Island Jazz Chat: Episode 10 - Cameron Pierre

Guitarist Cameron Pierre has come full circle returning to his native Dominica after a multi-decade recording and performing career in the UK. After establishing an important Caribbean jazz presence there, with six albums produced, he reflects on the journey to this point. Beginning in the reggae scene here in the islands and into the UK, his evolution towards jazz through the 1980s and beyond traces a parallel development of how the Caribbean musical DNA has influenced the society there. Photo by Jonathan Trotman.

• Programme Date: 5 August 2022
• Programme Length: 01:26:58

Island Jazz Chat: Episode 9 - Theron Shaw

Reticent. Diffident. Two words to describe the personality of guitarist Theron Shaw of Trinidad and Tobago. Another pair of apt adjectives would be determined and inventive. In a revealing conversation, we get into what made Shaw the popular choice for the islands' premier jazz guitarist. Three acclaimed albums, years of touring and working at defining for a new generation what the essence of kaisojazz is and can be for that demographic are hallmarks that are explored and revealed.

• Programme Date: 28 July 2022
• Programme Length: 01:20:25

Island Jazz Chat: Episode 8 - Clifford Charles

Trinidadian guitarist Clifford Charles describes his music as "smooth soca jazz." Grounded in the sounds and language of Trinidad, his liking for transforming the music of Carnival, the popular sound of Trinidad, into a contemporary jazz idiom sets him apart from other Caribbean jazz guitarists. With 5 albums under his belt, and counting, since 2004, this fan favourite prepares for a new path in life as he will have the time to make the familiar new again, with a vibe that says Caribbean smooth. Clifford Charles talks about his life, his music, his recording career, the future.

• Programme Date: 20 July, 2022
• Programme Length: 00:45:29

Playlist (July/August 2022) | Music Reviewsª

Herencia Criolla  Josean Jacobo

(Self released)

Pianist Josean Jacobo says: “I take the folkloric idioms, our traditional culture, African-Dominican heritage, and I blend it with contemporary jazz in a trio setting.” That statement aptly describes his new album, but does not convey the extent of the rhythmic impact one can hear. Bachata and merengue pulses cement a new island jazz aesthetic.

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1. This review appears in the July/August 2022 issue of Caribbean Beat magazine.

© 2022, Nigel A. Campbell. All Rights Reserved.

Island Jazz Chat - Episode 7: John Arnold

John Arnold is the pioneering musician, recording artist and jazz festival coordinator on the island of Tobago. As a recording artist, he has helmed half a dozen albums that play with the idea of Caribbean jazz as original music, including his latest, Jazz Standards in the Tambrin Sauce, which incorporates the Tobago-native tambrin drum family. This family of frame drums adds a unique colour and sonic identification to the music that begins a new vision to flavour improvised jazz with the sounds and rhythms of the Caribbean. As a jazz festival coordinator, he is responsible for the Tobago Jazz Experience that celebrated a decade of performances just before the pandemic began with some of the biggest stars in the jazz festival pantheon, and positions Tobago as a leader on the sustained Caribbean jazz festival circuit.

• Programme Date: 14 June 2022
• Programme Length: 01:13:32

Playlist (May/June 2022) | Music Reviewsª

Brighter Days Ahead Elan Trotman

(Island Muzik)

Bajan saxman Elan Trotman is a prolific musician who used the break from live performances during the pandemic to continue his creation of an unrivalled oeuvre of contemporary jazz music for the discerning masses. Enhanced by a host of featured guest performers, this album offers a Caribbean smooth instrumental soundtrack to a hopeful future.

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Adjusting Arnaud Dolmen

(Gaya)

Guadeloupean drummer Arnaud Dolmen says that this, his second album, is “about how we adapt and adjust … The unexpected should be a source of strength.” Within it, Kwéyòl jazz, Vodou lyricism, and native gwo ka drum rhythms mix with and influence instrumentation that echoes a Creole past, and points to new ways of assimilating. Antillean music evolved.

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1. These reviews appear in the May/June 2022 issue of Caribbean Beat magazine.

© 2022, Nigel A. Campbell. All Rights Reserved.

Meet the Artists Live Concert Series: Tony Paul celebrates Lord Kitchener and Ralph MacDonald

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After the 2 year shutdown and restriction of the live music industry, Production One Ltd (POL) is returning to live music and jazz concert production. As the company prepares for the relaunch of its signature event, Jazz Artists on the Greens ™ in 2023, it introduces The Meet the Artists Live Concert Series. First up is Trinidadian saxophone jazz lion Tony Paul (Anthony Woodroffe, Jr.), in concert on Saturday, May 7, 2022 from 6:00 PM at the Queens Hall, St. Ann’s.

This popular, in-demand saxophonist and senior instructor of music at UTT-APA will perform two themed sets honouring and celebrating the music and legacies of two of Trinidad and Tobago’s greatest composers, Lord Kitchener and Ralph MacDonald. KITCH, A Centenary Celebration, is a recognition of the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Grandmaster in 1922, and in this set, Tony Paul relives those tunes that made us jump and prance, and had steelbands singing; "Pan in Harmony", "Sugar Bum Bum", "Pan in A Minor", "Margie", and more. He notes that, “the difficult thing, sometimes, is to take something that people know so well and re-envision it in a way that people are not going to be like, ‘why did he do that?’ There’s really a lot to work with where Kitchener’s melodies and even the progressions. I’m really looking forward to it.” He adds, “connecting the traditional with the contemporary is one of the ideas I am playing with. In terms of the team, it’s a lot of really really excellent young musicians. So, it means that, as much as these are classic songs, we are able to use some of our youth — I’m probably like the oldest one in the ensemble — to connect it with a modern spin. I’m really excited about the arrangements, I’m really excited about working with these guys and girls.”