?The first annual Trinidad and Tobago Jazz Festival was launched with great music and a good time at The Corner Bar on Ariapita Avenue in Woodbrook on Saturday night. Presented by the Jazz Alliance of Trinidad and Tobago (Jatt), the festival is set to take place from March 12�14, and will showcase some of T&T's top jazz talent, along with international musicians. Supporters of the jazz art form turned out to the festival launch, and enjoyed the improvisational stylings of bassist Dwight Thompson of Colorado, USA, tenor pannist Mikhail Salcedo, David Marcelin on keyboards and Jatt president Sean Thomas on drums. The band, which Thomas said was jamming onstage without a prior rehearsal, took the audience through their interpretation of several kaiso classics and jazz standards.
ABOVE LEFT: ?These women enjoy the jazz lime at Corner Bar.
ABOVE RIGHT: ?Taking in the music at the launch of T&T Jazz Festival.]
PHOTOS: Gillian Moore
The appreciative audience took it all in and were treated to tasty finger food as well. The festival kicks off on March 12, with poetry, flamenco and tap jazz fusion for schoolchildren, a free outdoor concert on Brian Lara Promenade in Port-of-Spain, and a free concert later on that night at Spalkers Restaurant and Sports Bar in Cascade. The main event, a concert at the Creative Arts Centre of the University of the West Indies, will take place on Saturday 13. Earlier on that day, saxophonist Grace Kelly will conduct a master class. The Corner Bar will host an after party jam session and, on Sunday 14, the movie Blue Note will be screened.
Thomas, who was formerly part of the Production One team responsible for last year's Jazz on the Greens, said the new event represented a renaissance for jazz in T&T, adding that we should "step up to the plate and let people understand the level of talent we have here." He said he envisioned that the T&T Jazz Festival should be a true representation of Caribbean jazz, and felt it was the perfect medium to bring out the creativity of local musicians. He also thanked The Corner Bar, which featured several jazz events last year, for hosting the launch and bringing back the vibes, noting Saturday's event drew the biggest crowd the venue had seen in some time. (GM)
?For more information on the first T&T Jazz Festival, call 689-4298 or e-mail info@jazzalliance.com