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Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Friends of Jazz

Friends of Jazz

THIRD MONTHLY MEETING - at a new venue

SUNDAY 4TH MARCH 2007

4 - 7 P.M.
at THE ACROPOLIS
BARBICAN ROAD

SONNY BRADSHAW &
THE JAZZ MOBILE
plus
MAIN SPEAKERS
* MARJORIE WHYLIE-WHRYTHM *JACKIE JACKSON-Bass
*DESI JONES/ -Drums
* MAURICE GORDON-Guitar
*
*SONNY BRADSHAW–Trumpet/Flugelhorn
*OUIDA LEWIS-Percussion/Tap Dance
*DEAN FRASER-Saxophones
*MYRNA HAGUE, MARY ISAACS-Vocals
D.J. JAZZ CD’s - Monte Blake, Keith Brown, Michael Edwards, Harry Graham,
Herbie Miller, Carl Percy, Michael Sharpe, Don Topping, Michael Williams

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Danish Whirl #1 - the Intro

Well, here I am , two days late, but beginning nonetheless.
Beyond what's in my profile, I have been a devotee of amny
diffeenttypes of music from a very early age.
My introductions to jazz came fisrt, at home, to the likes of Oscar
Peterson and Fausto Papetti, then via my uncle, to Milestones-era
Miles Davis and other similar artists.
During the 80s, hip hop intervened, and a lot of my teen years
were consumed with that genre aswell as with the then burgeoning
dancehall.
Withthe advent of gangsterism in both genres, I soured on them and returned
to jazz towards the end of the 80s
Writing as a freelancer - initially - for the Jamaica Observer newspaper
gave me increased acess to live performances locally, including the
Air jamaica jazz and Blues festival (which I had been ionvolved with, in
another capacity, from its inception).
At the 2004 festival, I met Chris Porter, then editor of Jazz Times magazine
in the US. We quickly struck up a friendship and shortly thereafter, I became a
Jazz Times contributor - doing predominantly CDreviews, but also a few
features.
The following year, I meagre Cd collection, and convivnced the owner of a local
coffee shop/Intenet cafe, Cafe Whats On Jamaica, to let me play Cds there on
Thursday nights. Often it would be myself, the wiater and a couple of security guards
who heard the music, but every so often, people would walk in and I would
engage them in conversation about what they were hearing (or they would often
open with a comment).
With both my confidence and reputation as someone with a great deal of interest
and a fair bit of knowledge about about jazz, I began to think of other initiatives
to promote appreciation for and acceptance of jazz in Jamaica, as well as
promoting Jamaica's rich history in the art form to the world. This blog is
thus far, the prinicpal outgrowth of those thoughts, and through jazz websites,
bulletin boards (like allaboutjazz.com) and email, I was making
contacts with jazz musicians, record execs, club owners and other aficionados
form around the world.
One of those wasa young musician form Denmark. This association was to
forcefully bring home the dangers of acting on enthusiasm and a little knowledge
without experience or wisdom

next post: Friday February 16

Happy Valentine's Day all

APAP_Men_2007


APAP_Men_2007
Originally uploaded by mike e.bop.

Friday, February 09, 2007

Danish Whirl

Beginning Monday (Febrary 12, wath for regular posts
on my disastrous but ultimately educational experience
in bringing Danish group The Hoeg Quartet to perform
in Jamaica.

The posts will appear Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays thereafter, through
March 2

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Moonlicks @ Lyme Key

Moonlicks - Ginetta & more at Lyme Key
Jazz First
by Michael 'Jazzofonik' Edwards
Sunday, February 04, 2007

Whether it was the full moon or just the novelty of a new location, a fired-up Maurice Gordon Trio
(Dwayne Livingston on bass and Chris Tyrell on drums with Gordon on guitar) backed an equally fired-up
Ginetta - known to Jamaican jazz aficionados as Ginetta's Vendetta when she plays with her own band, on
Tuesday night at the Lyme Key restaurant and bar.

Ginetta, here on her fourth visit, said she can't get enough of Jamaica. "I love everything - the weather, the food,
the great talent you have here, and just the people. Everyone is so warm and you've always been good to me everytime
I come."

Jamaican hospitality put Ginetta in a sufficiently good mood to duet with special guest Strangeah Cole on his classic
Bangarang, her pocket trumpet notes and sly vocal asides, a delightful counterpoint to Cole's raspy straight-ahead
delivery. As Strangeah himself was apt to bellow throughout the night, feels good!

Friday, February 02, 2007

Yasek Manzano - Farley Hill National Park

From a great photographer (that word is used too loosely but this guy is great) and a terrific guy, Bill King comes this shot of Cuban trumpeter Yasek(q?) Manzano who, in my opinion,was one of the finds of the week-long Barbados jazz festival