By Mary White
Like many 
of you I am looking forward to jazz and blues 2014 not only because of the line-up but because it is like a mini vacation/retreat when I get to connect with friends past and make future friends.Boy oh boy! I have had some memorable experiences. As I scroll through my old stories, how giddy and excited they were, it may seem to an outsider that I am a festival virgin.I consider it an absolute honour to be in the same venue with the likes of singer Beres Hammond. You will never get tired of listening to Beres! Of course he will be one of the featured acts at this year’s staging. I just go wild when he draws for hits like ‘What One Dance Can Do’, ‘Tempted To Touch’ and ‘Pull up The Vibes’.
For the first time I got to see my Tessane perform live at Jazz on the small stage. I called it; I knew she had the VOICE! Secretly I have always been in love with Dianne Warwick. I grew up watching her on Solid Gold and believed she was the greatest until of course Whitney came along. But I felt a sense of accomplishment to experience greats like those perform live.Celine Dion was another big moment for me. That’s the biggest and craziest I have ever seen the festival. Traffic block for miles and the stadium jam packed. I will confess that I was angry with her when just as I was getting in the groove, her performance ended abruptly. You had to me there it was like the patrons were in a trance.
I remember the year when Romaine Virgo performed on the small stage. The consensus amongst the crowd was, “No sah him belong pon big stage.” The organisers listened because the next year he was on the Big stage! His performance was a little shaky but great and the crowd loved him.
Lady Saw was the wild card that blew my socks off! Her performance had me riveted as I was not aware of her alter ego Marion Hall who was a docile song bird. To this day, I still rave about her performance.I love the festival for its richness in exceptional performances from both famous and unknown artistes. In addition it’s great fun as you get to let your hair down and meet people from all over the world. You will find me hanging out most times at the food court where I get to enjoy real Jamaican food such as yam and fish and corn and blue mountain coffee. Oops how can I forget to mention the bathroom facilities? Ladies, I know you will appreciate this as it is fit for a queen! None of that sloppiness you get at big public events in Ja.The 18th staging of the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival takes place January 30 to February 1, 2014 at the Trelawny Multipurpose Stadium in Jamaica. The line-up includes Beres Hammond, Toni Braxton, Christopher Martin, Joe, Crystal Gayle, Beenie Man , Chaka Khan, Protoje and many more.My advice is to save the date Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival happens the last weekend of January every year. I guarantee you that once you experience it you will get hooked.
Mary White is a brand manager and sales exec. She wrote this specially for the North Coast Times
