Myrna says thank you -Free concert to close Jamaica Ocho Rios International Jazz Festival

Wife of jazz icon the late trumpeter Sonny Bradshaw, Myrna Hague, will close the week-long Jamaica Ocho Rios International Jazz Festival on a musical high by saying thank you to patrons who have supported the event over the last 21 years, with a free public concert at the Turtle River Park in Ocho Rios.

The musical extravaganza will take place on Father's Day, Sunday, June 19, featuring dazzling local and international acts.

The event, which promises to be a family fun day, kicks off at noon, with performances by a Japanese Jazz Fusion group, TOKYO TAoZZ Trio (translated tango and jazz). Their appearance will be made possible due to a collaboration between the "Music Unites Jamaica Foundation" and the Ocho Rios Jazz Festival. Other acts include Mynta group from Sweden; Sassy Trumpeter Ginetta's Vendetta; Dr Kathy Brown and Friends; crooner Mikey Spice and a ska revival by the Fab 5 Band.

Families taking fathers for a treat on his special day need not worry about either cooking or driving, as meals will be on sale and jazz buses will be available at a minimal fee, leaving from the Small Business Association Park at Trafalgar Road at 10 a.m. on Sunday. To make reservations for the bus call Jam Venture Tours at 437-2441.

The Jamaica Tourist Board sponsored event is expected to be a draw for locals as well as international jazz enthusiasts and will also feature free concerts in the Ocean Village Shopping Centre in Ocho Rios at 4 p.m. daily, nightly jazz jams in the city at the Jazz Village - Four Seasons Hotel on Ruthven Road and in Ocho Rios at the Sunset Beach Resort.

Other satellite events during Jazz Week will take place on Friday at Glen's Jazz Club and Restaurant in Tower Isle and Saturday at the Two Seasons Guest House in Treasure Beach and at the Jamaica Palace Hotel in Portland.

Started in 1991 by musician and journalist Sonny Bradshaw as an experimental one-day festival, the event has since grown to become the Caribbean's complete jazz vacation, featuring the greatest names in Jamaican jazz as well as the very best on the international scene. The aim was to help redefine the Jamaican musical landscape and enhance the tourism product by providing an entertainment atmosphere suited to the entire family.

The festival has developed and established itself as a recognised authority for promoting and showcasing distinguished international as well as Jamaican and Caribbean jazz musicians. Its format is one of a kind and is dedicated to the promotion and preservation of the jazz genre.

For more information on Jazz Week, contact the Jazz Centre at 927-3544.