By Tanya Batson-Savage, Staff ReporterTHE JAMAICA Ocho Rios Jazz Festival started off 'jazz month', June, on Tuesday evening by treating their sponsors to jazz, wine and a touch of blues at Red Bones the Blues Cafe, Braemar Avenue, New Kingston.
The night was quite in keeping with the theme of this year's festival, which is jazz, blues and wine.
Recorded renditions of jazz and blues ballads such as 'Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby;, 'Fly Me To The Moon' and 'You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You' ushered the small gathering into the cafe's courtyard.
"I'd like to welcome you all to this friends of jazz thing," said the festival's organiser, Sonny Bradshaw, in his opening words. Keeping to his usual casual style, the famed trumpeter and leader of the Jamaica Big Band outlined some of the elements of the festival, of which the audience would get a taste.
Carlo Rossi Wines provided the wine element of the theme while the band Llama (which band leader Gerd Beyens made sure to point out was Spanish for flame, not the animal) gave a touch of the European Invasion. The quartet was initially scheduled to play for ten minutes. Beyens was accompanied by Fitzroy Bennett on acoustic guitar, Dugal Clarke on bass and Dervan Williams on congos.
Together the four embarked on an easy grooving jazz that easily complemented the relaxed atmosphere and flowing wine. They began with Joe Henderson's 'Beatrice' before moving on to the jazz standard 'Autumn Leaves'.
THE NIGHT'S ENTERTAINMENT WAS FAR FROM OVER
This second song brought them close to the end of the slated ten-minute set, but the night's entertainment was far from over. The quartet was soon joined by Bradshaw, who had earlier expressed interest in playing with the group. Bradshaw melded the trumpet easily with the originally guitar heavy sound.
Bradshaw's short stint with the group would not be the only elastic moment of the band's performance. A few beats after Bradshaw's departure Sean McDonald joined in with his saxophone. Like Bradshaw, it was a completely impromptu moment but it blended smoothly.
Llama rounded out their performance with a smile inducing, up tempo version of Bob Marley's 'I Shot The Sheriff'. By this time, the musicians were clearly in their element as their exuberant smiles showed.
Later Jean Wilson read two of her works from her book 'No More Smalling Up of Me'.
The nine major days of the festival begin on Saturday June 12, at Glen's Jazz Club in Ocho Rios. Opening Day Jazz then follows on Sunday at the Almond Tree Gardens, also in Ocho Rios. The festival makes its first Kingston stop on Monday at the University of Technology for Art Jazz and Blues.
Monday also sees the start of the free public concerts at the Island Village Plaza in Ocho Rios. A week of activities follow, including jazz and poetry at Weekenz Bar and Bristro; a community, youth and school band competition at Faith's Pen; jazz lunch in the market place in Ocho Rios; and the two-day South Coast Jazz on Friday and Saturday at the Sunset Beach Resort in Treasure Beach. The festival ends with Father's Day jazz at Almond Tree Gardens.
