The highly anticipated Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival will begin on Sunday January 21st in Kingston. The week long event which will showcase acts such as Earth, Wind and Fire, Kenny Rogers, Michael Bolton and Christopher Cross, is one of the biggest happenings on the annual entertainment calendar.

Kicking off at the Pegasus Hotel with a bang on Sunday are some of the leading jazz and blues singers across the world. 2003 Grammy nominee, Yuerba Buena, will bring its Latin funk inspired jazz to the grand showcase. The group, whose name means Island Life, has over the years successfully blended Afro-Cuban roots into their music, thereby distinguishing itself from any other music in the industry. The group has been described as one 'whose hip shaking desires want to play Afrobeat one moment, cumbia another, with hip-hop to follow and throwing down a Yoruban chant or two'.

Yuerba Buena

The winner of the Air Jamaica Jazz Fest Quest in New York, the sultry creole beauty from New Orleans, Acantha, has been known to enthrall audiences with her passion filled Blues. She too will display her talents at the first installment of the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival.

Growing up a 'Bourbon Street baby', Acantha began listening to such Blues greats as Bobby Blue Bland, Koko Taylor, BB King and Elmore James. She debuted on the New York music scene in 2005 with regular gigs at some of New York's well-known entertainment venues and has since received rave reviews, appearing on BET Nightly News, the WB 11 Morning Show and New York 1. Acantha also recently shared the bill with legendary artist Salif Keita and Reggae Supergroup Culture at the internationally known Blues festival "Festival Terre de Blues de Marie-Galante" in Guadeloupe.

To round out the top three performers is Jamaica's very own Maurice Gordon who will add a contemporary Jamaican element to the evening. Gordon's eclectic fusion of reggae, jazz and rock is sure to ignite the audience on Sunday. He is well known as a versatile artist whose personal style and dexterity has garnered him wide ranging appeal from Canada, the Caribbean and South Africa. He has worked with many Jamaicans and international musicians and has performed and toured with some of the finest musicians in the world.

The combination of these three musical talents on the stage at the very first show in the 2007 Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival is expected to provide a diverse mixture of great music, from jazz and blues to rock, reggae, hip-hop, Latin and funk. Tickets for this event are only $1500 presold and $2000 at the gate.
This experience will followed by Chuck Mangione on Tuesday January 23rd and Roy Ayers on Wednesday January 24th at Half Moon, Montego Bay.

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