All for Sonny - 20th anniversary of Jazz Festival in honour of late great

Marcia Rowe, Gleaner Writer

It was the first time Myrna Hague would be planning the Jamaica Ocho Rios Jazz Festival without her late husband. Sonny Bradshaw was no longer physically around, but his ability to organise remained.

According to Hague, while it was tough going without Sonny by her side, she did have his help.

"At first it was a little overwhelming not having him by my side, but Sonny is a planner. From July of last year he wrote notes, and it is his notes that I have used," she said.

Those notes must have been good, as the first event of the week-long festival went off without a hitch.

The overcast sky was no deterrent to the patrons who turned out at the Jamaica Pegasus Gardens last Sunday for an entertaining jazz concert. Dubbed 'Opening Jazz Day', the concert was one of several events planned as part of the week-long Jamaica Ocho Rios International Jazz Festival's 20th Anniversary organised by the Sonny Bradshaw Foundation.

Living up to its international status, the featured musical artistes came from Canada, the United States of America and Jamaica.

While the Jamaican faces of Myrna Hague, Desi Jones and André Campbell were more familiar to the audience, the international faces, though not well-known, were not outdone.

International faces

Through their musical instruments and strong vocals, the artistes spoke the language of jazz, often as a tribute to Sonny.

First to take the stage were seven members from the visiting UMES (University of Maryland Eastern Shores) Band, comprising sophomores, juniors and graduates. With saxophones, trumpets, altosaxophone keyboard, bass and drums, the group performed Blue Bossa creditably.

André Campbell, wearing a yellow shirt under a dark suit, was a musician on the prowl. His fingers danced across the keyboard to tunes such as Take Me A Train, before closing with Mack the Knife.

Wearing a blue tie-and-dyed dress with a matching blue violin, Lila, from Memphis, Tennessee, recovered from a shaky start due to a technical glitch and ended her act with a delightful interpretation of People Make the World Go Round.

On his second trip to Jamaica this year, Trinidadian Etienne Charles gave a dazzling display of skill and talent. Alternating between the trumpet and the dejembe drum, he thrilled the audience with D Whence, Mamma and No Mercy from his new album Folklore. He completed his stint with a Bob Marley classic, Turn Your Lights Down Low.

Myrna Hague was the first of the vocalists. Dressed in blue and black, the vocalist gave a beautiful rendition of Falling in Love and That's Life, but did not return when the audience called for more.

Canadian born, Kiralina dedicated her first song, When Somebody Loves You, to Sonny and Myrna. With her unique interpretation, she also performed Fly Me to the Moon and What a Wonderful World.

After Carmen Lundy delivered From Moment to Moment, a male member of the audience said, "I like her voice". In her first visit to Jamaica, the multi-talented American was soothing as she was animated in performing When Love Surrounds Us (dedicated to Bradshaw) and The Rhythm of the Night from her CD.

But the night belonged to Ginnetta, without her band the Vendetta. On this her sixth visit to Jamaica, she was sassy, risqué and witty.

Wearing a close-fitting black dress, long enough to be mistaken for a blouse, hair swirling around, she began campaign entertainment with My Funny Valentine, the only song from her CD that is not an original. She then shifted to one of her originals titled Behind Those Eyes, written for her fourth husband. The influence from her many trips to Jamaica was evident in her closing song, Caribbean Lullaby.

As the audience filed out, Hague told The Gleaner that the Jazz Festival was started by her and her late husband to create a musical space for instrumentalists. The first concert was held for a day, the second lasted for a weekend, and the present form was conceptualised as a one-week jazz vacation.

The festival has become a tourism event and thus, in addition to St Andrew and St Ann, shows are scheduled for Trelawny.

Jamaica Ocho Rios International Jazz Festival 20th Anniversary began on June 12 and will conclude on Father's Day, June 20. Sonny Bradshaw and Mapleoft Poulle will be awarded posthumously for their contribution to music on June 19, along with Marjorie Whylie, at the Sunset Jamaica Grand Hotel.

Emcees for 'Opening Jazz Day' were Fae Ellington and Keith Brown, while Desi Jones on drums, Dale Haslam on bass, and Christopher McDonald on keyboard gave musical backing.