SocaJazz looking to St Lucia

Members of Nebula meeting one of their idols, bass guitarist and vocalist Ricky Aimey at the launch of SocaJazz. (Sharon Harding)

Fri, June 08, 2012 - 12:02 AM

WITH ONE YEAR under its belt, SocaJazz could be expanding to St Lucia and be part of that island’s premier jazz festival. That is, if its producer Pedro Ricards has his way.

At a recent Press launch to promote the second installment of the event, which is scheduled to take place on June 17, he told the WEEKEND NATION, “We are looking to expand into the region and make this bigger.

“One of our sponsors is interested in the idea to have the SocaJazz band as part of the St Lucia Jazz Festival by next year or 2014.

“[That sponsor] does a lot of promotion there and is a big sponsor of that event and we just need to make a proposal to the St Lucia Jazz Festival team,” he said.

SocaJazz, which will take place on the grounds of Bagatelle Great House in St Thomas, has world-class musicians in its line-up, including Ricky Aimey, Ziggy Walcott and Ian Alleyne.

This year they will be joined by 14-year-old Jamal Slocombean, Nebula, a group of youngsters who created the band specifically for the show, as well as Stefan Walcott and the1688 Quintet, and Joshua Gay. That’s not the only change to SocaJazz either.

Besides additional acts, the afterparty promises to have some of the island’s top calypsonians perform live.

“We have had such positive feedback from musicians and patrons alike. They have been asking for more, so we are currently planning a SocaJazz spin-off for November. I don’t want to give away all the details but it’s going to be even better,” Richards said. (TM)