Alicia Keys rocked Cayman Islands Jazz festival

Nine-time Grammy award winner Alicia Keys graced the stage during the sixth annual Cayman Islands Hot Jazz festival held at Camana Bay last Saturday, 5 December. In a class of her own, Ms Keys has amassed a repertoire of hits and has sold over 20 million albums.

It was a spectacular evening, as nearly 7,000 music lovers descended on the new Town of Camana Bay to hear the superstar live. Ms Keys gave an electrifying performance and had the crowd hanging on every note.

As the show progressed, the audience, so wrapped in the music, sang alongside Ms Keys to some of her most popular contemporary music, while others simply danced the night away. The venue was awesome and the sound, stage and lighting were brilliant.

The star emerged onto the stage to a roaring applause from the audience. Ms Keys sang a number of hits from her repertoire, including “Empire State of Mind”, “Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart”, “The Element of Freedom”, as well as the groovy hits “Fallin” and “Woman’s Worth” from her debut album in 2001.

Ms Keys also performed a few numbers from her second album, “The Diary of Alicia Keys”, including “You Don’t Know My Name” and “If I Ain’t Got You.” From her third album “As I am”, Ms Keys sang, “Like you’ll Never See Me Again” and “Teenage Love Affair.” The crowd exploded 45 minutes into the performance when Ms Keys sang her monster hits “New York” and “No One.” The latter became one of the highest charting singles on Billboards Hot R&B/Hip Hop songs chart. Alicia Keys’ vocal talents and stage presence have cemented the artist as one of the great contemporary musicians of the day.

Large screens on either side of the stage afforded the audience better camera angles of the performance. Black Entertainment Television (BET), which has exclusive filming rights to the event, produced the show.

Betty Ann Duty is an Alicia Keys fan and was among those in attendance for Hot Jazz at Camana Bay she said, “This was definitely the best Jazz Fest thus far! The venue was perfect, the stage and lighting were first class, and the featured artists were truly a collection of talented and wonderfully entertaining musicians. It also gave our local musicians fantastic exposure, and they did us proud.” Adding that the event was well organised, she said, “I look forward to next year’s event with much anticipation.”

Cayman Islands resident Nicole Hydes also enjoyed the show she said, “Alicia Keys is the truth. Her talent, her voice and presence on stage were truly spectacular. She strutted across the stage and gave the Cayman Islands her oldest, best and her most recent hits.” Ms Hydes said, “It was electrifying to see Alicia Keys play the grand piano. The Department of Tourism did an extremely commendable job with this year’s jazz festival.” She continued, “The people danced for most of the performance and sang along with their favorite tunes – I’d say it was a sellout crowd for Saturday night.”

Ms Hydes said that it was totally awesome to be there for such an experience. “I have traveled to Jamaica for many years just to indulge in their Jamaica Jazz ‘n’ blues week and I am happy to say that Cayman has stepped up many levels and now falls into the category of excellence.”

Derek Haines, Head of Security, Health and Safety at Camana Bay, said, “Public safety is a priority and that is the way we approach it at Camana Bay.” He said that the venue although large enough to accommodate up to 10 000 people was capped at under 7000 people. “We decided to keep it safe and comfortable and we capped the event at 6555 persons.”

Mr Haines said, “The feedback was 100 percent superlative in what happened. People have not stopped talking about the event. Ten percent of the population gathered in one place and it went without a hitch.” He said, “I really want to thank everyone who attended the Jazz festival. It was great fun that was had by all. Cayman offered its best and for that I tip my hat.”

Kathy Jackson, acting Public Relations Manager for Camana Bay, attended the event and she said, “Events at Camana Bay led the Camana Bay team that worked with the Department of Tourism and BET Productions to produce what can only be described as an incredible event.”

She added, “From Camana Bay’s perspective, the work started over six months ago with site preparation and steadily grew as the event got closer. We are delighted with the feedback we have received from our partners and from the public and believe that together we have set a new standard for large scale events in the Cayman Islands.”

She said, “Camana Bay’s Operations and Security Teams worked incredibly hard, side-by-side with their counterparts at the DOT and BET Productions and even now as we wrap up Cayman Jazz Fest 2009 we will almost immediately start working on the site to prepare it for Jazz Fest 2010.”