The 20th staging of the Jamaica Ocho Rios International Jazz Festival gets off the ground on Saturday, June 12, with a Jazz Wine and Fashion Show at the French Ambassador’s residence in St Andrew.

Staged this year by the Sonny Bradshaw Foundation, which was established in memory of the Festival’s late founder, C V ‘Sonny’ Bradshaw, organisers will donate proceeds from the Jazz Wine and Fashion show to the Consie Walters Cancer Care Hospice.

Fashions for this opening event will come from Bling Bling Fashions, importers of high fashion garments from European, Middle and Far Eastern designers of formal, semi-formal and high quality casual clothes. Local designer Les Campbell will display formal and informal high-end male fashions while Fashion Whirl will showcase locally designed female wear.

Scheduled for a 6:30 pm start, the fashion and jazz show will feature, one of Jamaica’s premier jazz groups The Desi Jones Trio, as the band on stage. Performing will be trumpeter Ettienne Charles, an alumnus of the prestigious Juilliard School, who has received critical acclaim for his exciting performances, thrilling compositions and a knack for connecting with audiences worldwide.

Also thrilling the audience will be Canadian singer Kiralina, who declares that “jazz has always been an intriguing genre of music for me and I frequently enjoy inserting and delivering some raw jazz interpretations into my repertoire.”

Lila, a seasoned, professional multi-instrumentalist whose dedication to her craft is shown through her musical expression, compositions, and enthusiastic performances, competes the list of performers. Her primary instrument is the violin and her mastery of the instrument’s intricacies gives her the innate ability to touch the heart, soul, and spirit of her listeners.