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2008 Festival Performers
Jamaicans in The Festival'Women In Jazz'
'JEMS' Jamaica's Elder Music Statesmen in Jazz
THE BANDS
Subject to change without notice.
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www.myspace.com/dieviertenre "Die Vier Tenöre" (The Four Tenors) offer a summit for the lovers of the tenor saxophone. The four protagonists come from very different musical backgrounds: Jan Galega Broennimann searches with his main band Brink Man Ship on a wiring of Jazz and Electronics, Klaus Widmer flirts with Tango-Moods in his Quintet Horn Knox, Roli von Flue dives into complex compositions with Kaspar Ewalds Exorbitantes Kabinett and Daniel Bean Bohnenblust blows the funky horn with GMF (Grand Mother' Funck). This furious Quartet meets the groovy and adventurous Rhythm Section of Hans Ermel on bass and Lukas Bitterlin on drums. Saxophonistic high-flights far above the pitch of the tenor are guaranteed! Line up: Daniel Bean Bohnenblust, ts (Grandmother's Funck, Bean) [ back to top ] |
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The Antelope Valley Jazz Ensemble, conducted by Lee Matalon, is a tightly rehearsed and swinging band whose talents have been a fixture at the Ocho Rios Jazz Festival for many years. [ back to top ] |
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Website: www.yolandabrown.co.uk Saxophonist YolanDa Brown is considered by many to be one of a kind. To hear YolanDa play music is to know her… From very early musical beginnings she has come to make the Tenor and Soprano Saxophones her very own. YolanDa Brown expresses her innermost feelings through her music and in so doing, never fails to rise to the next level with each performance. A belief in the open truth of music has seen her develop a wide genre vocabulary and songbook, backed by an undeniably awesome performance talent. YolanDa is as comfortable re-interpreting a current chart-topper, as she is reprising a Jazz standard or launching into an original composition. Always in evidence is her raw emotion which as become synonymous with the YolanDa Brown sound. Born and raised in London, YolanDa Brown has grown up surrounded by an eclectic mix of music, the influences of which can be heard in every breath she plays and in every note she writes. She references Jazz, Afro-Jazz, Gospel, Reggae, Salsa, Hip-hop, R&B, with consummate ease, even going back to Mento throughout her performances, but her style and phrasing always remains her own. With such a musically diverse DNA to her soul, is it any wonder that YolanDa Brown touches so many people through the voice of her music! In conjunction with her music, YolanDa Brown has completed a Masters in Management Science, as well as a Masters in Social Research Methods and is currently studying for her PhD at the University of Kent. She also fronted a TV talk show on a Sky Channel. YolanDa Brown has performed in numerous venues including: Jazz Café, Café de Paris, St. Martin in- the- Fields, Smollensky's on the Strand, Mermaid Theatre, Cargo, The Broadway Theatre and Hackney Empire. A worldwide performer, she has also played for the High Commission in Jamaica, Jazz venues in Miami, the Frankfurt Auto Show, the Rotterdam Carnival and the IslaVuelta festival in Spain, to name but a few. The release of YolanDa Brown's debut EP, entitled "Finding My Voice" and her sold out debut concert at the Mermaid Theatre London in July 2007, were both met with rave reviews from press and her ever growing fan base. We now await with great anticipation the DVD release of that magical evening. YolanDa Brown has worked with artists ranging from MOBO Awards Best Album Singer Terri Walker to Mercury Music Prize Saxophonist Soweto Kinch, Chicago Star Brenda Edwards, Jazz Calypso Legend Russ Henderson MBE and Queen of Lovers Rock Janet Kay to name a few... In response to overwhelming popular demand, YolanDa Brown held her second solo concert on Saturday 8th December 2007, at the prestigious Cadogan Hall in Sloane Square, London. The show at a venue twice the capacity of her debut concert, was also sold out. Many people have come to realise the uniqueness of the artist that is YolanDa Brown. [ back to top ] |
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www.monnettesudlermusic.com Monnette Sudler is a jazz guitarist and composer is soulful and electrifying. Her original compositions and arrangements of jazz, jazz funk, blues African and soul provide the vehicle for Monnette and her band to jam. She is an innovative bandleader and engages her audiences with her sweet and rich vocal styling and poetry. "...A Sublime intimate album of Folk, African and blues accents." Press release Ms. Sudler's new European release on Discography "Meeting of the Spirits", part of the Philly Jazz series, is music in its purest form. Her compositions are wonderfully emotional, lyrical and poetic. She shares feelings of love, ancestry and son Erik "Abyss" Honesty sharing his feelings of a young man's struggles on Bottled In. "...her soulful animated compositions are entrusted with her natural singing and the brilliant interventions of the great trombonist Steve Turre and the activist poet Sonya Sanchez." "Her virtuosity never overwhelms ... a rare sensitivity..." MONNETTE SUDLER'S earlier recordings on the Danish based jazz record company, Steeplechase Records, showcases Monnette as a dynamite guitarist, writer, composer, and arranger accompanied by bassist Tyrone Brown and vibraphonist Kahn Jamal on "Brighter Days for You". One of Monnette Sudler's more recent recordings "Other Side of the Gemini" is an eclectic blend of jazz funk and blues, joined by Grover Washington, Jr. Reggie Workman and Steve Turre. This Philadelphia born artist has played with many all-time jazz greats, such as Steve Turre, Doug Carn, Clifford Adams, Odean Pope, Sam Rivers, Dave Holland, Hugh Masakela, Philly Joe Jones, Grover Washington, Jr., Byard Lancaster, Sounds of Liberation, Change of the Century Orchestra and Kenny Baron, as well as hot new artists like bassist Gerald Veasely and icon poet/activist Sonia Sanchez. Monnette's performances are worldwide. Europe, Japan, South Africa, Jamaica and the United States have welcomed jazz guitarist Monnette Sudler with her original music and unique arrangements. Ms. Sudler has her degree from Temple University's Esther Boyer College of Music. Her background covers composition, music therapy and performance. Monnette Sudler conducts guitar workshops, private instruction, workshops on creative development and composition. She has been artist in residence/musical director/composer for the Art Sanctuary North Stars for four years, an artist intensive after school program founded by author Lorene Carey. [ back to top ] |
