After two decades of absence from the stage, one of the island’s leading guitarists, Seretse Small, made his return on Thursday, February 26 at Herbie Miller Presents Jazz Night.

The Jamaica Pegasus-venued event scheduled showtime for 7:30 pm.

In an interview before taking the stage Small said: “My repertoire will include interpretations of Jamaican music, great jazz and R&B standards, music of the African Diaspora, original compositions including Afro funk, calypso jazz, and reggae jazz.”

During Small’s absence from the stage he concentrated on building the Avant Academy of Music and other educational and institutional projects and returns to performing as a central creative pursuit. He is also founder of Griot Music.

Small, who has been a leading figure in Jamaican music education for nearly four decades and was inducted into the Caribbean Hall of Fame in 2012, is widely respected for bridging Caribbean music and North American jazz traditions.

“This performance is not a routine appearance. It is a strategic re-entry into public performance and a statement of artistic intent for the next phase in my career,” he said.

He is embarking on one of the most ambitious projects of his career: A mission to place Jamaican jazz in the global Grammy conversation.

The concert served as the official début of Small’s Afro-Jamaican Jazz — a sound developed for his forthcoming album, By the Rivers.

The project is a deliberate move to secure a place for Jamaican artistry in global jazz categories, distinguishing it from the island’s traditional reggae nominations. It’s a bold mission that builds on the legacy of Jamaican jazz giants like Monty Alexander, aiming to open new doors for the nation’s music on the world stage.

The project follows the pioneering blueprint of Afro-Cuban jazz, which was born in the 1940s when visionaries like Dizzy Gillespie and Chano Pozo fused the clave rhythms of Cuba with the harmonies of American bebop.

Small is now isolating the unique, African-rooted rhythms of Jamaica — from the iconic “one drop” of reggae to traditional folk patterns — and fusing them with the improvisational language of jazz. He is attempting to create a new musical dialect, just as Cuba did over 75 years ago.

“This performance marks the beginning of a new chapter — one aimed squarely at artistic legacy,” shared Small. “That legacy,” Small continued, “is about carving out a specific, respected space for Jamaican innovation within the global jazz world. We gave the world reggae, which is a monumental achievement. Now, with Afro-Jamaican jazz we are demonstrating the complexity of our rhythms and proving they can be the foundation for a new, powerful dialect in jazz.”

A graduate of both the Jamaica School of Music and Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music, Small has toured internationally with Grammy-winner Sean Paul.

After years of building infrastructure and mentoring other artistes, he now steps into the spotlight with a clear and powerful artistic intention.