Barbados Jazz Festival 2009

MUSIC LOVERS, the Barbados Jazz Festival is here again and it promises to be something to remember!

The acts have been booked, and all that's left to do is for patrons to come out in their numbers and enjoy the package put together by GMR International Tours.

Emphasising that everything is at the ready, promoter Gilbert Rowe gave the solid assurance that the global economic slowdown did not affect his ability to book the major artistes for the January 12 -18 season.

Declaring emphatically that the financial turmoil in some of the world's richest economies has had "absolutely no impact" on his organisational efforts, Rowe said the entertainment industry was unscathed by the fallout – so far.

He said "the degree of difficulty" in booking acts for an event like the Barbados Jazz Festival would be influenced by a promoter's track record.

Noting that the 2009 event would be the 16th anniversary of the festival, he stressed that the name was out there, people knew about it, and this was something which has been working to our advantage.

Rowe also noted that the timing of the festival ensured that competition from other major musical presentations would be limited.

According to him, "ours is in the middle of winter", and only Japan stages a music festival around the same time that Barbados does, or close to it. Most other festivals are scheduled for the summer months, he said. If the Barbados Jazz Festival was scheduled for that time, "there would be competition for the acts".

If anything, the Barbados Jazz Festival coincides with concerts, and "concerts happen all the time", the promoter noted.

Come next month, Barbadians and visitors to the island can look forward to performances by a stellar line-up including James Blunt, DeeDee Bridgewater, Hillario Duran, Dwane Husbands, Errol Ince, Diana Jarrett, Kite, Glenn Lewis, Harvey Mason, Chrisette Michele, Nexcyx, the BCC Jazz Project, Raf Robertson & Birdsong Academy, and Angie Stone.

- by David Alleyne