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www.feileafrica.com/Kerekes.htm Just like the dancefloor DJs of today, the members of Hungarian band Kerekes are always searching for ways to turn up the heat in their táncházok ("dance houses"). So ten years ago, when they were still teenagers, they travelled to the countryside on foot, by bus, and by train and just like Bartók, collected living traditional folk songs in the last minute before all the masters were gone and the tradition would be lost forever. They spent eight years looking for new material and recorded over 200 hours of songs, all with the goal of bringing new-old songs to their audiences. While the band continues to keep traditions alive for their regular dance nights, they have plugged in on their new album Pimasz (which means "cheeky"), following in the footsteps of bands worldwide who are connecting their roots sounds to amplifiers and effects, without losing the spirit of their ancestors. With a strong basis in the music of Moldova and the Gyimes region of Romania, two areas with ancient Hungarian ties, Kerekes (pronounced ker-ay-KESH, with a rolled 'r') has also taken cues from Jimi Hendrix and the J.B.'s, developing their own "voice," though the band is all instrumental. For some, Kerekes introduces audiences to melodies and dance rhythms rarely heard elsewhere. For others, they take familiar sounds and update them. But all listeners notice that the band taps the magic of the ancient shepherd's flute, conjuring sounds never heard before on this planet. While artists like Shantel and OMFO have used electronic wizardry to bring Romanian, Moldovan, and Ukrainian sounds to the dance floor, Kerekes' prolific live performance (including 200 concerts in Hungary in the past two years; appearances in Hungary's top venues, The Palace of Arts and The Music Academy in Budapest; and performances at prestigious venues across Europe) taps another type of magical music-making. "Shepherds are the inheritors, warriors, and carriers of the ancient knowledge of the shamans," says Zsombor Fehér, the band's virtuosic flutist and leader. "They used their magic to heal or place curses. They could read the future." Zsombor carries knowledge from the flute and bagpipe player István Pál (age 87), who is probably the last keeper of this ancient knowledge in Hungary. In Transylvania, the flute can magically return a lost herd to its shepherd (the melody on "Searching" brings this to mind). In Gyimes, it is said that a dead bear can be revitalized by his master with his flute. In Transdanubia, a miller being attacked by robbers used his flute to call a pack of dogs who rush to his aid shredding the robbers to pieces, a story embodied on the track titled "Két pásztor" or "Two Shepherds." The track features the ütôgardon, a cello shaped rhythm instrument whose strings are hit with a stick and a special three-foot, three-holed flute. This "longflute" is still used in Somogy County in Western Hungary and was brought over from outer Mongolia. The way Zsombor plays brings to mind the epic Robert Johnson tale when he says, "To become a good pipe player, the shepherd has to enter into collusion with the devil. They say he 'takes his skin to the market' and then the pipe can play itself." Zsombor plays a shepherd's flute on which he installed extra keys to make it chromatic. After playing the flute for about one and a half years, old relatives mentioned that both his grandfather and great-grandfather had been shepherd flute players. He later found out that all the way back to the 1700s, all his male ancestors had been shepherds, which means they had been flute players as well. On their journeys, the band found a village in Transylvania where just about everybody makes flutes, about 200 families. "We were looking for a particular flute-maker. Upon presenting a flute I had, everybody said that even though they hadn't made this one, they could make an identical one, though admittedly it would not have such a great sound," says Zsombor. "It took three days to find the maker of this original prototype, and there just like Aladdin¬ I was awaited by heaps of flutes. Sometimes I had three flutes hanging from my mouth, in a frenzy to try as many as I possibly could." Another time Zsombor went to the hillside around Fedémes, his grandparents' village, just to play the flute for his own pleasure. "The next day villagers told us that they had heard the music even in the far end of the village," remembers Zsombor. "They had stopped working and sat out to listen to it, bringing back a sense of the old times when shepherds used to do that regularly." "I learned the traditional way of flute-playing from old peasants," says Zsombor. "Having turned the flute chromatic, it is now suitable not only for pentatonic folk songs. When I realized that each shepherd flute player is a local Jimi Hendrix both in their manner of playing and musical re-creation, I saw the fusion of these two styles as completely legitimate." Other band members have also adapted both instruments and playing styles. Csaba Námor plays the koboz, a lute of Middle Eastern origin. "By now, all the Hungarian koboz players rest in peace, and they left behind only a couple of recordings," says Csaba. "In the absence of masters, only rock music could show us the way." Meanwhile, the band is proud to have convinced the largest instrument factory in Transylvania to restart the production of the koboz. The instrument's Middle Eastern origins can be heard on "Medina," named for a sweet Hungarian red wine from Eger, the band's hometown. The viola has been used all over the Hungarian-speaking territories. "The Transylvanian viola is built with a flat, not curved, bridge, with three strings," explains viola-player Ákos Csarnó. "It is played with a stronger bow made from the hair of a stallion. This allows the player to bow all three strings simultaneously in a strong rhythmic manner, playing loud chords." Ákos plays it as if he had a "Reggae Fender Rhodes" in his hands, with his bow imitating a buzz saw. The drum was introduced in Moldova from brass bands in the 1950s. It was played similarly to the tapan in the Balkans. Viktor Fehér had played this traditional drum for years until he realized he couldn't play funk on a drum from Moldova, so he bought a drum-set. "Since rhythms in Hungarian music are quite fixed, we drew on rhythms of other musical cultures, mainly those of popular roots," explains the younger Viktor. The band is rounded out with Csaba Kónya on electric bass. Four years in the making, the overall sound of Pimasz has earned them a 2007 Top