Mary Wilson, one of the three original members of the Supremes, will be in Barbados as part of the Naniki Caribbean Jazz Safari.
The story of the Supremes’ initial visit to the island is well known in Barbados, reminded director of the festival Tom Hinds.
“She happens to be one of those fateful people who performed on what we can say was our ill-fated night. It was when we became independent and the rain poured cats and dogs in the Fairchild Street area and Mary and the other Supremes had to literally be rescued from the mass confusion that ensued,” he recalled during the launch yesterday at the Barbados Beach Club in Dover, Christ Church.
Wilson will headline the Night Of The Legends at the Sea Rocks Dome at the Barbados Beach Club on January 16 at 8 p.m. He revealed that it was the idea of Professor George Belle to approach the management of the veteran entertainer.
“When George started to become all animated about it and when he started to relay what happened that night, he said to me, ‘I would like to put you guys in touch and I think it would be worth the while’.”
The former Supreme will be paying tribute to Lena Horne with Stormy Weather. Horne’s biographer will also be at the show, he revealed, adding that the performance would be of major significance because of Wilson’s connection to the island’s Independence.
Other major headliners for the January 16 to 21 show include Tia Fuller, a versatile musician who also works with pop megastar Beyonce, the Oscar Peterson Legacy Band and Reggie Boyce, a Panamanian of Barbadian descent. Most events will be held at the Sea Rocks Dome at the Barbados Beach Club.
Local stars include Arturo Tappin, Rhea Drakes Quintet and Nikita Browne.
Soca artist Alison Hinds will show her jazzy side on the final day of the festival, during the Errol Barrow Day Bajan Jazz Picnic.
The Caribbean soca queen expressed excitement at being chosen for the event.
“To get the opportunity with this platform to be able to sit down and relax and stand if I want to and go down in the audience if I feel like it and just sing in a completely different way for me to express myself as an entertainer and a performer, I am very, very excited about being a part of the jazz adventure,” she said at the launch. (LW)
