Billed as the only straight-ahead jazz festival in the Caribbean region, the action starts on Thursday, November 9 with a concert by jazz songstress Nnenna Freelon at the CuisinArt Resort, while Friday at LA Café brings a power-packed triple bill featuring multiple GRAMMY Award-winning Latin jazz legend Eddie Palmieri, versatile jazz saxophonist Pharaoh Sanders and jazz pianist Robert Glasper.
On Saturday the action returns to LA Café with the McCoy Tyner Trio and saxophonist Javon Jackson. The festival culminates on Sunday with the popular and lively “Jazz on the Beach” series at Johnno’s Beach Stop in Sandy Ground where The W.E.S. Group takes to the stage. As usual at festivals produced by BET Event Productions, local and regional artistes also will be in the spotlight throughout the festival.
Cybelle Brown, Vice President of Sales and Marketing with BET Digital Networks, said her team was once again excited to produce and promote a special event in the BET J festivals calendar. “The Anguilla festival is our precious gem and we look forward to welcoming jazz fans to Anguilla,” she said, stressing that BET J’s partnership with the Anguilla Tourist Board has strengthened the profile of Anguilla in the marketplace.
A preview show of this year’s event, featuring highlights of last year’s festival, is currently on rotation on BET J’s “Island Lime” format on Saturdays. Upcoming air dates are October 21 (1 p.m. and 7 p.m.), October 28 (8 a.m. and 6 p.m.), and November 4 (8 p.m. and 6 p.m.) All telecast times are Eastern.
“Jazz and Anguilla go together as smoothly as do our gorgeous white sands, shimmering turquoise seas and warm and wonderful people,” said Amelia Vanterpool-Kubisch, Director of Tourism. “Jazz is by its very definition a celebration… and one of the freest forms of expressions available to artists today. There are few better places in the world to experience this freedom than here on our island, where the art, artists and setting combine to bring the music to life like never before.”
Anguilla is a pristine and private escape waiting to happen. Wrapped in a beautiful and brilliant turquoise sea, this small island, skirted with 33 stunning, powder-soft white sand beaches, has warm and friendly people, a wide range of first-class lodging options, activities and entertainment that can provide you with fun long into the day and late into the night and more. In a phrase… it’s the recipe for the perfect world-class vacation.