of the World acknowledgment from Songlines magazine, a result of 200,000 readers' votes which put them in the company of The Gotan Project, Ali Farka Toure, and Toumani Diabate. "We knocked on the doors of old peasants' houses not because we wanted to make world music but because we wanted to experience the real folk music of our ancestry," concludes Zsombor Fehér. "At the time, our main motivation was to find these newly-collected tunes that our dance audiences could not possibly have heard anywhere else. However, beyond all the sophisticated reasons we could give, the heart of the matter is that we were simply spellbound by the amazing music we found, and we could not help just purely enjoying every minute of both listening to our old masters and playing with them. But now, we're going to funkify this tradition!" In recognition of Kerekes' efforts to modernise whilst preserving these old traditions of Hungarian music they were given the title of 'Ambassadors of Hungarian Culture' for the European year of Intercultural Dialogue by Katalin Bogyay, the State Secretary for International Affairs of the Hungarian Ministry of Education and Culture, the only band to be honoured by this title in Hungary. See: http://www.eaea.org/news.php?k=14910&aid=14910 There are two kinds of men sparking around folk music. The first loves it very much and he would close it into a museum at all costs, the other loves it so much that he would take it home at any price. The Kerekes took it home. Tamás Szarka - Ghymes Band [ back to top ] |
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Tenor saxophonist and composer Odean Pope is an exceptionally compelling and original musician. As listeners heard when he performed at the Sydney Jazz Festival In 1998, with the great drummer Max Roach, he possesses a very powerful sound, and a quite awesome control of his instrument, including the use of multiphonic and circular breathing techniques. As The Age review noted, "Pope was the revelation of the night. His brawny tone ran the gamut from booming low notes to armor-piercing screams, and his attack never flinched in the face of Roach's most ferocious barrages." Odean was born in the town in the town of Ninety Six, South Carolina, but grew up in Philadelphia. Philadelphia had a thriving jazz scene in the post war era and produced such notable jazz artists as John Coltrane, Lee Morgan, Clifford Brown, Benny Golson, McCoy Tyner, the Heath Brothers, Ray Bryant, Kenny Barron, Bill Barron, Archie Shepp, Jymie Merritt, Jimmy Garrison and Philly Joe Jones. Odean played his share of R&B gigs (at the Uptown Theater, he played in the house band behind such. names as James Brown and Marvin Gaye). He studied with Ray Bryant, and was especially influenced by the pianist Hasaan lbn Ali (a brilliant but obscure figure who made just one record, 'The Max Roach Trio Featuring The Legendary Hasaan'. He was clearly aware of and deeply impressed by the music of John Coltrane. But unlike so many other tenor saxophonists, he managed to absorb Coltrane's message while developing a recognizable sound of his own. As Odean told Down Beat in 1983 'At a-very-early age, I sort of cancelled saxophone players out .... I found out that you never get any recognition if you played too much like someone else. I started to listen to piano players. I wondered what it would be like if I could play my horn like Hasaan or Art Tatum or Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton or Bill Evans. Dynamically, harmonically and melodically, I think I got a tremendous amount of knowledge from that experience.' Apart from touring Europe with Max Roach in 1967- 68. Odean was content for many years to work in Philadelphia. playing and teaching. Odean joined the cooperative group, Catalyst, in 1971. They made four albums before disbanding in 1974. Odean formed The Saxophone Choir in 1977. The concept was inspired by his early experiences in the Baptist church. 'I was brought up in the church.' Odean recalls, 'and they used to have choirs that I would sing in. Deep down, I always asked myself how it would sound to have nine saxophones do the same thing. As he points out, Saxophones are the instruments closest to the human voice.' The Saxophone Choir has performed in the USA and Vieu, Germany and at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Holland. Odean says--'l have but one goal for the Saxophone Choir: it should sound like one instrument.' In 1979. Max Roach again invited Odean to join his quartet. He still tours regularly with Roach. and has made seven recordings with him including 'Chattahoochee Red' (Columbia) and 'Scott Free' (Soul Note) and 'To The Max !' (Mesa), and has contributed several pieces to the band’s book. [ back to top ] |
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Ernest Ranglin was born June 19, 1932 and grew up in the small town of Robin's Hall in the Parish of Manchester, a rural community in the middle of Jamaica. Music has always claimed a special place in the island's culture, and Ranglin's destiny was set from an early age when two of his uncles showed him the rudiments of playing the guitar. When they discovered just how good the young boy was, they bought him a ukulele. Ranglin learned how to play by imitating his uncles, but he was soon to be influenced by the recordings of the great American jazz guitarist Charlie Christian. Living in rural Jamaica, however, inhibited the boy's ambitions which, even at the age of fourteen, were focused on music. He then moved to Kingston--the country's capital--ostensibly to finish his studies at Bodmin College. Very high on Ranglin's agenda was to seriously study the guitar; something not on the school's priorities. His lessons came from guitar books and late-night sessions watching the Jamaican dance bands of the time: he was particularly influenced by Cecil Houdini, an unrecorded local musician. By the time he was sixteen years old, Ranglin was acknowledged as the rising young talent in the city. In 1948 he joined his first group, the Val Bennett Orchestra, playing in the local hotels. Such was Ranglin's burgeoning reputation that he soon came to the attention of rival dance bands and, by the early-Fifties, he was a member of Jamaica's best-known group, the Eric Deans Orchestra, touring around the Caribbean and as far north as the Bahamas. The big bands gave Ranglin the hugely beneficial experience of learning how to orchestrate and arrange. The typical repertoire of the day included tunes by Les Brown, Benny Goodman, Stan Kenton and Duke Ellington, together with Cuban music and the hot Broadway show songs. The constant tours also gave Ranglin a wider vision, meeting musicians from other