Entertainment
Eleuthera All That Jazz tuning up for fifth annual festival
By Diane Phillips & Associates
Mar 10, 2017 - 2:20:32 PM

Photos: March Coeffic

The Eleuthera All That Jazz Festival will soon be celebrating its fifth anniversary, bringing a host of renowned jazz artists to perform on the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas from 29th March to April 2nd 2017.

Listed in USA Today as one of the top ten Caribbean musical festivals to see in 2016, Eleuthera All That Jazz has been steadily growing its reputation since its first concerts in 2012.

All profits made by the festival are donated to the historic Hayne’s Library in Governor’s Harbor, which provides invaluable support and resources to the local community through a multitude of free services and outreach programs, especially for children, in such areas as homework assistance, arts and crafts and computer proficiency. The jazz festival adds to this educational objective by running a “meet the instruments” session at the library for local children.

President of the Hayne’s Library Michele Johnson said “The festival has been an extremely welcome addition to our annual fund raising, and since it’s first year in 2012 has provided more than $50,000 to our funding. Last year This year we used the donation towards refurbishing and providing new equipment for our computer room. Few students on the island can afford a computer at home, so this is an essential educational tool for them.”

Founder and Chairwoman of the festival, Patricia Leigh-Wood said “we are thrilled this year to be bringing back some artists who have been popular in the past, as well as having some exciting new international artists at the festival.”

The headliner act in 2017 will be Myra Maud, who was greeted with great enthusiasm at the 2015 festival. Since her breathtaking performance for the opening celebration of the Women’s Soccer World Cup 2011 in Germany, her international popularity has grown tremendously. Most recently appearing in a gospel musical at the Folies Bergeres in Paris and performing a Whitney Huston tribute with the Leipzig National Orchestra, Myra has unique style that has been influenced by jazz as well as traditional creole and Latin music.

New international acts include the Steve Coven trio from Toronto. Formed in 1993, the trio has performed world-wide, and has established themselves as one of Canada’s cultural ambassadors. The band has released ten critically-acclaimed albums since their debut, Live at the Senator, in 1997. Many of their compositions have been used for national and international film and TV productions.

Also performing at the festival for the first time will be two Italian London-based musicians, saxophonist Tomasso Starace and pianist Massimo Colombo. Both are prolific composers and have performed at many international jazz festivals since they started playing professionally in the 1990s.

Returning to the festival will be local Bahamian artists Adrian D’Aguilar and the Jazz Cats, featuring two young vocalists Anuschka Wright and Osana Neely. Both Anuscka and Osana are enjoying increasing success both at home and in the US, and the festival is proud to be welcoming them back in 2017.

The two main events of the festival are on the evening of Saturday 1st April at the Leon Levy Preserve, a loyal sponsor since the festival’s first year, and a gourmet jazz lunch at a private residence overlooking the beach on Sunday 2nd April.

As well as supporting the Hayne’s Library, the festival also aims to provide valu­able contacts for Baha­mian musicians in the international music scene and encourage visitors to Eleuthera as a cultural tourist location.

Profits are made through ticket sales but also in large part by the generous donations made by private and public sponsors. Together with the Leon Levy Preserve, the main 2016 sponsors are Aliv, FLDA Lighting Design, Damiano’s, HG Christie, Buttonwood Estates, HPF Lawfirm, BDO Accountants and Cariluxe.

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