PERHAPS you heard them during one of their weekly Sunday performances at Ocean Two Resort or at the Limegrove Lifestyle Centre. One thing is for sure, the band NJ3O+ has had the attention of music lovers everywhere since its inception a year ago.
Making waves on the regional scene, the band performed earlier this year at the Bequia Music Festival and more recently at the Tobago Jazz Experience, both with positive reviews. Bandleader Marius Charlemagne recounted the band’s experience at Tobago Jazz.
“We had the privilege of going along with Arturo Tappin . . . . It was an honour to be at a concert with him. Everyone really liked the band, we were well received.”
Charlemagne said that the band, which will be the opening act at the Sugar Isle Jazz on June 8 at the Plantation Graden, owed a lot of its success to the legendary jazz saxophonist.
“[Tappin] mentored [me] and other members in the band. He’s been very, very helpful, honestly. I owe a lot to him – how far I’ve gotten musically over the past year. He is the driving force behind this band.”
Having not yet produced their own songs, the band is best known for bringing its personal flavour to covering popular songs. This comes from the diverse musical backgrounds and tastes of the members, as some are known for being heavily influenced by rock, R&B and even gospel.
“Our set is never the same. We do all the covers in our own way. We put research into what the crowd would like; the age groups, the demographics, who will be there, who isn’t going to be there, what are the national genres of music . . . .”
NJ3O+ was born out of a small gig where Marius performed. He said that even though he did not expect anyone to want a jazz band, he still attempted to get the band a gig and to his surprise, he was successful.
“We played, people enjoyed it, and then after that we got another gig, and another gig, and another gig,” he said, laughing.
The name NJ3O represented the “new jazz trio” on drums, keyboard and bass guitar. As the band grew, however, it was necessary to update the name, hence the “+” at the end, signifying the additional members.
At Sugar Isle Jazz, they will be opening the show with Kweku Jelani on trumpet, Rashad Hinds on drums, Joseph Callendar on saxophone, Jerome Waithe on guitar, André Clarke on keyboard, and bandleader Charlemagne on electric bass guitar. (AT)