traditions. Once, for instance, when he was working in Nassau his performance was heard by Les Paul, who gave Ranglin a guitar in admiration of his talents. It was, however, back in Jamaica that his career was to be transformed by a chance meeting. In 1958 Ranglin was leading his own quintet, playing the leading hotels in Kingston and the resorts on the north of the island. One engagement was at the Half Moon Hotel in Montego Bay, a show caught by a young would-be record producer called Chris Blackwell. Immediately impressed by Ranglin's extraordinary talents, Blackwell offered him the chance to make a record. The album featured a pianist called Lance Heywood on one side with Ernest Ranglin on the other: it was the very first release by Island Records and the start of a long association between Ranglin and Blackwell. By the following year, 1959, Ranglin had joined the bassist Cluett Johnson in a studio group called Clue J & His Blues Blasters. This was a very different kind of style to the big bands. Jamaican music was in a state of flux, the traditional mento superseded by a tough urban stance influenced by the pervading sounds of American R&B. Johnson and Ranglin recorded several instrumentals for producer Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd at Federal, the only real studio facility on the island. The first of these tunes, Shuffling Bug, is widely regarded as the first example of ska, the shuffle rhythm which exaggerated the 'jump beat' heard on New Orleans' R&B records of the Fifties. Ska became the bedrock of Jamaican popular music, leading to rock steady, reggae, ragga and all the innovations the island has brought into the global mainstream. Ranglin's fluent and versatile guitar style, coupled with his arrangement skills, meant he was in constant demand right through the ska era. In addition to his work with Prince Buster and Baba Brooks, Ranglin was also remembered by Chris Blackwell who, in 1962, had launched Island Records in Britain. Blackwell had a song he thought could be a pop smash. He also had a young Jamaican singer called Millie, who'd previously recorded some sides for Coxsone Dodd. In 1964 Blackwell brought both Millie and Ranglin to London; they recorded My Boy Lollipop which, in the Spring of that year, reached number two in the UK chart. It went on to become a worldwide hit, the first time ska had infiltrated into the vocabulary of pop music. [To top] |
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Sax player Dean Fraser has been tearing up horn sections on innumerable reggae singles, working with some of Jamaica's legends, including Bob Marley and the Wailers, since 1978. He is considered one of Jamaica's finest brass players and has developed an international following for his sultry jazz-toned reggae music. [To top] |
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Fab 5, formed in 1970, is Jamaica's pre eminent popular band, whether measured by record sales at home, hits on the charts, frequency of engagements or major awards won over the years. Their twenty-one albums have been as successful as their singles, and their multi-award winning soca album "Yu Safe" was probably the most popular album produced in Jamaica in the decade of the '80s. Their most recent original reggae CD "Dugu-Dugu" once more proves the band’s versatility, while the follow-up to "Fab 5 Live... Part 2" has been outselling the original. A ska album "Fab 5 -- Ska Time" (the bands 21st album) is newly released and has been getting great reviews. The busiest band in Jamaica, Fab 5 are in great demand not only for concerts and dances but also in the studio where they are the leading creators of commercial jingles for radio and television, dominating the airwaves and earning a string of prestigious awards, including four golden microphones. They have been the chosen band for almost every national and state occasion since the mid-1970s. They have taken their authoritative brand of Jamaican music all over the world. They have shared bandstands with many of the great and famous names of modern popular music, including: Ray Charles; Dizzy Gillespie; the Grateful Dead; Rick James; Linda Ronstadt; the Neville Brothers; Roberta Flack; Fats Domino; Peter, Paul & Mary; Joe Jackson; The Chi-Lites; Skeeter Davis (with whom they are currently working on a recording project); the Drifters; Miriam Makeba; Bob Marley; Jimmy Cliff; Marcia Griffiths; John Holt; Freddie McGregor; Judy Mowatt; Ken Booth; Chuck Jackson; The Mighty Sparrow; Aretha Franklin; Gladys Knight; Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes; Jerry Butler; the Manhattans; Ray Goodman & Brown; and the Delphonics. They have performed at the Kool Jazz Festival and the New Orleans Jazz Festival and for Japansplash and have entertained a live audience of one million at an anti.nuclear concert in New York's Central Park. They have triumphed not only with the music of Jamaica but also with their own compositions of soca, the music of the Eastern Caribbean. At different times and in diverse settings, they have enchanted audiences with soul, funky, rock, jazz, disco and classical music. Musicianship, dedication, integrity and discipline are the hallmarks of Fab 5, who have earned and retained the respect of the music industry, critics and general public over the past thirty-one years and are all set for continued success in the future. The band comprises three 1970 foundation members . manager Frankie Campbell (bass); Harold (Jr) Bailey (guitar, flute and saxophone now part-time) and; musical director Grub Cooper (drums and lead vocals), as well as - Sidney Thorpe (keyboards), 1979; Donovan Lee Palmer (Keyboards), 1991; Samuel Grant (trumpet); Romeo Gray (trombone); and Glenroy Samuels (guitar) all 1995. [to top] |
