The Editor, Sir:
The organisers of the Jamaica Ocho Rios Jazz Festival recently staged their eleventh year of the concerts which ran for nine days (June 9-17) at venues in Kingston, Ocho Rios, and Montego Bay.
Throughout the nine days, no expletives were heard, no bottles were thrown, and no gunshots were fired at any of the festival events. Instead, patrons were entertained with the sound of great music brilliantly performed by some of the world's best musicians both local and international.
There were the likes of Ernest Ranglin, Karen Smith, Marjorie Whylie, Buddy Ilgner, Carl McLeod, The Fab Five Band, Maurice Gordon, Kingsley Ettienne and Doug Richards from Canada, The Terence Blanchard Quintet, Irene Reid, Joey DeFrancesco, The Doron Johnson Trio (courtesy of the US Embassy), Legends of the bandstand: Gary Bartz, Curtis Fuller, Cedar Walton, Louis Hayes, and Percy Heath; Lou Donaldson, the "Uriparam" Korean Cultural Group, and much more.
Loud applause from an appreciative audience of locals and overseas visitors echoed throughout, and the festival and Jamaica earned high marks from visitors vowing to return next year.
It is perhaps of interest to note that the Jamaica Ocho Rios Jazz Festival was included in a list of international summer jazz festivals published in the May 2001 issue of Downbeat, one of the oldest and most respected jazz magazines worldwide.
The Jamaica Tourist Board, the Minister of Tourism Portia Simpson Miller, the Hotels and Tourist Associations and other sponsors should take note so that they can perhaps make more informed decisions when it comes time for them to decide how and where to spend their sponsorship dollars. Class or crass; that is the question.
I am, etc.
Harry Graham