A major component of this year’s Sagicor Christmas Jazz series will be a free music workshop put on during this week by some of the headline acts.
The workshop, which comes off on Wednesday at 6 p.m. under the auspices of the United States Embassy to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, will allow students, musicians and lovers of music an opportunity to interact with some of the most sought-after musicians from around the world.
For the fifth straight year, the embassy will host the workshop as part of its ongoing mission to facilitate positive cultural exchanges between the United States and the Eastern Caribbean.The international musicians who play and tour with some of the biggest names in music business, including Quincy Jones, Earth, Wind & Fire, and Seal, to name a few, will share some of their experiences, answer questions and jam in a free flow session.
Leading the charge will be Sonny Emory, who has a wealth of teaching experience and currently serves as adjunct professor of applied percussion at Georgia State University, his alma mater. His teaching also includes private lessons for musicians on goal setting and career path choices and major music conferences around the world. Emory, the Grammy Award-winning drummer of Earth, Wind & Fire fame, will be joined by Anita Baker’s veteran keyboardist Bobby Lyle, the world’s most sought-after percussionist Lenny Castro; guitarist Bob ‘Fonkstarr’ Bacon who tours with Beyoncé and others; Melvin ‘Lee’ Davis, who has performed with the likes Chaka Khan, the Pointer Sisters and many others; and Deron Johnson.
The workshop will be held at the Dining Club in Newton Industrial Estate, Christ Church, where the musicians will be rehearsing during the week leading up to the shows on Saturday and Sunday at the Plantation Garden Theatre, St Lawrence, Christ Church.
Christmas Jazz producer Deryck Walcott said that as a musician himself, having the chance to interact with first class musicians in this type of setting is a rare occurrence. (PR)