Big jazz weekend in Tobago

Headlining tonight’s “World Music Night” at Pigeon Point Heritage Park, named among the world’s top 100 beaches by CNN, is nine-time Grammy Award winner John Roger Stephens, better known by his stage name John Legend.

The 35-year-old singer-songwriter and actor, who began his career only in 2001, shot into prominence in 2004 when his album Get Lifted went certified platinum. The album won the 2006 Grammy Award for Best R&B Album, and earned Legend another two awards, for Best New Artist and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for his single “Ordinary People’.

More success came to Legend in 2006 from his second album Once Again. Single “Heaven” won the Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, while “Save Room””was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

Legend has released two other albums to date, LOVE in 2012 and Love in the Future last year from which his current hit single “All of Me” is receiving maximum rotation.

Also on the play bill is American singer and actress, Brandy, born Brandy Rayana Norwood 35 years ago, who is the mother of one.

Her contralto voice has often been described as soft, raspy, and husky. And to date she has produced six albums – Brandy (1994), Never Say Never (1998), Full Moon (2002), Afrodisiac (2004), Human (2008) and Two Eleven (2012).

Her 1998 album became both her highest-charting and highest-selling album to date on most international markets, and won numerous awards and accolades, including a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for “The Boy Is Mine”.

These foreign acts will share stage with top of the top local acts in the land, Dil-E-Nadan, and the Asylum Vikings featuring Soca power couple Bunji Garlin (Ian Alvarez) and his wife Fay Ann Lyons.

Just last year, Garlin, who has produced ten albums to date, won the Soul Train Award for Best International Performance for the song “Differentology”.

Tonight’s “World Music Night” show starts at 7.30 pm.

Tomorrow night, also from 7.30 pm, the first ever Youthopia show will get underway at Pigeon Point Heritage Park.

This newest addition to the TJE calendar, Youthopia is a night dedicated to the celebration of youth in music and entertainment.

Jamaican recording artiste, Tessanne Amanda Chin, perhaps best known for winning Season 5 of NBC’s reality TV singing competition The Voice, will be the headline act.

Before The Voice, Chin became known in TT for her 2006 hit “Hideaway”, and a few years later in 2010, her collaboration with local Kees Dieffenthaller, “Loving You”.

Some of her other collaborations with fellow Jamaican artistes include “Never Let Go” (Shaggy), “Someone Like You” (Protoje) and “By My Side” with Third World, while her other singles include “Black Books”, “Messenger”, “Broken Melody”, “Are Yah Gonna (Control)” and “Tumbling Down”.

However it was the songs she rendered on The Voice that captivated the attention of the show’s audience in the Caribbean and North America. Some of those songs included “Try”, “Many Rivers to Cross”, “If I Were Your Woman”, “Redemption Song”, “Unconditionally”, “Bridge over Troubled Water”, “Let It Be” and the Whitney Houston classic “I Have Nothing” that she nailed in the final.

Other acts on that night will be R’Kardo Stevon, Erphaan Alves, Gerard Balfour, Olatunji, DJ Red, Journei, Krush and Private Ryan

Earlier in the day tomorrow, Jazz on the Beach at Mt Irvine Bay begins at 11 am. Headlining this event is Barbadian saxophonist Arturo Tappin, with Leston Paul and The Connection, The Theron Shaw Project featuring Vaughnette Bigford-Griffith, Errol Ince Music Makers and Caribbean IN.XS featuring Francis Prime completing the cast.

There will be another installment of Jazz on the Beach on Sunday morning at the same place. Tappin will again be the main act, and will share stage with Dayo Bideje Jazz Project featuring John Francis, Patti Rogers with Douglas Reddon, Ronald Aqui & Roger Salloum and Master Mindz.

Then later on Sunday afternoon at 4 pm, is the Beach Jazz Fiesta, the grand finale of the TJE at Pigeon Point Heritage Park with main act Earth, Wind and Fire, the American band that has spanned the musical genres of R&B, soul, jazz, pop, rock, funk, disco, Latin, African and gospel, and is one of the most successful and critically acclaimed bands of the 20th century.

The band has received 20 Grammy nominations, won six as a group, and two individual awards.

EWF has also attained 12 American Music Awards nominations winning four, and has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as well as the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, and has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

EWF has sold over 90 million albums worldwide, while five members have been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Among the band’s hits are “Shining Star”, “That’s the Way of the World”, “Devotion”, “Reasons”, “Sing a Song”, “Can’t Hide Love”, “Getaway”, “Fantasy”, “Love’s Holiday”, “September”, “Boogie Wonderland”, “After the Love Has Gone”, “Let’s Groove” and “Got to Get You into My Life”.

Also on the playbill is another American singer-songwriter, record producer and television personality Keyshia Cole, who began her career in 2000.

To date she has released six albums – The Way It Is (2005), Just Like You (2007), A Different Me (2008), Calling All Hearts (2010), Woman to Woman (2012) and Point of No Return (2014).

She was nominated for Grammy, Soul Train, Vibe, NAACP, BET, American Music, Urban Music, ASCAP, BMI Urban and Mp3 Music Awards, but was only successful at the latter for her song “Take Me Away”, an Early Entertainment Award for “Heaven Sent”, BMI Award for “Let It Go”, ASCAP Award for “Love” and Vibe Award for R&B Voice of the year in 2005.

Her Grammy Award nominations were for “Let It Go”and “Just Like You” in 2008, and “Heaven Sent” in 2009.

The show also features Chrycee and the Soleil Band, Tony Paul and Geneieve.