Lionel Richie will be the main act at next year's Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival. - File

On Tuesday night, after Minister of Tourism Ed Bartlett made a passionate case for tourism based on potential travellers' passions (among them music, sports and health and well-being), he gave the figures on the Jamaica Tourist Board's (JTB) involvement in Jamaica Jazz and Blues.

Bartlett told the gathering on Devon House's east lawn that "music is the greatest of these passions" and it is a policy position for the JTB to be headline sponsor of the festival, putting almost US$500,000 into the January 22-24 event.

It will be held at The Aqueduct, Rose Hall, Montego Bay.

"If we did not step up to the plate the Jazz and Blues would probably have gone to another country and Jamaica cannot afford to lose this signature event that happens every end of January," Bartlett said.

The sponsorship is the first part of an intended exchange, as Bartlett told the Jamaica Jazz and Blues organisers that they are expected to bring in the promised 5,000 visitors for the event.

World-class event

Later in the launch, hosted by Don Topping, Walter Elmore of the festival's producers, Turn Key Productions, promised, "We won't let you down. We will continue to put on a world-class event".

The pull for those visitors, as well as the Jamaican audience, is a line-up that includes Lionel Richie, the O'Jays, Matisyahu, Maxi Priest, the Lou Gramm Band, Atlantic Starr, Nikki Yanoksky and Estelle. In a pre-recorded interview, Richie complimented the Jamaica Jazz and Blues producers, Turn Key Productions, on their efficiency and promised an outstanding showing.

The 'Air' may have been dropped from the title, but the national carrier had a significant presence at Tuesday evening's launch. The airline's Will Rodgers said, "Air Jamaica is happy to continue to be associated with the event ... Air Jamaica is going to play a crucial part. We have the seats and we are going to bring the people to Jamaica."

Those people will have to be housed somewhere and Zachary Harding of the JTB said partnership between Jamaica Jazz and Blues and a number of hotels in and around Montego Bay is worth over $40 million. "We are actually packaging the festival as a destination within a destination," he said. Harding pointed out that the festival had actually been started by the JTB, which is now ready to take the event to another level.

Harding also referred to the difference the JTB's title sponsorship has made, as indicated by the change in name, saying as "it is now Jamaica Jazz and Blues, people feel much more comfortable to come to the table".

Band auditions

Mitch Watson picked up on Elmore's reference to the festival's Art of Music component, which gives up-and-coming bands the opportunity to be seen and heard. Tessane Chin and Rootz Underground have been through the Art of Music and, in January, the winner of the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission's (JCDC) Big Band contest will also be involved. Auditions will be held in Kingston and Montego Bay for the other bands, as five are required for each night of Jamaica Jazz and Blues.

Watson articulated a vision of Art of Music expanding to involve bands from the Caribbean, then the USA and Europe.

And deejay Shaggy spoke passionately about his upcoming charity concert for the Bustamante Children's Hospital, as the launch came to a close.

Deejay Shaggy (left) greets Tourism Minister Ed Bartlett (second right) while promoter Walter Elmore (second left) and Carole Guntley look on at the launch of Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival on the east Lawns of Devon House on Tuesday night. - Colin Hamilton/Freelance Photographer