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Kathy Brown, standout Jamaican pianist, jazz instrumentalist and medical doctor, routinely captivates audiences with pleasing jazz arrangements and delightful piano riffs The Aries born musician, who, incidentally, has an academic familiarity with the French language, plays with verve or, as the French says, joie de vivre, with energy and love of life. And the reviews confirm these sentiments. American Christopher Porter, writing in the reputable Jazz Times, described the pianist's 20-minutes performance at Air Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival 2005. "The multitalented Dr. Kathy Brown, a jazz and reggae pianist, played a really fun but too-short set, mostly consisting of standards such as 'Caravan' and 'Afro Blue'." Two years later, on the same international show, and on a night headlined by American contemporary jazz vibist Roy Ayers, Jamaican Gleaner newspaper writer Adrian Frater noted, "Although not attracting top billing, it was the charismatic and musically charged Dr. Kathy Brown who stole the spotlight as the 2007 Air Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival ended its two-night stopover at the Half Moon Shopping Centre in Montego Bay." Routing her way to Jamaica's biggest jazz festivals, inclusive of the Ocho Rios Jazz Festival and, more recently, the Port Royal Music Festival, the pulchritudinous pianist made stops at smaller shows and venues, for instance the Jamaica Pegasus' Jazz in the Gardens, and Jazz on the Green series, Red Bones Blues Café, Christopher's Jazz Cafe and other shows repetitively. The jazzy MD's musical journey took her into the operations rooms of some veritable Jamaican recording studios, including Marley's Tuff Gong, where, after a succession of setbacks and a near miscarriage owing to a crashed computer disc, she delivered the labour-intensive first CD aptly named Mission: A Musical Journey. The 9-track CD features clever interpretations of great works of jazz and reggae standards, for example, Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage, and Bob Marley/Peter Tosh's "Get Up, Stand Up". But, it also contains Brown's own compositions, "Mission" and "Latin Groove". Kathy Brown’s CD, according to a Jamaica Gleaner review, captures many of the influences on her personal journey from the classical and folk music she heard at home [in the early days] through to the African and Latin music she reached out and grab from US record stores. Ever since she walked into the Phillip Sherlock Centre for Creative Arts on the University of the West Indies (UWI) campus in Kingston, Jamaica and heard jazz for the first time, and since Jill Gibson, master piano tutor at the Jamaica School of Music, imparted to her the preliminaries of jazz piano, Brown whet her awareness listening intently to Bob James, Joe Sample, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock's earlier works, Chucho Valdes, Monty Alexander, Kenny Barron, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and Michel Camilo to name a few influences. Kathy Brown, who founded her jazz band, Kathy Brown & Friends, in March 2002, categorizes her style of music as World [Beat]; music that people anywhere can appreciate. She makes the point, "It is not just jazz, reggae or pure anything, it is true crossover that reaches out to different music style, and [so] people around the world will most certainly appreciate it". Long becoming a staple on the jazz circuit at home, the multi-genre pianist, from the outset, envisioned doing live performances beyond her island shores. "I am more about live performing [and] for this reason I want to take my music outside of Jamaica to places like New York, Canada, Europe, Japan and Africa". That intense yearn to perform overseas was duly accomplished, and to great success, on August 5, 2007 when the Jamaican jazz pianist gave a scintillating one-hour performance at the Harbourfront Centre in downtown Toronto, Canada. Undaunted by the events of a maiden overseas performance, and supported by a band only just acquainted with her music, Dr. Kathy Brown entranced the large turn out of West Indians, Canadians and tourists in attendance at the weekend-long Island Soul Festival. There, broadcaster Ken Stowar, host of Global Rhythm on University of Toronto radio station CIUT 89.5 FM, in a live radio broadcast/webcast during the performance, described Kathy Brown's 60-minutes set succinctly, "A wonderful one-hour performance". The CIUT program director added, "Everyone seemed to have been listening very intently... they were paying extra close attention to Dr. Brown". It started at age 5, little Katherine Brown, the daughter of UWI lecturers, was relentlessly deluged with classical and folk music at home in mid-island Jamaica. Then, she was already singing and whistling before tiny fingers pattered the unignorable family piano. "I grew up in a home where the sound of music was ever-present, on tapes, on LPs and you hear your father playing [piano] downstairs, and older sisters were also playing". Almost naturally, the little girl sidled to the piano and began to play by ear even before being signed up for lessons in classical piano. Growing up, that insatiable drive to master the instrument led Brown to pursue music as elective in High School (Jamaica) Ivy League College (USA) and during her medical studies at the University of the West Indies. Quick to differentiate between the medical and music careers, the tenacious keyboard player has definitively defined her music and sound. "My music is definitively a crossover between jazz and indigenous forms of music whether it be reggae, Latin and afro-Brazilian styles". Yet, it is as a consummate jazz pianist, with or without her Friends band, that she shines brightest, evidence by the rave response of the Jamaican audiences and the media. Supplementary to Brown's solo gigs are two constant companions, the Kurzweil K2500X and her Roland KC-500 amplifier that provide musical karma to many a corporate, weddings and other social events. Extra-curricular to making a living as pianist and medical doctor is her multifunctional role as a musician, singer, and arranger with the highly acclaimed University Singers and, simultaneously, training the EQS Baptist choir. Kathy Brown, whose resumé includes sharing the stage with Jamaica's great guitarist Ernest Ranglin, famed trumpeter Mickey Hanson, Japanese multi-reedist Hiroaki Honshuku, and veteran bassist, producer Glen Browne, is an intensely passionate and exceptional jazz pianist who seeks to make her own name outside of homeland Jamaica. Consequently, since Toronto, Kathy Brown's musical journey searches for a pathway to perform in places like New York, Europe, Japan, and Africa, even as the other major Jazz and Music Festivals of the Caribbean (St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Kitts, Tobago) remain a destination yet to be traveled. [to top] |
