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| Main Stage Sunday night |
We’ve made
long road trips and even have flown in to major cities to see a music show, but
the St Lucia Jazz Fest takes the cake.
We have known about the festival for quite some time, and realized it
might fit in our plans as we sailed south, so we made firm plans to arrive in
St Lucia on or before May 1st.
This was the only “firm” plan we made, since keeping a schedule on a
boat is asking for trouble. We arrived
in Rodney Bay, St Lucia on May 3rd – not too bad in boat scheduling
terms.
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| Skip Monday performance in the mall venue |
The festival ran from April 30th
through May 11th. With 50
artists and over 20 venues, there was plenty of music over 12 days. While many venues were in the Rodney Bay
area, other venues were spread out in the southern portion of the island such
as Marigot Bay, Castries, and Soufriere.
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| Drum jam at the Fire Grill |
Our first glance at the website to review performers revealed some names
we hadn’t heard before and some that were vaguely familiar. In existence for over 20 years, the festival
has drawn acts like Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Ziggy Marley, Jean Luc Ponty,
Buddy Guy, Maynard Ferguson, Bobby Watson (from Kansas City), Rihanna (2006),
Earl Klugh, Tito Puente, Jeff Lorber, and the list goes on. Several veteran cruisers mentioned the “Amy
Winehouse” year. This was in 2009 when
she walked offstage halfway into her headlining comeback show, not because she
was drunk, but because of technical problems caused by continual heavy rain, so
I’ve read.
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| Main Stage Sunday afternoon |
The festival has evolved over
the years to include contemporary pop artists in addition to traditional jazz,
but some of these artists cross over into their own version of the genre which
really broadens the term and makes for some very interesting listening. Reggae, Soca (a blend of soul, calypso, and
funk), and what I term Island Hip Hop is also well represented, but I still
think it’s OK to call this a Jazz Festival.
Musical talent from the Caribbean islands is amazing and truly world
class. I suppose isolation and logistics
prevents many from reaching the US, but it’s amazing how many find their way to
Europe and Japan to perform. Sometimes I
think that Americans have lost track of our greatest export and jazz is more
appreciated abroad.
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| Barbara and her band |
One of our
discoveries this year was a saxophonist and pianist named Barbara Cadet, who
was born in the UK but raised in St Lucia.
She played several times throughout the festival, mostly in small
venues, although in past years she has shared the main stage on the final
night. She was brought to our attention
by fellow cruiser who just so happens to be from St Lucia. His name is Archie and he had just returned
by sailboat from the States after 40 years of living and working in Minnesota
of all places. We both participated in
the Salty Dawg Rally that sailed from the east coast to the British Virgin
Islands. Archie is a longtime jazz lover
and had been following her career for years and just knew that we would love
her music. We were privileged to stand
just a few feet away and witnessed an amazing performance from a band made up
of young musicians, all from St Lucia.
Barbara is a take charge band leader but made it point to showcase her
young talent. The horns and percussion
were as good anything I’ve seen in quite a while – simply amazing.
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| Talented Barbara Cadet |
Another discovery was Monty Alexander, a
native Jamaican who moved to the US in the early ‘60’s to play with the likes
of Dizzy Gillespie, Tony Bennett, Sonny Rollins, and even Frank Sinatra. Monty was smooth and had the stage presence
of the old master that he is. His set
was on the final day and started with slow standards, then built up to a medley
of jazzed up reggae that had the entire crowd on their feet and cheering.
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| Monty Alexander |
The headliner that evening was Maxwell, a
Brooklyn native who seems to be known throughout the Caribbean and the rest of the
world, but somehow escaped my notice until now.
He’s best described as a black Justin Timberlake with a stellar backup
band. While not necessarily my cup of
tea, his performance was definitely worthy of a final headlining act.
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| Commodores - getting after it |
That said, the act before Maxwell was
probably the most fun, based on my reaction and the crowd’s – the Commodores. These guys showed up to play and put on a
show that was loud, fast, fun, and almost carnival-like. Sure they’re old and that Lionel guy was a no
show, but the energy was infectious.
Again, not my go to music, but they seem to define professional
showmanship that is lost with many young pop acts.
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| Commodores - still shaking it after all these years |
The main
stage setting for the final three days was at Pigeon Island, a national park
consisting of beaches and numerous ruins from a British fort complex. The temporary stage was set up with a beach
as a backdrop, and seating was on the grass.
Most people brought their own chairs or blankets. We were shocked to learn that we could bring
in our own food and drink, the only restriction being no wine bottles with
corks – screw tops were OK. It really wasn’t necessary because there were
dozens of food vendors selling local favorites alongside beer, wine, and any
kind of liquor you could think of, all at reasonable prices. Quite a contrast to outdoor music shows in
the States where you are met with a full frisk down at the gate then forced to
buy grossly overpriced food and drink.
Several days after the show, I returned to Pigeon Island for a hike to
the top of the hill to check out the ruins of the fort and found no sign of
what took place only days earlier. The
stage and all vendor booths had been dismantled and the place was
spotless. The St Lucians truly take
pride in their island.
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| View from Pigeon Island of Jazz Fest grounds - spotless |
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| Pigeon Island fort |
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| View of Rodney Bay from the fort |
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| One of MANY cannons |
The Jazz
Festival was a fun stop and we’re glad it fit in our cruising schedule, if we
have such a thing. It was a long way to
travel to see some music, but then we’re just like that.
