Tobago Jazz Festival 2009?

[JerryT]

What is the latest in regards to this year's Tobago Jazz Festival? The last I heard the sponsor had pulled out and even now there is no program line up being offered. Will the whole thing be cancelled due to the ailing world economy?

[David Watkins]

Jerry,I have made some enquiries and the last I heard was that there was a conference yesterday and the decision was that the festival will be going ahead.I will make a few calls today to confirm this and post as soon as a get more info.
David

[David Watkins]

The latest I have is that a press conference is to be held at1000hrs local at Mt Irvine Hotel and that the THA are involve din the salvage operation. I shall know more later this am. and will post as soon as possible.
David

[David Watkins]

The press conference has been postponed until Monday,I will post any info asap

[Patrick Dankou]

Hi,
I have been reliably informed that the Jazz festival will not happen this year

[Patrick Dankou]

Hi again,
the usually well informed circles are as confused as anybody else on this, I now hear that there is an effort to save the festival and no final decision has been made yet, let's hope for the best, I'll keep my ears open.

[JerryT]

The "Jazz" Festival has been an economic boon to the island the past few years and it would be interesting to hear the festival sponsor's 2009 calculations considering the fact that most of the audience comes over from Trinidad which reputedly has not been as badly economically scared as other islands in the region.

Another question would be the fate of the many subsidiary festivals like the excellently produced "Jazz On The Beach" program at Mt Irvine. Is the April festival tradition on Tobago strong enough to support these enterprising productions on their own? Might they thrive without the distraction of the big ticket concerts in 2009 or just fizzle as most people stayed home without the big draws?

[Collins K]

Unfortunately it has been confirmed that this event has been canceled.

[JerryT]

What a strange thing to do! The Jazz Festival has become a big event in Tobago with significant tourism implications. Even if the government was unwilling to gamble on producing an event the same size as past years its a bit mystifying why they didn't just scale things down a little and rely on the amazing amount of talent I've heard first hand in the country. There are fine musicans playing real Jazz in Tobago and Trinidad that trumps the previously imported Pop stuff by a wide margin in my opinion. And when I heard this talent showcased during the Mount Irvine "Jazz On The Beach" mini festival last April the folks in attendance really enjoyed the concerts. Who needs Elton John or Celine Dion when the fine local artists in the area could use that attention and money?

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Jerry

"Strange thing" is a bit of an understatement, if you don't mind me saying. The honest truth is that it is total madness and ineptitude on behalf of the local authorities. Their short-sightedness has almost certainly killed a unique and special event which was starting to give Tobago a unique place in the Caribbean calendar. I appreciate that times are hard, but what major stars are going to commit to Tobago in future knowing that the event could be cancelled at a moment’s notice. Frankly, they’ll even have difficulty getting mediocre performers now. Those responsible aren’t fit to arrange a piss up in a brewery, if you’ll excuse my French.

[David Watkins]

The Plymouth Festival has been cancelled. However the subsidiary events are going ahead,in addition the THA are attempting to arrange a stopgap concert.I know not where at the moment ,I should know in 2/3 days
David(interrupted my lime to post this)back to d'white Oak

[JerryT]

The story of whether or not to have the festival and if so how much of one to have threatens to become more interesting than the event itself would have been.

[JerryT]

From the Tobago Insider...

The lost Tobago lime

Veteran calypsonian Mighty Chalkdust may not be too unhappy about the cancellation of the Plymouth Jazz Festival. He attacked the Jazz Festival , in his calypso “Ah Not In That”, which he sang at the Calypso Monarch semi-finals at Skinner Park, San Fernando, last weekend. The organisers of the Plymouth Jazz Festival spend some $50 million annually on the event but there is not a penny in this impressive budget for the calypsonian and not much for the panman.

Perhaps, Chalkdust should realise that while foreign entertainers are hired, there is no genuine jazz artist. No Wynton Marsalis, Herbie Hancock, Arturo Sandoval or Happy Williams on the cast over the three nights of the festival. The entertainers, over the past five years, have all been leading pop, rhythm and blues, rock or soul performers - Rod Stewart, Sting, Whitney Houston, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, John Legend, Diana Ross et al. For this years’ extravaganza the likes of Gloria Estefan, Toni Braxton and Legend had been contracted.