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Jamaican guitarist Seretse Small, in 2007, celebrates 20 year as a professional musician. Music, in general, guitar artistry, in particular, began for him as a student at the Jamaica School of Music later he would attend Berklee College of Music and New England Conservatory of Music in the United States. His greatest learning experience, however, comes outside curriculum cutting his teeth in live performances in reggae and jazz. While Seretse spent the past three years on a world tour with Grammy-winning reggae artiste Sean Paul, it is as a jazz guitarist that he made his own name in Jamaica and across the Caribbean. He has performed the major jazz festivals in Jamaica, Grenada and St. Lucia. A Caribbean man indeed, Seretse Small grew up in Jamaica by multi-cultural, artistic parents. Mother Jean Small, a poet, linguist/actress from Guyana, and his father, a musician from Trinidad, both endowed the guitarist with a wealth of Caribbean history to draw on in his music. He was exposed from an early age to a very Africianist perspective, having been grounded among persons, such as poet Michael Smith, legendary guitarist Ernie Ranglin and dub poet Mutabaruka, men who understood art. Listing his main influences as Earl Klugh, George Benson, Van Halen and Al Di Meola, Seretse attested that his mentor Jasper Adams coached him in the music of the greats and in understanding the greatness of the Caribbean people. Initially learning to play the guitar from his father, Seretse claims that it was not his instrument of choice; neither does he see himself as a gifted guitarist. "I tell people I'm not a guitarist, but they think I'm an amazing guitarist," he said. Not only gifted as a guitarist, Seretse has also done extensive teaching, music publishing and storytelling. "I am devoted to communicating the heart and soul of Caribbean people," he said. Seretse sees himself as a griot, a West African term for 'storyteller', hence the name of his publishing house, Griot Music, which he repositioned following the grueling Sean Paul tour. The guitarist realized the potential in starting a music-publishing firm after a stint in the United States. He noted, "The side of publishing I'm concerned with is the creative side, nurturing young persons, developing their songwriting skills, giving these persons a forum through which to express themselves". Not only is Griot Music fulfilling its core functions but also the company was recently elected as the National Coordinator for the Global Battle of the Bands. The guitarist formed his own band, Seretse and the True Democrats - Wendell Lawrence (drums), Karl Gibson (bass), and Ozou'ne (keyboards) and they are presently working on their first album. Back in 2000, however, Seretse Small recorded a one-man, acoustic guitar CD that he aptly titled Silo Sessions, a recording done in a Silo on farm in New York. The high-achiever who has also appeared as a featured artiste on BET Jazz, is currently well away in establishing his own live studio and in addition to hosting his Tuesday Night Live shows at Christopher's Jazz Café, in Kingston, Jamaica he host a live music show on Jamiaca's News Talk 93 FM radio. Seretse Small, amazing jazz guitarist, entrepreneur who captivates audiences with every performance describes his sound as "very sensual, orgasmic and intensely improvisational". [ back to top ] |
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 Byron Lee Dragonaires
Probably, no other band has worked as hard as the Dragonaires to forge a Caribbean blend of music, with its mix of Reggae, Soca and flavour of Ska, Rocksteady and Rock & Roll. Utilising all the rhythms of the region, Byron Lee & The Dragonaires has placed Caribbean music in a position of dignity. In its forty-six years of existence the band have become a household name in West Indian communities around the world with their international success rivalling many major bands internationally. Today, the Band continues to tour extensively, performing in an average of 36 cities each year. The Beginning Band in the 70's Band in the early 80's It all started after a football match when five good friends got together and decided to harmonise. Carl Brady, Ronnie Nasralla, Alty East, Ronald Peralto and Byron Lee were the first in what was to become Jamaica's premier Band - Byron Lee and the Dragonaires. The name Dragonaires was in honour of the Dragon, St. George's College insignia, the school from which all the original members of the band emerged. To have lasted over four decades is a significant achievement for any band. However, with a foundation built on a combination of talent and discipline it is no surprise that the Dragonaires have continued to be one of the most sought after bands from the West Indies. Bandleader Byron Lee brought to his band the same intensity which made him a soccer star, and made it distinctive. He was one of the first who understood that music is a business, and from his group he demanded respect and discipline - and got it. He, in turn, tried to give the crowd that followed him a slick-looking band that would take minimum breaks, play good music and ensure that patrons got their monies worth. Their first gig would be a brief stint on the Bandstand at an Old Boys Dance at their Alma Mater, St. Georges College, for which they were paid the princely sum of £5. The year was 1956. In 1957 the band officially formed under the name Byron Lee and the Dragonaires. Though Calypso has been the band's backbone from its inception, it was to emerge onto the local scene with a new North American beat called Rock and Roll. "We were the most versatile band in existence. Singing from Rock & Roll to Meringue we would pack them in. Children would sneak out at night to stand by the Club door and listen." Carl Brady - original member of the Dragonaires At a time when more established bands ruled the roost with Bebop, Byron Lee and the Dragonaires would, in a short time, make this beat a tremendous success in Jamaica. In fact, legendary band leader Sonny Bradshaw, leader of the Bebop era, gives credit to the band for literally "slipping the field" with Rock and Roll and pulling away the crowds to emerge the leading band of the late fifties to early sixties; at a time when everyone thought that Bebop was unlickable. The band went on to expand their repertoire to include Latin rhythms especially that of Cha, Cha, Cha. "We were definitely the most versatile Band in the 50s, 60s and early 70s," boasts Carl Brady, one of the original members of Byron Lee and the Dragonaires. [ back to top ] |
