By Hazel Durand
Jazz/Creole – “It’s a fusion,” says Dominica’s leading Jazz/Creole artiste Michele Henderson, who is also one of the Caribbean’s premier female vocal talents. Her description of the genre draws the Creole aspect of the music to the rhythm; while the language and chords, she says, are jazz.
“It makes for a refreshing blend; it is not something you hear all the time. To me, it’s brilliant, I love it,” Henderson said to The Daily Herald last Sunday, June12, following her performance at the second annual Jazz ‘n Creole event held at Fort Shirley, Cabrits National Park in Portsmouth, once the site of the most impressive military installation in the West Indies built in the 18th century to protect the north area of Dominica by the British and French respectively.
This event organized by Discover Dominica Authority (DDA) was a part of Tourism Awareness emphasised in the month May. “The entire concept is to come up with events that help to promote the destination, but also provide something people want to see; so we get visitors as well,” explained DDA CEO/Director of Tourism Collin Piper.
The event was strategically planned to be executed during the low tourist season to booster the number of visitors to the island. “Our mandate is to bring in visitors,” said Piper. Therefore a host of journalists from across the region: St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Antigua amongst others, was flown in to cover the event as part of DDA’s campaign to promote Dominica around the Caribbean.
As Piper noted, the genre of jazz music has become quite popular in the region over the years. However, Dominica wants to take the edge and incorporate Creole music, a genre he said the island strides heavily on, even hosting the annual World Creole Fest in the month of November.
“I think this is a new avenue of expression for Dominican artistes to be able to expand their horizons and not just look to the local genres we have. Also to encourage artistes of a much higher calibre to come to our island and play and experience what it is we have, and share our music, our experience,” said Henderson.
“We changed hands between the French and British several times, so there is a lot of Creole in us.” The local Jazz/Creole artistes, “Shades of Green,” a jazz fusion band, featuring Gelina Fontain; “Pan Ansam,” a group of Dominica’s premier musicians, with the sounds of the steel pan at the forefront and Michele Henderson, who did her homeland justice with her inspiring performance, playing the flute and soothing the audience with her original melodies.
International acts Barbara Cadet Quintet of St. Lucia and Alfredo De La Fé of Cuba added the transnational flare. Alfredo De La Fé Cuban-born and New York-based violinist is responsible for transforming the violin into an important sound of Salsa and Latin music. He has appeared on more than 100 albums by top-ranked Latin artistes such as Celia Cruz, Tito Puente and Santana.
With violin in his hand, Alfredo De La Fé set the pace for his performance when he instantly went into the crowd giving the audience a close-up of his skill on the violin. Exhilarating for the night’s closing performance, Alfredo De La Fé and his band had the audience jamming from beginning to end, leaving patrons satisfied and wanting more.
Barbara Cadet Quintet demonstrated her fluency in the language of music as she played the saxophone and sung up a storm of original and popular jazz hits. Her musical collaborations and experimentations are legendary, having performed throughout the region and opening for international acts such as Patti La Belle and Anita Baker. She has lectured on Caribbean music at the University of Miami.
Already with this calibre of jazz talent at just the introductory level of this event, according to DDA CEO/Director of Tourism Piper, the organization intends to step it up even a notch further by adding one major international artiste to next year’s line up of performers. “We want to continue the message that Dominica is open for business, as new and exciting things happen for the island. Now besides nature, we have culture and adventures and music as well.”
Piper said St. Maarten was important for the island as an international hub with connections both to United States and Europe. Therefore, he said he was content that the new airline BVI Airways has picked up on the direct flights from Dominica to St. Maarten and vice versa three times a week after Winair has again seized operations to the island.
Piper said while the event was not there as yet, comparing it with similar events in the region, DDA was working diligently with the assistance of international press to set the pace for future events. Henderson, who noted that the event had been initiative generated by herself and a host of others, said more monetary contribution was needed to take the event to another level. “If the event was much better funded, we could have a more spectacular event; blow the others out of the water. I think it has the capacity to be that great and become one of the premier festivals in the Caribbean, because it is elite in that respect,” she said.
Generating some feedback from patrons on their overall impression of the event, The Daily Herald spoke to patron Tiffany Skinner, a visitor from Barbados, who said the occasion was an ideal manner of giving exposure to local jazz artistes, while taking in the beautiful venue with its historical significance: “These are the kinds of things they need, because it’s not just about Creole fest. They need to keep the arts going throughout the year.”
Sponsors of this Jazz ‘n Creole event were Digicel, L’Express Des Isles, LIAT, Dominica Brewery & Beverages Ltd – Kubuli Beer, Josephine Gabriel & Co Ltd – Heineken Beer and Coca Cola, J Astaphan & Co Ltd – Appleton Estate and Regens Hotel.