The festival, which was scheduled for April 24-26, was aborted, according to C.L Communications Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Anthony Maharaj because there are early indications were that there will be a poor attendance this year and it would have been “reckless” to go ahead with the show. In fact, earlier this month, after parent company C.L. Financial’s money troubles were publicised, the organisation announced that it was pulling out of the event which it has co-sponsored with the Tobago House of Assembly.

The festival, which is a major tourism event for Tobago, has, in the past, attracted thousands of people from Trinidad, the Sister Isle and also from abroad. Tickets are very pricey and hotel rooms are at a premium so that a package of tickets for three nights plus accommodation carries a price tag in excess of US$1,000. The cancellation of the event is a body blow to Tobago tourism. Hotels are already in as bad way, complaining about low occupancy which industry observers believe has been caused by a combination of rising violent crime and the global recession.

Like most “Jazz Festivals” in the Caribbean there is little or no jazz and more popular music.
Patrons don’t care one bit: few of them care about or understand jazz. On the whole, it is a great weekend “lime”- like the UWI All Inclusive fete. An upwardly mobile social gathering where one can mix with the people that matter. However, it wasn’t always that way: in the 1980s, this country pioneered what was then called “Pan Jazz” featuring top jazz musicians from the United States and Europe and also steelband music. St Lucia and Barbados saw a good thing and began producing their own jazz events in the 1990s.

The Queen’s Royal College Foundation and the Ministry of Tourism have combined to develop their own jazz event around October-November each year. In San Fernando, impresario Dawad Phillip, for the past five years, has been producing “Jazz At The Top” on the scenic San Fernando Hill. From all indications, these jazz shows will be held this year.

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Unfortunately these days its true that many so called "jazz festivals" have little to due with Jazz. That said some of the smaller subsidiary festivals last year in Tobago were jazz oriented, particularly Jazz On The Beach at Mt Irvine. Promoters borrow the term Jazz for their festival labels as a code word for "family friendly", read unthreatening and upscale because Rock and Pop festivals have a mixed reputation when it comes to security and the sponsors want to attract as large a mainstream audience as possible. So in essence they use the word Jazz to try to add some class to the proceedings even when what is presented has little to do with improvised music. Unfortunately this confusion leaves many folks under the impression that a performer like Elton John is a jazz musician which is hardly the case.

It seems to me that the Pop music approach to festivals is OK if you dig the "star" culture kind of thing but those with a taste for something more substantial usually look further. If the smaller festivals do go ahead this spring on Tobago fans might be surprised at the quality of the performances particularly at Mount Irvine. Check them out if you're on around at the end of April.

[Andy K]

THA came up with an interesting alternative program.
Check out
http://www.triniforums.com/2009/02/28/t ... l-no-more/
for details.
Todays "Guardian" features the "Tobago Jazz Experience 2009" on Page B17.
Unfortunately, i couldn't find anything on the Guardian web site.
On April 26th my favourite guitarist GEORGE BENSON will perform in Pigeon Point.
I will definately come over from Trinidad for THAT !

[JerryT]

Well it looks like the jazz festival is on or rather another incarnation of it. My band has again been invited down to the Mt. Irvine Hotel for a two week residence starting April 19th which will include concerts at the two day "Jazz On De Beach" Festival on April 25th + 26th. The quartet this year is a stellar one and includes Dave Bowler (Ahmad Jamal), Enno Dugnus (Sal Nistico, James Moody, Spike Robinson) and the outstanding german upright bassist Sebastian Jensen. Real jazz for an increasingly jazzy festival agenda it seems. Lovely. We'll be performing most evenings at the Mt. Irvine Hotel when not on stage and last year the performances in the hotel were free. It would be great to meet some of you if you have the time to drop by during those two weeks. You don't need reservations.

Hope to see you
Jerry