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Feeling the rhythm with each tap, drummer Desi Jones speaks to his audience with each performance. A musical son of Sonny Bradshaw, Jones is also a key member of the popular backing band Skool. Although an expert drummer, Jones began his musical journey with a recorder at the Institute of Jamaica Junior Centre. It was at the centre that he first discovered drums - the conga drums - under the direction of his teachers Mackie Burnette and Mr. Lewis. His love for drumming came from watching other drummers while growing up. "Locally, my mentors were Calvin McKenzie, Tony 'JJ' Smith and Leroy 'Horsemouth' Wallace. Like most drummers in Jamaica I was also influenced by Sly Dunbar, whom I consider to be the greatest rhythm innovator from Jamaica. While a member of the Salvation Army Kingston Central Corps I was taught the trombone by Bandmaster John Mills. While in the Salvation Army band the young people started a gospel/ pop/reggae band and I became the drumset player," Jones said. However, his biggest break came when he joined forces with trumpeter Sonny Bradshaw. "At CARIFESTA 1976 in Jamaica I was introduced to Mr. Sonny Bradshaw by Dean Fraser. I was playing congas for the Eddie Thomas Dance Group at the festival and the drummer for the Sonny Bradshaw Seven met in an accident. Sonny took the chance and allowed me to play for the band that day. Later in the year I was offered the job and I took it," Jones said. Wide range Musically, Jones' style runs the range of reggae, jazz, Latin and Jamaican traditional beats. It was this diversity that led him to playing with the Skool Band since 1988. Skool has provided backing for numerous artistes, one of the main ones being the legendary Jimmy Cliff with whom they have travelled the world. Jones says that he has toured all continents except for Antarctica, gaining inspiration along the way. "I get inspiration from the knowledge that with just a simple beat I can make people dance. The drums can also make a person's mood change from joy to sadness," he said. With that in mind, Jones strives to continue improving his technique day by day, since music is his passion, having never wanted to pursue another course. According to Jones if you have the passion and drive for music then go for it; strive for the best. Although he has never released a solo album, Jones, say he has "produced, arranged and played on a number of CDs for Mutabaruka, Carlene Davis, Peter Ashbourne, Skool Band and (the album) The Art Of Reggae Drumming". Jamaica Gleaner : Sunday | June 24, 2007 |
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Casual superlatives suck, but "legendary" is just how everyone describes Tan Tan. Born in 1932, he found himself at Kingston's Alpha Boys School where the "jazz nun", Sister Ignatius, was the inspirational guide and teacher who turned wayward boys into Jamaica’s greatest musicians; ABS was consequently the cradle of ska, reggae and Jamaican jazz. After several years in the emerging jazz scene of Germany, Tan Tan arrived in London, where his extraordinary talent was quickly recognised. For producers and big-name rock musicians of the sixties and seventies his became the most sought-after trumpet of the era. His recording and performing credits include The Beatles, Bob Marley, the Rolling Stones, Boney M, Georgie Fame and his all-time favourite, Jimi Hendrix, while he continued to play in between times with top jazz, ska and reggae names (Aswad ,Rico Rodriguez etc.). More recently he has feautured in the horn section anchors of the Jools Holland Band, as well as Jazz Jamaica and the Jazz Warriors. At 73, are his lip, his wind, his technique and his imagination still great? Just listen to his many wild, witty solos and believe. [ back to top ] |
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Mr. Martin began his musical career as a student of the Alpha Boys School. After graduating from Alpha, he joined the Jamaica Military Band where he served for three (3) years, before becoming a member of Carlos Malcolm and the Afro-Jamaica Rhythm Band. Mr. Martin subsequently served for two years with Sonny Bradshaw's Big Band. With this wealth of experience, Mr. Martin went on tour with the Vagabonds to England where he spent several months performing gigs in clubs and theatres. On his return to Jamaica in 1964 he started his own band, Sparrow Martin and the Happenings. He would later start the Alpha Sonics in 1994, as a consequence of his special blend of talent and altruism to provide employment for graduates and Unity Gospel Band in 2006. In the summer months, Mr. Martin tours with the Jamaica All Stars chiefly to Europe. Mr. Martin is a multitalented Musician who plays a range of instruments with equal fervour including the trumpet, drums, keyboard and all percussion instruments. He is currently Band Master/Musical Director at his Alma Mater, Alpha, a tradition upheld by the school to recognize its own by appointing graduates to this position. Mr. Martin has held the position since 1989. [ back to top ] |
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Cecil 'Sonny' Bradshaw is truly a Jamaican treasure. Born in Kingston 'Under The Clock', (the term used to described those born in downtown,Kingston), Sonny was exposed to the piano before age 10 and although he could master it, his pet instrument eventually became the trumpet. After attending Central Branch All Age School he went on to Kingston Technical High School. His fascination with radio led him and a few of his friends into experimenting with radio communication. Their effort resulted in the group successfully being able to establish radio contact with radio stations in North America and Europe and indeed the whole world. His love for music saw the young Sonny trekking across the city to attend musical events spearheaded by great musicians such as Milton McPherson, Redver Cooke and Eric Deans until he started playing in an organized manner. In 1950 he formed the 'Sonny Bradshaw 7', and became a major force in live music. In 1959 Sonny joined the staff of the newly formed Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC) and became a founding member of the JBC Orchestra, along with the likes of Carlos Malcolm. Out of the JBC experience was born the famous popular afternoon radio programme 'Teenage Dance Party', founded by Sonny in 1959. He stayed with the programme until 1964 when the infamous JBC strike resulted in Sonny and other colleagues being made redundant. His next move took him to Jamaica Welfare Services, where he spent quite a number of years making invaluable contribution towards social and cultural development. Sonny championed the cause for musician's welfare through the formation of the Jamaica Federation of Musicians, serving as president for 14 years. The Jamaica 'Big Band' and the annual 'Ocho Rios Jazz' series were the brainchild of Sonny. Perhaps, the greatest asset of Sonny lies within his head and the longer it takes the powers-that-be to recognize and harness his great knowledge for the documentation and preservation of Jamaica's cultural heritage, it is the worst off the nation will be, culturally. Fortunately, Sonny's contribution was recognized when the Order of Distinction (OD)was bestowed on him by the government. Photo by Winston Sill/Freelance photographer [ back to top ] |
