Jamaica Jazz & Blues developing Ja's music talent

Patrons near the talent (small) stage in January 2005 at the Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival were literally stopped in their tracks as the commanding voice of Tessanne Chin filled the balmy night air. On that memorable evening, Tessanne also performed on the main stage, and since then, has performed several times at the festival, with the most recent being in 2012, when, with her sister Tami Chin, she opened for Celine Dion.

Walter Elmore, producer of the world-renown music festival, notes that the affirmation of Tessanne's talent through her victory at United States talent competition 'The Voice' comes as no surprise, as he recognised her outstanding abilities when he first listened to her sing a song by Celine Dion on a tape given to him by her father when she was 15 years old.

"Tessanne is extremely talented, a superb performer and a really beautiful human being. We at Jamaica Jazz & Blues celebrate her success and are happy that the world now knows what we recognised so many years ago. We are also proud of the fact that the Jamaica Jazz & Blues stage was Tessanne's first big stage and has been an integral part of her journey, and we look forward to her return to Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival in the near future," Elmore said.

Tessanne is not the only successful new-generation Jamaican musician to have received her break on the Jamaica Jazz & Blues talent stage. Ewan Simpson, producer of the talent stage for Jamaica Jazz & Blues, pointed to acts such as Tarrus Riley, Roots Underground, Duane Stephenson (To Isis),Voicemail, Harold Butler, C Sharp, Maurice Gordon, Raging Fire, One Third and Dr Kathy Brown.

MANY BREAKTHROUGHS

Dr Kathy Brown, an accomplished and talented pianist, already had a loyal following, but it was her outstanding performance on the talent stage that paved her way for repeated appearances on the main stage.

While the vocal group One-Third were winners of Rising Stars in 2006, and reached 'household-name status', they had become relatively quiet on the local scene in recent years. Their head-turning, jaw-dropping performance on the Talent Stage in 2013 earned them and immediate booking by Walter Elmore for this year's main stage.

For the uninitiated who are unsure of the history of the talent stage, Elmore explains: "When we moved the Air Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival to Cinnamon Hill in 2002, we started the talent stage to entertain the patrons in the food court, and it just kept growing. With the help of Ian Gibson, who produced the talent stage in the early years, we were able to organise live auditions across Jamaica to continue finding young talent."

He added, "We have decided to reintroduce the live music audition process this year, to give Jamaicans an opportunity to be exposed to more of the awesome talent available, all of whom cannot physically be given an opportunity at the main event. These will be held in Kingston and Montego Bay starting on Wednesday, January 15, and ending on Tuesday, January 21. There will be more on this soon."

Jamaica Jazz & Blues takes place from January 30 to February 1, 2014, at the Trelawny Stadium. Performers include Toni Braxton, Chaka Khan, Joe, Aaron Neville, Beres Hammond, Chrisette Michele, Crystal Gayle, and many more. For more information and tickets visit www.jamaicajazzandblues.com.