The St. Lucia Jazz Festival

[Lois Gilbert]

St. Lucia Jazz Festival Sweet Sixteen

Sweet sixteen, that’s the milestone that the St. Lucia Jazz Festival has reached, becoming one of the longest running (non-traditional) events of its kind in the Caribbean. And on Tuesday February 13, all the major players including tourism officials, sponsors and the media came together to celebrate what has become an event in and of itself, the announcement of the 2007 St. Lucia Jazz Festival line up.

However ahead of that, the Director of the St. Lucia Tourist Board, Mrs. Maria Fowell, spoke about the challenges which were thrown at the tourist board by the new minister for Tourism, Senator Allan Chastanet. Back in 1992 when the St. Lucia Jazz Festival was conceptualized Minister Chastanet was then the director of the St. Lucia Tourist Board and was very instrumental in getting the event off the ground.

Maria Fowell spoke about having to work with a much reduced budget for the event as well as streamlining some of the fringe activities and getting the private sector to support these a lot more. All of these challenges she concurred the board has risen to, with the assistance of the corporate sector. Cable & Wireless the original sponsor of St. Lucia Jazz will once again be a main sponsor of St. Lucia Jazz.

This year BET J will be the presenting sponsor (and producer) of the festival. However it was announced that measures have been put in place to phase this out, giving St. Lucians the opportunity to produce the event and offer services for all aspects associated with the St. Lucia Jazz Festival. This was met with resounding applause.

For his part the tourism minister spoke about the growth of the festival praising the last administration for growing it and taking it to where it is today. However he said the time had come to take a critical look at the event, bearing in mind that it had achieved its initial objectives, and to begin to look at the direct financial returns. He also alluded to the fact that whilst over the years the event had included R&B and other musical forms, this years line-up would include more Jazz artists and once again target that market. But great artists aside, the Minister also spoke about combining good music with fantastic venues and pointed out that this year Pigeon Island (The home of St. Lucia Jazz) will be transformed into a great venue like never before.

Then came the moment everyone was waiting for, the announcement of the 2007 line-up, which was done by Michael Rogers of the Wave 94.5 one of the premier sponsors of the St. Lucia Jazz Festival.

The main-stage line-up for Thursday May 10 includes Tania Maria, David Murray and The WES Group. On Friday May 11, the main-stage event will be headlined by John Legend and will also feature Blu Mango as well as a combined performance of Norman Brown, Gerald Albright and Will Downing.

On Saturday May 12, the Pigeon Island venue which normally attracts the largest crowds with its picnic style setting will feature The Brand New Heavies, Ronald “Boo” Hinkson and Friends and Al Jarreau with George Benson who together released the CD “Givin’ It Up” last year.

The finale on Sunday May 13 will feature Isaac Hayes with additional artists to be announced soon.

The line up for other venues, including Fond d’or on the West Coast, Jazz on the Square and Jazz in the south were also announced, offering a musical potpourri of Caribbean music and World Beat sounds.

Over the next few weeks additional events and their respective line-ups will be announced including the opening of Jazz and Jazz on the square all activities which has created an atmosphere which goes beyond the music to make the St. Lucia Jazz festival one of the premiere events of its kind in the world.

The St. Lucia Jazz Festival started in 1992 as a marketing event to boost the tourism industry and to give the island a measure of visibility on the world map. The official dates for the 2007 jazz festival is 4 -13 May.