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In a game of musical guess and tell, if Bob Marley's name surfaces most would say he is the greatest reggae icon. Put other names like Burning Spear or Lloyd Parkes in the mix and they would be readily identified for their respective contributions to Jamaican music. But throw out Hedley Jones and the mind may wander to cricketer George Headley or to saxophonist Headley Bennett. This should not be the case, since Hedley Jones has made one of the most significant contributions to Jamaican music and, as a consequence, the world. Jones is the creator of the first electronic guitar in Jamaica. "The first time I heard an electronic guitar I found out my banjo was only making noise," Jones said. "When I heard it I could not buy it, neither could I afford to import it (from Europe). I thought the best thing was to make one, so I improvised. I was what people called a jack of all trades. I could fix everything," he said. His impact is not limited to music. In 1936 Jones left his home in Wakefield, St. Catherine, in search of employment and landed a job as a proofreader at the Gleaner Company. His tenure was short-lived, but he was able to pick up the pieces and move on to head proofreader at the Jamaica Times. However, again Jones lost favour with his employer, this time because they refused to give him a reasonable pay increase. That turned out for the best as greener pastures awaited. "When I find myself in a difficult spot, I find my way out," Jones said. The Times had a record shop in which they sold records. And that was the first time Jones heard an electric guitar played. Jones later left Jamaica to fight in World War II. While in the the Royal Air Force he was trained as a radar engineer and received a certificate from the Royal Technical College in Glasgow, Scotland. He returned to Jamaica after the war and established a radio repair business. The knowledge he got from the Air Force gave him the know-how to make the first 'Jones guitar' in 1940, but the innovator was bound for a higher calling. That is when he tried his hand at building sound systems. After the war, the number of live bands and public address systems had diminished. Jones said by then only the richer folks could afford to listen to a live band and the poorer people had to do without. The use of steel horn was popularised, but they reproduced sounds which were not easy on the ear. One of the sound system operators, Tom Wong, hired Jones to duplicate a sound system Jones had made for himself. Wong's set was accordingly called 'sound system', starting a form of entertainment many persons have come to enjoy. Jones laments, though, that although many a partygoer rocks to the beat from the various sound systems, not many can say just how it all started. Band ordered Jones' guitar The lack of good entertainment was widespread, including in the United States. The U.S. army had a base in Sandy Gully and the band there ordered one of Jones' guitars. The orders kept rolling in and the guitar became more popular, reaching other towns in Jamaica and ultimately the Americas. Then in 1953 Hurricane Charlie wreaked havoc on Jones' radio repair business. But the jack of all trades was not totally washed away. Jones and his cousin Stephen devised another Jamaican first, traffic lights. The first set of lights was erected at the intersection of King and North streets. He said that prospect did not go far as a result of politics. "I was living in a Jamaica where there was little recognition for technical work. I was characterised as a jack of all trades. That's how the intelligentsia saw me," he said. Jones would later find a niche in the tourism industry, where he entertained with his instruments. He also served as president of the Jamaican Federation of Musicians. He became an executive of the federation shortly after he joined, then in 1968 he became vice-president. In 1985 he became president. In 1994 the Jamaican Government awarded Jones the Order of Distinction for his service in the field of music. Alas, many do not know who Hedley Jones is. He said the problem is "we don't pass on what we know through posterity. Only older people know what I did. Anyone who is aware of me would have to be over 60." Jones said he was also the first person to print on bread bags in Jamaica. One of Jamaica's more popular bakeries at the time, Powell Bakery, asked the Jamaica Times printer to print the bags, since they were importing bags from the United States. Jones also helped to build the legendary Studio One. Jamaica Gleaner, Sunday, October 1, 2006 [ back to top ] |
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Inducted into the Jamaican Jazz Hall of Fame in 1997, Marjorie Whylie has devoted her life to exploring and expanding on the musical roots of her homeland. Her compositions, which include "Mountain Women," "Ni Woman of Destiny," "I Not I," "Blood Canticles," "Drumscore," "Caribbean Canvas," "The Black Widow," and "Journeys Beyond Survival," are a pastiche of indigenous Jamaican folk, African polyrhythms, European art music, and classic jazz. The one-time acting director of the music department at the University of the West Indies, Whylie is the leader of the National Dance Theatre of Jamaica singers, for whom she arranges song suites and composes interludes and music for dance choreographers. She has worked extensively with artistic director Rex Nettleford, composing and arranging such full-scale masterpieces as "Myal" and "Gerrehbenta." A much-respected musicologist, Whylie has lectured and conducted workshops in England, continental Europe and North America and judged music competitions in the Eastern Caribbean. In addition to performing with the Whylie Wrhythms Band, Whylie continues to play solo piano and sing in prestigious Jamaican hotels. ~ Craig Harris, All Music Guide [ back to top ] |
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Myrna Hague is a singer, actress, journalist, vocalist with the Jamaica Big Band and the Jazzmobile, member of the board of the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission, past tutor of the Jamaica School of Music and winner of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union Song Festival 1990. Myrna has won the Jamaica Music Industry Award for jazz several times as well as the Jamaica Federation of Musicians Award and Special Merit Award, 1993. Myrna has made numerous television and radio appearances as well as international tours including the Birmingham International Jazz Festival. She has also appeared with Andy Hamilton, Kenny Baker, Ernie Ranglin, Monty Alexander, Branford Marsalis and Dizzy Reece to name a few. Photo by Winston Sill/Freelance photographer [ back to top ] |
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