Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer
R&B singer Jill Scott performs at the Barbados Jazz Festival in January 2006. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Men and women sobbed inside and out; many doubled up and some gave standing ovations. Emotions have been running wild in cinemas worldwide as viewers empathise with an overweight trampled wife, Jill Scott, in Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?
On Thursday, January 24, 2008, music lovers are being advised to take their hankies to the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival in Montego Bay, St. James, as the two-time Grammy Award winner Jill Scott promises to deliver another stellar performance, this time musically.
Among the divas line-up
Scott has been added to the line-up alongside divas Anita Baker and Diana Ross, who are billed to perform on the calendar event.
After weeks of speculation, the festival's executive producer, Walter Elmore, has confirmed that the soul-stirring, mind-blowing singer is to grace the state-of-the-art stage at the Aqueduct at Rose Hall.
"It was very hard work and our attention to details that encouraged three of the world's most prolific female singers to accept the invitation to perform on our show," an ecstatic Elmore told The Sunday Gleaner.
In fact, he declares the diva coup d'état as a feather in Jamaica's cap.
"Their rider all demand first class, First-World service, which is what we are known for," the executive producer boasted, adding that international acts are aware of the treatment they receive here and the quality that comes from the island's productions.
All three women are making their debut in Jamaica on the event that has grown from a following of 1,500 when it started 11 years ago to an estimated 40,000 currently. Currently, the event costs way over $100 million to be staged, and Elmore expects to fork out much more next year.
But the cost of staging the mega three-night event seems far from Elmore's mind as he speaks of what he terms as the "big thing about this festival".
"The big thing is that magic that the audience brings to the event," said Elmore. His loyal following, he said, will not be subjected to traffic congestion in 2008 as the four-lane highway leading to the venue will be completed in time for the event. "Already the underpass entrance to the aqueduct is completed," he asserted happily.
Limitation of tickets
Sheila (Jill Scott) and her husband Mike (Richard T. Jones) in a scene from Tyler Perry's movie 'Why Did I get Married'? - Contributed
In addition, he plans to limit the number of tickets being printed this year. "I am not going to overcrowd the venue. We are going to be paying attention to details," he is assuring.
And Elmore has no real reason to be overly concerned in 2008, nor should his audience, as Jill Scott, the renowned dynamite, is expected to explode in their presence as she rocks the historical seaside venue.
The Philadelphia-born R&B, soul and jazz singer, songwriter and poet, who has received nine Grammy Award nominations, winning two, boasts a track record of producing down-home soul hit songs, including Who is Jill Scott, Word and Sounds Volume one, Beautifully Human and A Long Walk.
Scott began her performing career as a spoken-word artist, appearing at live poetry readings. She was eventually discovered by Amir 'Questlove' Thompson of The Roots. Questlove invited her to join the band in the studio and the collaboration resulted in a co-writing credit for Scott for the song You Got Me. In 2000, Erykah Badu and The Roots won the Grammy for best rap performance by a duo or group for You Got Me.
Subsequently, Scott collaborated with Eric Benet, Will Smith and Common, and broadened her performing experience by touring Canada in a production of the Broadway musical Rent.
- Source Wikipedia
