HOLLYWOOD – Jazz musician, Jon Saxx and his band, the Irresistible Journey, on Tuesday night walked away the winner of the 2010 South Florida Jamaica Jazz Fest Quest.
Saxx and his group were last night declared the unanimous winner of the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival amateur music contest before a packed house at the Ginger Bay Cafe in downtown Hollywood Florida.
Jon Saxx and the Irresistible Journey beat out five other bands to win the annual talent search competition and the chance to be flown to Jamaica later this month to perform in the birth place of reggae legend Bob Marley.
Joy Schaaffe, of Air Jamaica; Karlene Shakes of the Jamaica Tourist Board; Noel Jones of Ginger Bay Café and Lukee Chung of Frame by Frame and Island Stylee.com agreed with the audience that Saxx and his band performed phenomenally.
Jon Saxx and the Irresistible Journey will perform at the Caribbean’s best music festival, the 2010 Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival in Trelawny, Jamaica between January 24 and 30, 2010.
Saxx was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, attended college at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and graduated with a degree in Manufacturing Engineering.
He has been voted Best Local Jazz Artist in South Florida by Miami New Times in 2008 and has performed with Najee, Montell Jordan, Howard Hewitt and at the Monthly National Anthem Performances for the Miami Heat.
Jazz Fest Quest South Florida winner, Jon Saxx and his band on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2010.
(Nicole Hylton Photography)
Other competitors of the Jamaica Jazz Fest Quest South Florida on January 6th included Saxx Kehv, the prince of reggae soul; Soul Stank, The Kirk Green Project, Larry Dogg and Da band and Narda “Nadiva” Malcolm.
The annual Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival will be held from January 24-30, 2010 in Jamaica.
The festival has become synonymous with the culture of Jamaica and will feature not just local performance but a slew of international acts including multiple award winners Gladys Knight, Kenneth ‘Babyface’ Edmonds, Erykah Badu, Billy Ocean, Joe Roy Jackson, Kelly Price, Tamia, Deborah Cox, Hall and Oats, Jon Secada, Monty Alexander, Roy Ayers, Third World, Machel Montano HD, Marion Hall, and the Max Klezmer Band.
Jamaica Jazz since its introduction in 1996 was known as the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival, has attracted thousands of patrons from the USA, Europe, the Caribbean and Jamaica.
This year the festival is again being presented by key title sponsor, the Jamaica Tourist Board. Other sponsors include Air Jamaica, Iberostar, Rose Hall Resort, CVM TV, Link Up Group, Jamrock Magazine and The Gleaner Company among others.
