival. An event of that nature should not be put off for minor reasons," Peabody said.
Jamaica's cancellation gave Barbados the opportunity to extend that country's festival this year, running from January 8 to 14. The event was very successful and organiser Gilbert Rowe of GMR International Tours Inc. is a happy man.
"We satisfied our responsibility to deliver and that in itself is a mark of success. We had no adverse reports and the general feeling is that everyone enjoyed themselves," he said.
The biggest event of that festival was on Saturday, January 13, at the Farley Hill National Park, under looming evergreen trees which seemed to play their own melodies.
Thousands of locals and tourists streamed into the area, most taking along their camping gear and picnic material as they made the most of the Saturday afternoon.
Cuban band leader, Chucho Valdes, led his band on piano
impeccably. Cuban flags flew high in the crowd and when a congo line was formed as the Latin music soared, members of the band left the stage and joined the audience.
Top stars
Also appearing were guitarist Earl Klugh, singer Brenda Russell and locals Ian Alleyne and Quarternote. Over the week, the festival also featured Chaka Khan, Dave Koz, Stanley Jordan, Norman Hedman, Jeffrey Osborne, the Trini Posse and many others.
The jazz-fest has done wonders for Barbados' tourism product. Public relations manager at the Barbados Tourism Authority, Hugh Foster, said he was expecting to see an increase in revenue as a result of the festival.
"It has helped with the diversity of our product. It is aimed at attracting African/American visitors and it pulls in other Caribbean people as well," he said.
On the other hand, Mr. Rowe said he would like to see a study done throughout the region to determine the impact that festivals of this nature have on the Caribbean tourism product.
"The benefit to the region is priceless. It's not just the amount of money people come in and spend. It's the public relations exposure the region gets and more," he said.
Responding to the suggestion that the modern-day festivals are not real jazz events, Mr. Rowe said: "There is absolutely no jazz festival in the world that doesn't have a diversity in music. There are purists who want it their way but we have to pay the bills.
"The music is evolving and people's cultures will impact on the music as they try to interpret it. Al Jarreau gave the best description of jazz - it's a specific piece of music played a particular way at a specific time that cannot be played again. We are dealing with entertainment tourism here."
Mr. Bradshaw said he would like to see more Caribbean musicians appearing on the festivals throughout the region. "That music developed in the Caribbean through the slaves. It then went to America where it took greater form and became popular. But we cannot disregard the contribution of the region to its development and we have produced many fine musicians who should be playing the circuit," he said.
