MCDONNOUGH

Bringing new talent to an international stage, the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival is opening doors to countless acts locally and overseas.

For 2010, the festival's organisers are kicking up their smaller stage, dubbed the 'talent stage', a notch with the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Band Quest competition. A means of developing their 'Art of Music' campaign, the Internet-based competition started accepting entries on November 8 and closes on December 5.

New talent

According to Jazz and Blues' Marketing Manager Marcia McDonnough, "What is happening is that we're trying to find new talent for our small stage. We usually hold auditions and one year we had auditions abroad, but now we're trying to put it on a different level. We're starting it online where persons can upload their videos and encourage people to vote for them so that they can reach farther."

From the auditions, between 15 and 20 bands are chosen to perform throughout the festival and the winner is automatically given the chance to perform the following year on the main stage.

Auditions take place in Jamaica, South Florida, New York and possibly Chicago. McDonnough told The Gleaner, "We're looking for all different types of music, trying to showcase excellent singers and musicians - people who can end up on the big stage one day. The person has to sing with a band and it has to be your music, not covers."

Persons can log on to www.jamaicajazzandblues.com to enter. So far, McDonnough says they have received 11 entries but are expecting much more. "We're trying to get the word out now and promoting it at the School of Music. We want to get a good selection and get a lot more entries from a wide cross section of persons," McDonnough said.

Unearthing talent

The small stage at Jamaica Jazz and Blues has been known to unearth talents such as Tessanne Chin and Rootz Underground.

While some of the winners will be on the small stage during the three nights at the Aqueduct in Rose Hall, others will get the chance to perform at the recently added events. For 2010, the festival has expanded from three to seven nights, from January 24-30.

The festival kicks off at The Jamaica Pegasus then on to the Jamaica Grande in Ocho Rios and to Montego Bay at various hotels such as Iberostar and the Sunset Resort. The concerts at the hotels will last two hours and feature one main act alongside smaller bands from the Band Quest competition.

Some of the confirmed performers for next year's event include soulful singer Joss Stone, American Idol Jennifer Hudson, The Whispers, John Staccado, American singers Deborah Cox, Kelly Price, Tamia, Billy Ocean and Third World, which will be celebrating its 35th anniversary.