By Ravin Singh
GUYANA’S inaugural Jazz festival – G-Jazz Festival – which is billed for December 11-14 was officially launched on Friday at Moray House, with a promising schedule which aims to promote Jazz music through workshops and dance, pan and poetry competitions.The festival, which mirrors a similar one hosted annually in St. Lucia, is being spearheaded by the International Committee of the Queen’s College of Guyana Alumni Association (ICQC) and will be executed through a collaborative effort with Healing Arts Foundation and the Theatre Guild.
Contending that Guyana has a very strong tradition of Jazz music composition and recording which has been neglected to some extent, the organisers of the event projects not only a forum for enjoyment, but recognition of the art form created, inspired and performed by Guyanese.
It is against this backdrop that UK-based David McAlmont, Trinidad-based Ruth Osman Rose, Courtney Fadlin who is based in the Eastern Caribbean and Derry Etkins stationed in Turks and Caicos are listed to be among the artistes headlining the maiden Jazz festival.
Speaking at the launch yesterday, Executive Secretary of ICQC, Alfred Granger, explained that the Jazz Festival is expected to be funded through branding donors, ticket sales and donations from organisations, businesses and citizens.
Estimated at a cost of $10M, the event, described by Granger as an “expensive” one, is also expected to attract donations from the Tourism and Education Ministries.
The Executive Secretary also explained that most of the entertainment performances will be done for free and the funds generated from the 4-day event will be deposited to charities. These charities include Just Off The Road, Step by Step Foundation for Children with Autism, Child Link Inc, Rescu, Queen’s College, Lisa Punch Foundation, Help and Shelter, Joshua House, Tina Insanally Foundation and the Theatre Guild.
With 2,400 tickets expected to be printed, all of the charities which had confirmed their participation by Friday last are expected to collect their tickets by tomorrow with Queen’s College being the leading beneficiary with 800 tickets.
Comprising the list of activities planned for the event are Jazz dance competitions, Floetry (Poetry) competitions, Disc Jockey (DJ) playoff competition, pan jazz competitions, workshops, and a number of concerts featuring local and overseas based artistes including Charmaine Blackman and Quick Pick, Ruth Osman Rose, David McAlmont, Guy Davies and Courtney Fadlin, among others. Monetary prizes ranging from $25,000 to $500,000 will be up for grabs in the competitions.