Ocho Rios Jazz Festival bowls off June 14

The Ocho Rios Jazz Festival bowls off Sunday, June 14 and for those intimately familiar with the British Commonwealth game of cricket the weeklong fest is concocted in cricket paralence.

So, jazzfest headman and chief selector Cecil “Sonny” Bradshaw picks a formidable side involving players from France, England, USA, and the Caribbean. Under the banner The Preservation and Promotion of Black Classical Music-Jazz, the Ocho Rios Jazz fest fixture begins in open air settings at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, Kingston, following Jazz & Coffee in the Blue Mountains the evening before.

The matches begin with an All Jamaica Jazz 11 Team – dubbed Piano- Keyboard Giants comprized of two seasoned batsmen Harold Butler and brother Leslie Butler (Miami), team captain Marjorie Whylie, special spin bowlers Foggy Mullings and Obeah Denton ,four-pronged fast bowlers Dr. Kathy Brown, Andre Campbell, Courtney Sinclair, and Ozou'ne, opening batsmen Jon Williams and Peter Ashbourne, and fielding in the slip is vocalist extraordinaire Myrna Hague

Reserve players: Byard Lancaster (Sax/Flute), Sonny Bradshaw
COACH (Band) - Desi Jones & Skool
UMPIRES (MC): Don Topping, Fae Ellington, Anthony Cuffe

The jazz games move to homeground Ocho Rios for the rest of the week of activities the includes free public concerts, school band competition, leading up to the climax closing day show in Priory, St. Ann. Side shows are being held on the East (Port Antonio) and South (Treasure Beach) and West (Negril)coasts of Jamaica.

Dee Dee Bridgewater: consumate jazz vocalist and ambassador

Born Denise Grant in Memphis on May 27, 1950 to father Matthew, a trumpeteer and teacher, few entertainers have ever commanded such depth of artistry in every medium as Dee Dee Bridgewater. And, even fewer still have been rewarded with Broadway’s coveted Tony Award (Best Featured Actress in a Musical The Wiz), nominated for the London theater’s West End equivalent, the Laurence Oliver Award (Best Actress in a Musical Lady Day), won two Grammy Awards (1998’s Best Jazz Vocal Performance and Best Arrangement Accompanying a Vocal for “Cottontail” Slide Hampton, arranger “Dear Ella “), and France’s 1998 top honor Victoire de la Musique (Best Jazz Vocal Album).

Matthew Grant exposed young Denise to his love of jazz at an early age. The youngster enjoyed the many records her father played her, especially those of Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis and Cannonball Adderley. By the age of 16 she was in a vocal trio that specialized in R&B and rock cover versions.

Dee Dee made her phenomenal New York debut in 1970 as the lead vocalist for the band led by Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, one of the premier jazz orchestras of the time. These New York years marked an early career in concerts and on recordings with such giants as Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Max Roach and rich experiences with Norman Connors, Stanley Clarke and Frank Foster’s “Loud Minority.”

In 1976 she landed her first recording contract with Atlantic Records. Her first release was simply entitled “Dee Dee Bridgewater.” Her 2007 release of “Red Earth,” is her ode to Mali and Africa, and singing in the spirit that calls on her African ancestry and with reverence for jazz tradition at its best.

Dee Dee Bridgewater was named ambassador to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 1999 joining the battle against world hunger.

Clifton Anderson's many Decades of music

Clifton Anderson was born in Harlem, New York City. He grew up surrounded by music. His Jamaican father was a church organist and choir director, and his USVI mother a singer and pianist. It was no surprise that Clifton exhibited an affinity for music at an early age. When he was just seven years old he got his first trombone, a gift from his famous uncle Sonny Rollins.

In 1983 Clifton joined his uncle, Sonny Rollins. Since, he has been a member of Sonny’s group and has toured extensively with him, performing throughout Europe, Asia, South America, Australia, Canada and of course the United States. Clifton has also appeared on ten Sonny Rollins recordings.

Clifton has worked with diverse musical giants: from Frank Foster, McCoy Tyner, Clifford Jordan, Stevie Wonder, Dizzy Gillespie, Merv Griffin and The Mighty Sparrow to Lester Bowie, Paul Simon, WyClef Jean, and Dionne Warwick among others. Clifton’s credits also include the Broadway shows Dreamgirls and Nine.

Aired in Jamaica on Dermot Hussey's Riffin prog, Anderson's newest work Decade, is dedicated to the memory of his departed mother.

British choir delights with Jamaican folksong

Duke Ellington among greatest composers, musicians

Edward Kennedy Ellington, Born on April 29, 1899 in Washington, D.C., by the time of his passing in 1974 he was considered amongst the world’s greatest composers and musicians.

The French government honored him with their highest award, the Legion of Honor, while the government of the United States bestowed upon him the highest civil honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

He played for the royalty and for the common people and by the end of his 50-year career, he had played over 20,000 performances worldwide.

He was The Duke, Duke Ellington.

Diana Krall's Bossa 'n' Quiet Night

Bossa Nova versus jazz reaches another critical mass with Diana Krall's Quiet Nights. And what a long way Krall has come since "Peel Me a Grape." Couched in pop literary terms, there is nothing coy about Quiet Nights.

This is Krall in full maturity sending husband Elvis Costello an audio love note... and what a love note it is. If music were a season, then Bossa Nova would be late summer—warm and humid; languid and lazy.

Krall's Bossa recital contains both Bossa classics ("The Boy from Ipanema," "Este Seu Olhar" and the Bacharach/David classic "Walk on By") and jazz classics cast in Bossa bronze ("Too Marvelous For Words," "I've Grown Accustomed to His Face," "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry" and "Everytime We Say Goodbye"). All are given a breezy treatment by Krall's quintet with strings.

Krall, as a vocal performer, is placed front and center with little to draw one's attention from her. Krall's voice is breathy and spare, as is her piano playing. Sexy is not the adjective to describe this recording. A word deeper and more dense, where the physical and spiritual mingle, is necessary; a word not yet invented

Track listing: Where Or When; Too Marvelous For Words; I've Grown Accustomed To His Face; The Boy From Ipanema; Walk On By; You're My Thrill; Este Seu Olhar; So Nice; Quiet Nights; Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry; How Can You Mend A Broken Heart; Everytime We Say Goodbye.

Personnel: Diana Krall: piano, vocals; Anthony Wilson: guitar; John Clayton: bass; Jeff Hamilton: drums; Paulinho Da Costa: percussion.

Adapted from All About Jazz

Myrna Hague's authoritative display of beat and swing

by Herbie Miller

How distinctive her voice. Reigning jazz diva, Myrna Hague, has always stayed in touch with her roots. She performed recently at the Jamaica Pegasus Jazz in the Garden series as the featured vocalist with the Jamaica All Star Big Band.

Full story: www.jamaica-gleaner.com